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Progressive Activists Rally In Portland For Raising Taxes On The Wealthy

Willis Ryder Arnold
/
Maine Public
Progressive activist Hilary Koch speaks at the "Tax the Rich" bus tour event Tuesday in Portland.

Progressive activists in Maine are calling for an increased tax on the wealthiest Americans and decrying Sen. Susan Collins' support of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Supporters of Tax March, the 16 Counties Coalition, and the Maine People's Alliance gathered in a public park Tuesday to make a case that the majority of Mainers surveyed — regardless of political affiliation — don't support tax cuts passed in 2017.

Willie Ritch is with the recently launched 16 Counties Coalition, a group that purports to be educating Mainers about Sen. Collins' support of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

"If it weren't for her that bill probably wouldn't have passed," Ritch said, "and that bill has ended up giving pharmecuetical and insurance companies billions and billions of tax breaks."

Ritch says Sen. Collins' support for that bill shows that she’s not listening to her constituents.

The assistant majority leader in the Maine House, Ryan Fecteau, said the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act doesn't work for middle-class Mainers.

"Growth has not increased beyond the pre-tax cut trend and wages haven't either." he said. "These cuts aren't working for you, they aren't working for me, they're working for the massively rich in our nation."

Organizers say the rally was held in the expectation that President Donald Trump intends to push through more tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans.

In a written statement, a spokesman for the Collins campaign says that because of the tax cut she supported, "most Maine households saw their taxes lowered and have more money in their paychecks as a result."