Starting this August, senior citizens in Maine will be able to freeze their property tax rate, preventing their bill from…
Browsing: government spending
Earlier this month, the Treasury Department approved a plan to invest $110 million “to strengthen or expand broadband infrastructure across…
A law intended to stabilize property taxes for full-time Maine residents aged 65 or older who have owned a homestead…
Since President Joe Biden took office office early last year, America’s long-term budget deficit has grown by $2.4 trillion. But that…
President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill apportioned $1.2 trillion for such projects as roads, bridges, and airports. But it also designated $65 billion “to…
The $850 checks passed as part of the most recent supplemental budget deal will begin arriving in the mailboxes of…
Government policies fail and create problems in the real world every day. But most Americans are so busy in their…
Both chambers of the Maine Legislature met on April 25 for the final regular meeting of the 130th Legislature. Lawmakers…
Both the House of Representative and the Senate convened on April 19 for the penultimate day of the 130th Legislature’s…
The Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs (AFA) met late on the evening of April 14 and voted unanimously to…
Tax Day is a fitting day to revisit where our tax-and-spend ways have gotten us. When the president’s own stimulus-spending…
Another day, another alarming inflation metric. We just got the numbers for the Personal Consumption Expenditures index (PCE), the Federal…
The 130th Maine Legislature is currently scheduled to adjourn its second session on April 20, giving legislators a little more…
During a work session on a bill proposing to return surplus money to taxpayers, Democrats on the Maine Legislature’s Committee…
Gov. Janet Mills unveiled her change package to the supplemental budget on March 18, which spends all but $20 million…
Maine’s General Fund revenue forecast will increase by approximately $411.6 million following a March 1 meeting of the Revenue Forecasting…
On February 15, Gov. Janet Mills released her supplemental budget proposal, which includes $850 million in proposed spending and provides…
During her annual State of the State address, Gov. Janet Mills announced her intention to return $411 million of the…
On February 7, Gov. Janet Mills unveiled an $8 million proposal intended to strengthen Maine’s child welfare system that will…
The optimistic scenario goes like this. America shakes off what remains of the pandemic in the coming months without the…
Every holiday season, Senator Rand Paul honors the fictional Seinfeld holiday “Festivus,” an annual airing of grievances, with a report…
Following its November 23 meeting, the Maine Revenue Forecasting Committee (RFC) upgraded the state’s General Fund revenue forecast. The RFC…
President Biden and his progressives allies are advancing a historic $4.5+ trillion spending plan that would vastly expand the government’s…
When former Secretary of State Matt Dunlap was sworn in as the state auditor on January 4, he did not…
Progress is progress, and that should be celebrated. These billionaires going to space is the first step in the democratization of space travel, and they are doing it far more efficiently than our government ever could.
On July 19, the Maine Legislature voted to approve a plan for spending the $1.1 billion the state received from…
The government has spent its way into an inflationary mess, which we’ve already felt at the gas pump, among other places. Don’t be surprised if everyday expenses continue to be more costly and your disposable income starts to fall.
The bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 123-23 and the Senate by a vote of 32-3. It received bipartisan support in both chambers.
On June 17, the Maine Legislature is expected to adjourn a special session without voting on the supplemental budget or…
Governor Janet Mills unveiled a new supplemental budget last week that would grow state spending in Maine to record levels,…
On Tuesday, Maine Governor Janet Mills joined President Joe Biden and a small group of US governors for a virtual…
The Biden administration on Wednesday released a comprehensive $2+ trillion spending proposal ostensibly focused on infrastructure. But there’s much more…
On March 11, President Joe Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), a nearly $2 trillion spending…
Maine lawmakers convened at the Augusta Civic Center on Tuesday to tackle the state’s next two-year spending plan. The budget…
Maine’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee met on Thursday to hold a work session on LD 715, a concept draft…
The Maine Legislature will convene in person on Tuesday to approve the state’s next biennial budget, likely along party lines.…
It appears Maine Democrats are looking to advance a majority budget in the next week to avoid working with their…
State government spending has rapidly outpaced population growth in Maine over the last decade, according to a new report published…
With COVID-19 ravaging the country and government pandemic lockdowns devastating our economy, the national debt has understandably slipped to the…
The Paycheck Protection Program, part of the federal CARES Act passed last year, was crafted by Congress to provide loans…
On Thursday night, Joe Biden rolled out a sweeping proposal for $1.9 trillion more in COVID-19 relief and stimulus spending. …
Last week, the Cato Institute released the newest edition of its Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors. The institute’s…
Maine Gov. Janet Mills recently signed a curtailment order to keep the state’s budget stable during this seemingly never-ending period…
My colleagues and I have previously written on the State of Maine’s impending revenue shortfall, which is projected to top…
The latest report from Maine’s Revenue Forecasting Committee (RFC), published earlier this month, revised its estimate of the state government’s…
A little over one year into her tenure as governor, Janet Mills is responsible for an explosion of new spending…
Governor Janet Mills released a supplemental budget proposal Monday that calls for $127 million in additional spending, which comes in…
Cartoon by Sam G. Pilgrims
Last month, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu vetoed a two-year state budget because it would have reversed the direction of…
When Mainers pay their taxes, they fully expect their hard-earned dollars will be spent wisely and efficiently. However, outdated policies…
The Maine Legislature is slated to debate more than $2.1 billion in bonds when they reconvene next session, a staggering…
Yesterday, Governor Janet Mills announced that her administration has urged the federal government to provide financial aid to municipalities and…
Both the Maine House and Senate voted Friday, June 14 in favor of approving a new biennial budget that Governor…
Since Governor Janet Mills released her biennial budget proposal in February, the fiscal landscape in Maine has changed significantly. The…
When I first started serving in Augusta, in 2005, there was a long standing joke. Why are there no stone…
Chief Robert MacKenzie runs a police department in Kennebunk, Maine, a town of just over 11,000 citizens. It is a…
Much has been made — for good reason — of the federal government’s fiscal imbalance. High and rising debt (fast…
Where is the accountability in Augusta? Lawmakers agreed on Tuesday to establish a special committee designed to formulate a bipartisan…
Today, the Cato Institute, a national public policy research organization, released the 13th biennial fiscal report card, rating governors based…
The biggest – and one of the most dangerous – myths in all of public policy is that money improves…
A three part series on chronic abuse of other peoples’ money Part I: The Moral Hazards of OPM Principle Five: “Nobody…
During campaign season, every presidential hopeful makes promises to the electorate hoping to appeal to their interest and earn their…
There’s an old adage that goes “If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts. If you have…