Start Your Engines - Legislative Activity is Picking Up
Updated March 7, 2018 at 4:52 pm.
Just when things were almost seeming a little sleepy at the State House, activity has clearly picked up. Last week, the State House was flooded with concerned citizens with different perspectives on gun control. The LePage administration also released it’s proposal for how to address Maine’s conformity with the recent changes to the federal income tax law. According to the Legislature’s self imposed deadline, all committee bills are supposed to be voted on by this Friday. However, the session schedule continues to have the full Legislature only meeting Tuesdays and Thursdays until the final week of March. This suggests that leadership expects that the committees need a few more weeks to wrap up their work.
Here’s our latest update:
Tax Conformity
We have the bill from the Governor and the hearing has been scheduled for Thursday, March 8, at 1pm. Hearing postponed until Tues. March 13 at 1pm. Hearing postponed again until Thursday, March 15 at 1pm. Work session to immediately follow. Here’s the informational packet that came from the administration. I am hearing that there will be negotiations with an effort to pass a bill this year. Some of the controversial pieces include reduced tax burdens on the wealthy and businesses. Here’s some resources:
- LePage puts forward $88 million in tax cuts to adapt to federal changes, Bangor Daily News, March 2, 2018
- LePage wants to align Maine with IRS, cut state income taxes by $111 million, Portland Press Herald, March 1, 2018
- Tens of millions in proposed tax breaks for profitable businesses jeopardize Maine’s future, Maine Center for Economic Policy, March 1, 2018
Taxing Nonprofits
We distributed this letter to the Legislature late last week in response to the Governor’s memo attacking nonprofits. Here’s the recent legislative history on attacks on the nonprofit sector. There’s still no bill.
Federal – Take Action
Now that Congress is negotiating the appropriation bills, efforts to weaken and repeal the Johnson Amendment (federal tax policy that protects nonprofits nonpartisanship) are again picking up steam. It’s vital that these efforts be stopped. Check out this action alert and take action.
Thank you to Senator King’s office for sharing Federal Funding Opportunities – Feb 1-15 2018 information on federal funding opportunities.
Raffles
We supported LD 1837 to amend the new cap on the amount of money that can be awarded as a prize in a raffle. Here’s our testimony. The Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee unanimously supported the bill.
Additional Resources:
What’s in a Frame? A Need to Know for Nonprofits, Nonprofit Quarterly, February 27, 2018
