Education Higher Education Equals Better-Paying Jobs We all know it. The surest path out of poverty is a good job with benefits. But to get one of these good-paying jobs, Mainers need more […] Jody Harris Posted March 25, 2013 Tags Budget, Children, Education, Incomes, Jobs
Jobs and Income Raise the Minimum Wage to Reward Work and Boost Maine’s Economy Today, Maine’s Joint Standing Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research, and Economic Development (LCRED) takes action on LD 611, which would raise Maine’s minimum wage from $7.50 to […] Joel Johnson Posted March 22, 2013 Tags Economy, Incomes, Job Quality, Jobs, Minimum Wage
Taxes and Budget Two Steps toward Tax Fairness At MECEP we’ve written often about the lack of fairness in Maine’s tax system. The bottom 20 percent of Mainers pay 17 cents on every dollar earned […] Garrett Martin Posted March 21, 2013 Tags Budget, Tax Fairness, Taxes
Education Testimony on LR 1046: Biennial Budget Competitive Skills Scholarship Program The hard fact is that low educational attainment in states is associated with high rates of unemployment and poverty. And Maine lags behind New England in educational […] MECEP Posted March 21, 2013 Tags Education, Higher Education
Taxes and Budget Two different proposals, but only one is right for Maine Right now the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate are debating two vastly different budget proposals that would take Maine—and our entire country—in two very […] Garrett Martin Posted March 20, 2013 Tags Budget
Education Testimony at Hearing on LD 90: An Act to Strengthen Maine's Workforce and Economic Future LD 90 is particularly important to enhance the education levels of low-skill, low-income, working adults so they can compete for the higher-paying jobs that will lift them […] MECEP Posted March 18, 2013 Tags Education, Higher Education
Education Testimony at Hearing on LR 1046: Biennial Budget- Part C -Education Too many Maine families where at least one person works a full-time job do not make enough to meet a basic needs budget (calculated at 200 percent […] MECEP Posted March 18, 2013 Tags Education, Higher Education
Jobs and Income Testimony at Hearing on LD 611: An Act to Adjust Maine's Minimum Wage Annually Based on Cost-of-living Changes Increasing the minimum wage by a dollar and indexing it to inflation will reward hard-working Mainers and help pull Maine’s economy out of the doldrums after the […] MECEP Posted March 14, 2013 Tags Incomes, Job Quality, Jobs, Minimum Wage
Taxes and Budget Testimony at Hearing on LR 1046: An Act Making Unified Appropriations and Allocations (Afternoon) for the Expenditures of State Government, General Fund and Other Funds, and Changing Certain Provisions of the Law Necessary to the Proper Operations of State Government for the Fiscal Years Ending June 30, 2014 and June 30, 2015 The recession that began in December of 2007 has a lot to do with how we got to the budget you have before you. When the economy […] MECEP Posted March 13, 2013 Tags Budget
Taxes and Budget Testimony at Hearing on LR 1046: An Act Making Unified Appropriations and Allocations (Morning) for the Expenditures of State Government, General Fund and Other Funds, and Changing Certain Provisions of the Law Necessary to the Proper Operations of State Government for the Fiscal Years Ending June 30, 2014 and June 30, 2015 I’m here today to testify against Parts Q and T in the Governor’s biennial budget proposal. Part Q By suspending income tax bracket indexing for two years, […] MECEP Posted March 13, 2013 Tags Budget