Many seem to have a similar relationship to government and taxes. They get agitated when government doesn’t use their tax dollars the way they think it should. But when all is well they hardly take note.

Largely overlooked in the discussion this year is the fact that because of legislation enacted last year, 99% of Maine’s working families paid, on average, nearly $1,000 less in 2009 taxes.

Rather than fixate on whether you paid too little or too much this year, imagine a world without government or taxes.  It’s an interesting exercise. Where would we be without safe roads and bridges, public education, safe drinking water and so many other things we take for granted?

At MECEP, much of our work focuses on taxes. How much is enough? How should they be spent? How do we make sure they are fair?

Our answers to these questions reflect our values. MECEP believes government can and does play a role in providing for our economic security and promoting shared prosperity for all. Who pays how much in taxes is just as important as how they are spent in realizing these outcomes, particularly for low- and middle-income families.  This is why dealing with the estate tax and tax reform are such important issues in the months to come.

We recognize that taxes are a tool.  They are not inherently good or bad. As with most tools, how we use them determines whether they build or demolish.  I need to look no further than my son’s tree house or the hole he dug in the middle of our garden to be reminded of this.

On February 4th MECEP released a new report which estimated that cuts proposed to the state budget for health care and education would result in the loss of 7,000 to 10,000 jobs.  The response from the Maine media was impressive with front page stories in the Portland Press Herald and the Central Maine Newspapers and an extensive report on MPBN.  Rep. Anne Perry, House Chair of the Legislature’s Health & Human Services Committee, cited the MECEP study in a February 9th “op ed” in the Portland Press Herald asserting that MECEP’s projected job losses “would only keep Maine in a longer, deeper recession.”  (Brunswick) Times Record columnist Doug Rooks wrote “The reason the MECEP report is so important is that it frames the choices differently than has been done so far.”

On February 9th MECEP Executive Director Christopher “Kit” St. John joined Maine House Speaker Hannah Pingree, Maine Senate President Elizabeth Mitchell, other legislators, business people and health care and education advocates for a State House press conference calling on Senators Snowe and Collins to fight for immediate passage of a new jobs bill pending in the U.S. Senate.  Kit stressed the need for federal fiscal relief for Maine and other states struggling to provide health care and education services to their citizens.   Video of Kit’s press conference statement is available on YouTube.

And finally, MECEP made its own contribution to job creation this week, hiring me as its new Communications Director.  I look forward to doing my best to support MECEP’s efforts to ensure economic and social justice for all Maine families.