Radio Address: The Budget That Could Have Been, But is Not

June 17, 2015

(MP3 Audio)

Five months ago, we handed politicians in Augusta a balanced budget that included welfare reforms and a $300 million tax cut for Mainers. That budget never saw the light of day and today, that budget is long gone.

Hello, this is Governor Paul LePage.

Previous budgets maintained the status quo and did nothing to move Maine forward. My Administration stunned legislators by presenting them with a bold and comprehensive budget. We put the best interests of the Maine people before politics. We prioritized our working-class families and our most vulnerable citizens. For the first time in decades, our budget provided meaningful tax relief for Mainers with a vision for a prosperous future.

Politicians claim my budget focused on ?tax breaks for the rich.? But Maine?s highest tax rate now kicks in for someone making only $20,000?only liberals would call that rich. My plan would have cut taxes for Mainers of all income levels, and it would have moved 60,000 more low-income families off the tax rolls.

We also created tax credits for Mainers with low incomes and a high property tax burden. We chose to give property tax relief directly to Mainers?not to municipal politicians?by expanding the Property Tax Fairness Credit.

We provided even more tax relief for our elderly and those on fixed incomes by doubling the Homestead Exemption to help offset their property taxes.

While we heard a lot about taxes, our budget also strengthened our safety net for the elderly, disabled and mentally ill. We fully funded the Medicaid waitlist with $46 million to provide services to all 2,000 eligible Mainers. For nearly five years, I have sought to adequately fund programs and services for our most vulnerable, but the call for help continues to fall on deaf ears.

The Appropriations Committee holds the purse strings in Augusta, and Mainers on the Medicaid waitlist have never been their priority. Instead, they protect illegal aliens.

These same politicians pushed for $6 million in welfare benefits for illegal immigrants. At the same time, they rejected proposals to fully fund nursing homes and services for severely disabled Mainers on waitlists.

My fiscally conservative principles differ very much from most Augusta politicians. I believe we must take care of Mainers first while we maintain an effective, efficient and accountable government. I believe that Mainers should keep more of their hard-earned money, and I think they know better than government how to spend it.

I want to be clear: this budget belongs to the 127th Legislature. It is not mine. It is a far cry from what I proposed for Mainers. They rejected real reforms for Mainers and voted for a budget that has a stranglehold on your hard earned money.

When I veto the Legislature?s budget, it is because I care more for our elderly, disabled and mentally ill than asylum seekers. But a veto doesn?t mean we have given up. We will never turn our backs on hardworking taxpayers and our most vulnerable Mainers.

When lawmakers go home, I will continue taking the truth to the people of Maine so someday Mainers will see prosperity.