This summer here in Maine was hot and humid. Now, it’s rather chilly. Oh well.
Regarding taxes, of the six New England states New Hampshire wins....no state income tax and no sales tax.
Maine’s income tax is rather high; it went as high as 8.5% for top earners, then got whittled down by the current conservative governor, Paul LePage, who unfortunately is not running this year because of term limits.
A ballot initiative passed in recent years increasing the income tax further in order to raise the pay of teachers.
The governor and the Maine House and Maine Senate effectively neutered the tax increase passed by the misguided voters.
Now, there’s a new ballot measure this Fall that would raise income taxes to fund in-home nursing care. Both Republicans and Democrats running for office are opposed to this ballot measure, that would raise state income taxes in Maine to 11% for the highest earners....more than double the rate in Massachusetts! Fortunately, there are far more ads on TV opposed to this measure than are for it, including ads by nurses and some well-known former democrat office holders who are urging a “no” vote.
I live in Maine’s Second Congressional district. It covers 27,000 square miles, or 80% of the state. In area, it’s the largest district east of the Mississippi.
Donald Trump carried this district by 10 points, receiving one electoral vote. Madame Hillary carried the more liberal, and more populated, First Congressional district, which includes the Portland area. She won the state vote by 2.9%. If candidate Trump had run more ads, I think he could have carried the entire state.
The Second District is more conservative and has been trending red in recent years. Maine has both concealed carry and Constitutional carry. Constitutional carry went into effect three years ago....no permit necessary to carry a firearm on your person or in your vehicle. This same law also made switchblades legal in Maine.
I lived in California for about 17 years....mostly in Santa Barbara and for about a year in the Santa Ynez Valley. That state used to be quite conservative; you sure can’t beat the climate!
Wow, your district is yuge. I gather that’s why it is conservative, most of the rural areas seem to be. Unfortunately, like in California, the population centers are liberal and control our taxes.
New line
Your state sounds beautiful and I hope to visit it one day. We moved over here to East Tennessee, and hope the one day travel to all the Revolutionary and Civil War sites, and then eventually make it up to New England and see the leaves change. There’s a lot to do out here. A lot of history and a lot of beauty.