This article was originally published by Phil Hirschkorn in News Center Maine.
PORTLAND, Maine — Democratic candidate for governor Hannah Pingree has unveiled her affordability plan to help Maine residents cope with the rising cost of living.
“As governor, lowering costs for Maine people will be my first priority every single day,” Pingree told reporters at her campaign headquarters in Portland on Tuesday. “We can’t just lower costs. We need to raise wages and invest in opportunity at the same time. Invest in workers, good jobs, and rural communities who feel left behind is essential to meeting this moment.”
Pingree’s affordability plan starts with housing with a statewide shortage keeping prices high.
“We’ll invest $100 million a year to build more affordable housing, cut the red tape that slows down construction and communities, and take on the corporate investors who are driving up rents,” Pingree said.
To lower property taxes, Pingree proposes doubling the Homestead Exemption—the amount owners can deduct from their taxable valuation—from its current $25,000 to $50,000, and she would increase the Property Tax Fairness Credit that’s also available to renters. She also said she would press for vacation-home owners to be assessed 25% more in property taxes.
“We’ll pay for property tax relief and housing by asking visitors and second-home owners to pay more,” Pingree said. “People who come here in the summer—they don’t pay into that income tax system, and yet they benefit from all that infrastructure of our very large and very rural state.”
Steve Train, a Long Island lobsterman who endorsed Pingree, said local residents are being priced out. Train said of 400 homes on his island, only 100 are occupied year-round, and of the six sold last year, five became seasonal residences.
“A lobsterman who cannot afford to live near the water he fishes is not just a personal hardship, it’s a loss for all of us. The cost of living has made it harder—harder to hire, harder to fish, harder to keep the next generation here,” Train said. “Hannah understands this, because she lives it.” Pingree grew up and still lives on the mid-coast island of North Haven.
Pingree proposed raising the state stipend for childcare workers. “We’re going to make childcare more accessible and affordable, so parents can go to work without going broke,” she said.
Erica Carley Harris, a Brunswick School Board Member and married mother of two children who endorsed Pingree, said she and husband had spent nearly 25% of the pre-tax income on childcare.
“Families are stretched. They’re making impossible choices, and they need a governor who gets that,” Carley Harris said. “What Hannah does best is listen, plan, and then act.”
Pingree proposed expanding universal pre-K programs for 4-year-olds. “And it needs to be all day. We have a lot of school districts who’ve added half day programs. That is not great for working parents,” she said.
Currently, 91% of Maine school districts offer pre-K in some form, according to the Maine Department of Education data, but only 64% of eligible kids are enrolled.
Pingree said she is comfortable with state minimum wage where it is, $15.10 an hour, because it is indexed to inflation, so it goes up every year. “I think that makes sense,” she said.
Given the rising cost of health insurance, including Affordable Care Act plans, Pingree proposes a new public option “This would be a new state plan where the state is negotiating for lower costs similar to the way an insurance company does,” Pingree said.
Pingree said she is open to exploring a local sales tax option for cities and towns that might be adversely affected by less property tax revenue, but she would not immediately tinker with state income tax rates.
“I think working Mainers, moderate and low income Mainers, are paying too much of their income right now in taxes, and people at the top are not paying enoug,” Pingree said. “But I frankly think we need to figure out what is it we are trying to pay for?”
Pingree, a former Maine House of Representatives Speaker and top aide to Gov. Janet Mills, is one of five Democrats on the June 9 primary ballot. The others are Secrtary of State Shenna Bellows, former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, renewable energy entrepreneur Angus King III, and former Maine Centers for Disease Control Director Nirav Shah.
Pingree advocated continuing universal free school breakfast and lunch for K-12 public school students, a law signed by Mills and originally sponsored by Jackson, who unveiled his tax and spending plan on Monday.
Pingree previously offered plans specifically focused on housing, health care, and the environment.
