Sen. Stacey Guerin – Radio Address – 8/15/2020

Senator Guerin was supporting her fellow tourism business colleagues this week by vacationing with her husband on the breezy coast of Maine.

With Maine’s economy in dire straits it is disappointing, though not surprising, to see and hear Democrats once again taking aim at the lower tax rates passed into law during the Republican majority in 2011.

Hello, I’m Senator Stacey Guerin of State Senate District 10

Though I understand the liberal obsession with these tax cuts as they have proven wrong their ancient political argument that good things only come from government, I cannot understand such a strong desire to reverse the gains in Maine’s economy, particularly among women.

What followed this tax reform was the greatest period of prosperity in our state’s history, putting the lie to decades of liberal arguments that cutting taxes only helps the rich, damages state budgets, and does no good for the economy.

As a woman, a business owner, and a Republican, I know how blessed Mainers are to have benefited from the tremendous prosperity that we all enjoyed over the last several years.

Maine women and children, and not just the rich, benefited tremendously from the economic turnaround that began in 2010 when voters elected Republicans to control of both houses of the legislature and the Governor’s Office.

The Maine Children’s Alliance’s 2019 KIDS COUNT report says that the poverty rate for children in Maine saw a steep decline from 2012 to 2017, including 2016 when the decline was the largest in the country.

Despite the simple, factual data, Democrats still describe this tax reform by citing its imaginary “costs.” One does not have to be a math genius to know that more revenue does not create costs.

Overall, the economy under Republican leadership in Maine allowed women to exert their influence in ways not seen in any other state. Over the last several years, Maine led the nation in six major categories including women’s equality in the workplace and politics, gender parity, the growth of women’s business earnings, economic vitality for women, and overall wage growth.

In short, government got out of the way and left more money in our pockets. We worked hard, succeeded, and improved our own lives.

When the tax cuts were passed in 2011, Maine ranked dead last among states in the Average Weekly Wage. Less than eighteen months later, Maine began a three year period (from 2012 to 2015) when it led the nation in wage growth. Soon after, Maine’s unemployment rate dropped to the lowest point in history, and sustained that low for a period twice as long as any time previously.

As to the so-called “gender wage gap,” since Republicans took control of Maine’s economy in 2011, the gap narrowed significantly, moving Maine as high as 8th among states in 2018. During that same period, Maine’s gap improved six times faster than it did during the previous eight years under Democrats.

Since Democrats returned to the majority in 2019, the gap has again worsened. According to the left-leaning National Partnership for Women and Families, Maine’s ranking fell from a high of eighth in 2018 under Republican policies to its current ranking at sixteenth.

For eight years, lower taxes in Maine led to an economic boom the likes of which our state had never seen before. This included higher revenues for state government and much lower rates of unemployment, poverty, hunger, and crime.

Raising taxes would not only reverse these trends, it would likely lower, rather than raise government revenues.

Maine people — including Maine women — deserve better.

Again, I’m Senator Stacey Guerin of State Senate District 10. Have a wonderful weekend.