Release: Maine Policy Statement on the TCI’s Final MOU
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 21, 2020
Contact: Jacob Posik
Director of Communications
Office: 207.321.2550
Maine Policy Statement on the TCI’s Final MOU
and What it Means for Maine
PORTLAND, Maine – Maine Policy Institute CEO Matthew Gagnon issued the following statement today in response to the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) releasing its final Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for participating states to consider:
“The TCI is a T-A-X that seeks to punish Mainers for going about their daily business – activities like running errands, bringing kids to school or going grocery shopping. It would effectively force low-income Mainers to subsidize the purchase and maintenance of electric vehicles by their well-to-do neighbors.
“Mainers cannot afford an additional gas tax at a time when many are struggling to make ends meet due to the governor’s response to the pandemic. In addition, the revenues Maine would receive through its participation in the TCI could not be used to fix our crumbling roads and bridges or plug our annual transportation funding shortfall. Instead, the funds would be used to build electric vehicle charging stations and electric public transportation systems from which few Mainers will benefit.
“We are encouraged to see that Governor Mills has not signed onto the updated MOU released today, but ultimately, the people of Maine deserve a voice in this matter through their elected representatives. That is why Maine Policy Institute has already secured a bill sponsor to require an affirmative vote of the Maine Legislature for Maine to participate in the TCI.
“Governor Mills should not unilaterally make this decision on behalf of the people of Maine; she should follow the lead of her counterpart in New Hampshire, who rightly called the TCI a ‘financial boondoggle,’ and continue to reject Maine’s participation in the initiative.”
###
Maine Policy Institute is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that conducts detailed and timely research to educate the public, the media, and lawmakers about public policy solutions that advance economic freedom and individual liberty in Maine. Learn more about our work at www.mainepolicy.org.