BUDGET IMPLICATIONS
In order to return to a level of economic adaptability and vitality needed for growth, state leaders must recognize that Maine’s business owners should be trusted to serve their communities and support the lives of their employees. Governor Mills’ constantly shifting, arbitrary, and often draconian executive orders issued and reissued during the year-long Civil State of Emergency have done much more damage to Mainers’ lives and livelihoods than COVID-19 has wrought. The virus carries a serious disease, and for some, severe illness and death. This should not be understated, but by refusing to trust the people to care for each other while making a living, the current administration has done enormous damage to Maine’s future.
For many months, Governor Mills lobbied Congress to allow the use of federal pandemic relief funds as “revenue backfill” in order to fill gaps in tax revenue resulting from her orders to shut down and restrict business. After more than six months of negotiations, Congress declined to send more aid to state and local governments in the massive $2.3 trillion stimulus-plus-budget bill signed by former President Trump in December. Perhaps Mills has found a more receptive audience with President Biden, but with unsustainable levels of federal debt, financial solvency should be key for Congress as well.
In September, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued a report projecting that the United States’ national debt would reach 98.2% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the end of 2020. Most recent estimates as of March 2021 peg the national debt at over $28 trillion, nearly 130% of GDP. If including unfunded federal liabilities, the nation owes nearly $160 trillion.
Instead of begging for another debt-fueled bailout from Washington D.C., Maine politicians should look inward and make the hard choices necessary to right-size government spending amid a persistent recession. Balancing budgets on the backs of everyday workers and business owners through higher taxes and fees, instead of meaningful spending cuts, is a strategy of the fiscally tone-deaf.