In advance of budget hearings, advocates urge legislature to fund vital programs by taxing wealthiest Mainers and corporations

February 12, 2026

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As legislative hearings on the biennial state budget are set to begin next week (week of Feb. 16, 2026), people directly impacted by state policies, as well as advocates and policy experts, are urging legislators to go beyond Gov. Janet Mills’ proposed budget and expand vital programs.

“Maine is in a moment that demands bold action to shore up the people in this state in the face of cruel and dangerous federal policies,” says Cate Blackford (she/her), Maine People’s Alliance public policy director.

“Federal cuts have made health care inaccessible, child care access questionable, and taken food off the table for many. Countering what they’ve done means coming together to ensure that – even as the federal government cuts funding for vital programs and attempts to drive apart our communities – Mainers can access health care, childcare, food and housing, and can feel safe as we go about our lives. It’s what we all deserve.”

Specifically (and not exclusively), Maine People’s Alliance is calling on the legislature to fund investments in childcare and health care, by increasing taxes on the wealthiest Mainers and profitable corporations that do business here.

Health care (Housing and Economic Development, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 1:30)

Paying for health care is now Americans’ top financial worry. It’s no surprise – here in Maine, the fact that Republicans in Congress have killed the ACA subsidies that allowed many people to finally afford health insurance means that they’re either going broke to pay for it, or going without. Tens of thousands of Mainers will also lose MaineCare because of new work requirements, which incidentally will cost the state millions to administer every year.

Gov. Mills’ proposed budget contains funds to help pay the administrative and labor costs associated with the Medicaid cuts – but it does not directly help Mainers who lose their coverage. This won’t come close to making things right for people who will go broke, become ill or even die because they lost coverage.

The legislature must fund healthcare by providing support to people who can’t afford their health insurance, and additional funding to fill federal cuts to MaineCare and rural healthcare providers.

John Costin of Sanford (he/him) has owned a small business for three decades. Now, at 62 and 63, he and his wife are being forced to go without health insurance until they can access Medicare at 65.

“Without the ACA enhanced subsidies that Congress failed to save, we were looking at spending more than $49,000 per year in premiums and out-of-pocket expenses. Our state legislature has a chance to give people like us a way to access health insurance – which we should all have. That’s by making sure people who are really wealthy, and corporations that make huge profits, pay what they actually owe.”  

Childcare (Housing and Economic Development, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 1:30)

All parents deserve access to affordable, high-quality childcare and early education for their kids – and all providers deserve to earn a living wage.

That’s why the upcoming budget must include funding to support families paying for childcare, and to help child care providers cover child care for their own kids.

“It’s so hard for families to find childcare in Maine,” says Crystal Parritt (she/her), director of childcare services at the YWCA of Central Maine in Lewiston.

“When they can, it’s often completely unaffordable. If we care about Maine families, we need to make sure parents can afford childcare – and that we have enough childcare providers, by making sure they themselves can afford childcare.”

Parritt adds, “It’s one of the best ways to keep young families here, and attract more people to the state in the future.”  

Raising revenue to pay for vital programs, and our state’s future (Taxation, Thursday, Feb. 19, 9am)

Increasing taxes on the wealthiest Mainers and rich corporations would raise revenue that could fund these and other programs in Maine. But in spite of what you may have heard from people stuck in a Reagan-era mindset, making our tax system fairer is popular too – across the political spectrum (and statewide).

In a poll conducted last year, Mainers also said that raising taxes on individuals with higher incomes, corporations and more was acceptable – but cuts to housing, health care and childcare were unacceptable.

When we raise revenue by taxing the wealthiest Mainers, we can access hundreds of millions of dollars every year we’ve been leaving on the table – all without raising taxes on ordinary Mainers – by raising taxes on people with incomes of more than $1 million, making sure that rich corporations pay what they truly owe in taxes, and making our income tax system more progressive by adding higher tax brackets, so people who make $60,000 per year don’t pay tax at the same rate as people who make $600,000.

When legislators make the choice not to increase taxes on those who can most afford it, they make the choice not to serve the rest of us adequately. Cuts to things like health care and childcare only hurt us – now, and in the future.

The legislature must pass bills to increase tax revenue from the wealthiest Mainers and corporations doing business here – or include those tax changes in the state budget.

Cate Blackford says small, incremental changes will not meet the moment, and legislators must take this opportunity to raise revenue to take care of our state:

“Right now, health care costs are skyrocketing, along with so many other costs. Inaction right now will literally kill people, and will have impacts – on our communities, our workforce and the overall health of our state – for decades. Instead, we can choose to be bold, and brave. We encourage our representatives in Augusta to do the right thing and do it now.”

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With more than 32,000 members, MPA is the largest community organization in Maine, and one of the largest in the country. We work together on issues that include but are not limited to housing, care, climate change and environmental justice, health care access, racial justice, and immigrant rights.

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Contact: Nora Flaherty-Stanford (she/her), [email protected], (207) 370-8314