A poll released today by Mainers for Working Families shows that a majority of Mainers support the State Legislature implementing common sense policies to help the state recover from COVID-19, even increasing taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations, so as to avoid cuts to essential services. The poll also shows overall support of policies like closing corporate tax loopholes and expanding access to healthcare. A majority also believes that the federal government should provide emergency funding to the state.
The poll’s release comes ahead of the State Legislature convening for a new session.
“This poll confirms what a lot of us hear everyday -- Mainers are looking to Augusta for common-sense solutions to help working families stay afloat,” said Evan LeBrun, executive director of Mainers for Working Families. “That comes down to three things: We need to strengthen crucial services like education and healthcare, lower property taxes, and make sure corporations and wealthy people pay their fair share.”
The poll surveyed over 600 Mainers across the political spectrum, with 43 percent identifying as moderate, 27 percent as liberal, and 28 percent as conservative. 58 percent of Maine voters think the federal government needs to provide emergency funding to Maine.
An overwhelming majority of Mainers also support policies like closing corporate tax loopholes (70 percent), providing healthcare subsidies to low-income Mainers (69 percent), prohibiting pharmacies from pricing the most common drugs above their price in Canada (68 percent), and guaranteeing every Mainer has health insurance (66 percent).
When it comes to raising state revenue, 55 percent support Governor Janet Mills placing a wealth tax on Maine’s highest net worth individuals and families. 51 percent also support ending the LePage income tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations. Four in five Mainers do not support budget cuts to essential services like health care or education, or hiking up property taxes as a way to supplement revenue.
“[C]ommon sense legislative policies are popular in Maine,” reported Lincoln Park Strategies. Legislators will garner strong support from their constituents, including harder-to-convince cohorts which are not typically viewed as being supportive of these policies. These polling results show strong support for the state legislature to pass these common sense legislative items.”