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Elizabeth Skidgell is a manager at Kennebec Market in Norridgewock.
I was recently made aware of Gov. Janet Mills’ proposal to raise the taxes on cigarettes and other nicotine products. I work at a convenience store in Norridgewock, I have a husband and a grandson that I take care of. I also smoke.
Day in and day out, I see folks just like me come into the store for daily necessities, some do better than others but none of my customers can afford a tax increase right now. I think that broadly cigarette smoking has declined, but for our customer base, it is more common because we are where they come to buy them.
They buy cigarettes, milk, eggs and maybe a pastry or slice of pizza for the ride home. Some even buy a case of beer. None of them are living the high life. None of them have an apartment on the East End in Portland, or a house on the coast in Camden. None of us have disposable income. Our budgets are as tight as our long-johns this winter.
I am very, very disappointed in Gov. Janet Mills and her Democratic colleagues. During this last campaign, Democrats’ message essentially was “trust us, we are the party for the working class, not the elites.” Well, at least here in Maine, the state trusted them. Look how quickly they turned on us.
The Legislature has not even been meeting for a week, and some are already coming after us for money to fix their overspending in Augusta. The party of the working class would not seek a tax that will target primarily working and poor Mainers who make up a majority of smokers. The party of the working class wouldn’t ask us to pay, while ignoring the over-the-top wealth along the coast of Maine. The party of the working class wouldn’t ask us to consider funding a new medical school to educate doctors who would likely make four times more than us, as state Sen. Joe Baldacci has suggested. That is not what supporting the working class looks like.
I think supporting the working class looks like making it more expensive for people from away to come here and buy up our homes, pricing us out of the market. Supporting the working class looks like ensuring our taxes are as low as possible, while the coastal elites make up the gap. Supporting the working class looks like taking care of Maine families by ensuring we have lower gas prices, lower grocery prices and lower heating oil costs. Instead, we have Mills proposing to raise taxes on Maine’s poorest and Attorney General Aaron Frey signing onto and wasting Maine resources on what I view as a politically motivated lawsuit against oil companies.
This is not what the people of Maine elected our leaders to do. I believe they are out of touch with us and in touch with elites from away. I hope the members of the Maine House and Senate will hear our plea and vote against this.
Historically, when politicians and advocates have proposed cigarette tax increases, they suggest it is because the more expensive cigarettes are the more incentive there is to quit. I don’t see that in my world. Instead of an increase with the goal of smoking cessation, the governor has essentially proposed a cash grab from Maine’s poorest. I know this because the tax increase is to meet a budget gap, and without the tax increase, the budget is not balanced. I hope legislators will at least acknowledge this dynamic honestly instead of playing the good guy who just wants us to quit. I don’t believe they are not good guys, or gals, and advocates for this are wealthy folk taking money from poor folk.
