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Michael Cianchette is a Navy reservist who served in Afghanistan. He is in-house counsel to a number of businesses in southern Maine and was a chief counsel to former Gov. Paul LePage.
What does springtime mean to you? New growth? Clean up?
How about both?
One of Gov. Janet Mills’ recent vetoes dealt with a bill that monkeyed with Maine’s income tax rates. She expressed a number of concerns with the proposal, from process to policy.
However, the portion of her veto message which was sweetest to my ears was this line: “fundamental changes to the state’s income tax structure … [should be] part of a larger, wholistic discussion about Maine’s tax structure.”
The fact that she highlighted many of the problems with Maine’s current tax regime — one of the highest top income tax brackets in the country, an over-reliance on a small number of taxpayers — was the cherry on top.
Our tax code could use some spring cleaning.
Similarly, one of the bills that fell short of the legislative finish line came from GOP Sen. Jeff Timberlake. He proposed removing child protective services from the Department of Health and Human Services and instead establishing a freestanding agency.
The Democratic-led committee that heard the bill rejected it, 9-2. DHHS Commissioner Jeanne Lambreau, who recently announced her resignation, lobbied against it.
Yet, to their credit, many Democrats joined with Senate Republicans to try and keep the bill alive. One of the Maine Democratic elders, Bill Diamond, had long championed the change.
Whether we are talking tax policy or taking care of Maine’s most at-risk kids, the gist of these conversations are government reform. That is where springtime comes into play.
For many of us, we will likely be using the sunny days to prepare gardens, mulch leaves, and pick up downed limbs. Rainy days lead to cleaner closets, organized garages, and washed windows.
Cleaning things up in springtime enables new growth. You aren’t growing champion produce in an unkept mess, nor are you going to see clearly through crud covering windows.
The same is true with government.
Cleaning up our tax code — removing suckers, weeds, and thatch — can bring new industries and a stronger economy. Sorting through and reorganizing an overcrowded bureaucracy enables leaders to see what they have available, what might be missing, and allows for more straightforward decisionmaking.
On the tax question, Gov. Mills and some Democrats have made common cause with a majority of Republicans. On bureaucratic reform, the GOP and many Democratic leaders are in agreement.
As the legislature finally — finally — concludes their work for the year, some small groups of serious people should start the process of finding ways to outline good policy and responsible reform. It is a fair question whether Mainers are best served by consolidating MaineCare, infectious disease control, welfare payments, child protection, and psychiatric hospitals into a single behemoth department.
It is also a fair question whether Mainers are best served by suffering under one of the highest tax burdens in the entire country, exceeding even California.
These are some of the things that should be lodestars headed into this fall’s election cycle. Gov. Mills will be the governor for the next legislature. With luck, the GOP may find themselves in control of at least one chamber. That means nothing would get done unless people work together on it.
Many hands make light work. And that holds true whether we are cleaning up the yard or the government.
