In a recent town hall meeting, Gov. Paul LePage explained cuts to MPBN (public television) by saying he didn’t want to give them “corporate welfare.”

I don’t know if anyone at the meeting corrected him at the time, but even if he doesn’t want to give MPBN money, he’s wrong to refer to it as corporate welfare.

First of all, MPBN is not a corporation, or a profit-making company; it is a nonprofit organization that depends on donations and grants for its funding, and many non-profits receive partial funding from the states that they serve.

Second, corporate welfare is a term generally used to refer to tax cuts and financial incentives given to profit-making corporations by states to entice them to locate in that particular state or to stay in that state and not take their business elsewhere.

I feel certain that the LePage administration, which prides itself on being business friendly, is in fact both in favor of and is currently providing corporate welfare to profit-making businesses in the state of Maine.

Tracey L. Horton

South China