LePage voices displeasure with budget plan in radio address

AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage promised Saturday to veto the state budget that emerged from the Appropriations Committee with unanimous support, because it includes higher taxes.

In his weekly radio address, the governor said the state “cannot keep taxing and spending, year after year. Mainers just can’t afford it. “

The budget that will be up for House and Senate votes calls for a sales tax increase from 5 percent to 5.5 percent, and an increase in the meals and lodging tax. It also avoids revenue sharing cuts that Maine towns and cities feared.

Democratic Sen. Dawn Hill, the Appropriations co-chair, said neither Democrats nor Republicans got all that they wanted in the budget. But Hill says it’s a budget that will keep government open, and is a responsible solution.

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