I read with interest the recent article, “Maine Among Worst States To Do Business In.” On the front page of the same edition, an article highlighted the recount effort regarding Question 2. These two articles are sadly connected. My parents raised me here, taught me to work hard, but also worried that hard work might function as the direct cause of leaving the state.

Now, the brightest children of Maine who become successful are taxed out of the state. Any graduate of one of our state’s professional schools, be it medicine, dentistry, law, or engineering, now must accept that their hard work garnishes their wages above $200,000 by 10 percent. Any bright young Mainer needing to avoid this tax simply moves away. Leaving the state of Maine now produces an instant increase in income. Try talking our brightest kids out of that.

Once having moved away, they now must consider whether such a penalty for their hard work is worth the return to Maine. Is it any wonder that Maine is “among the worst states to do business in”? A tax policy that disinvites our brightest young Mainers from their own home fails to appreciate that these income levels also purchase boats, homes with a higher tax base, cars, and other discretionary products. This spending then produces significant sales taxes for the state, as well as keeping many Maine businesses open.

Maybe instead of Question 2, our future tax policy should invite our brightest young Mainers to stay, and those who left to return home.

Steve Meidahl

Clinton