AUGUSTA - Hearings on Gov. Paul LePage's $6.1 billion budget package opened today with a focus on taxes, and advocates were quick to weigh in with support for a package they said will stimulate business, while opponents said it would foist unfair burdens on those who can afford it least.

During a joint session before the committees on appropriations and taxation, Finance Commissioner Sawin Millett said the Republican administration faced difficult choices as it tackled spending and tax priorities, particularly with the end of federal stimulus funds that bailed the state out of a previous budget shortfall and a $4.4 billion unfunded liability in the pension system hanging over the state.

State department requests for the two years that will begin July 1 are reflected in "Spartan" changes in the budget, he said. At the same time, it cuts $203 million in taxes and saves $413 million in general fund spending over the two years for the pension liability.

Millett, speaking from a wheelchair as he recovers from knee surgery, described the budget as a "new reflection on the approach we want to take with taxpayers." Not everyone agrees.

Filed Under : Pensions, Tax Increases, Union Issues & Employee Benefits