by Mal Leary

AUGUSTA, Maine - Gov. Paul LePage said he made several difficult budget decisions in order to improve the state's business climate, which he says is the only way to improve the state's economy and is the key to Maine's future.

"I guess it could get worse," he said in an interview. "I guess we could be 52nd [in business climate] if you count Guam and Puerto Rico. If you want prosperity, you have got to make sacrifices."

LePage said his proposals to lower overall tax rates and to conform to federal tax provisions that will bolster investment by companies are crucial to improving the business climate and growing the economy.

"At the rate we are going now, it is going south and it's not going to turn around until we stop the bleeding," he said. "We need businesses to grow."

Overall, taxes will go down $203 million over the two years under his proposal, which LePage said is crucial to stimulating economic growth.

"If we don't do it in the biennium, we don't have a prayer of turning this state around," he said.

LePage said teacher and state workers are "right" when they say he is balancing part of the budget on their backs. He said the state's "horrible" debt situation is because teachers and workers were made promises of benefits that cannot be funded.

Filed Under : K-12 Education, Pensions