Press Herald interviews Brewer for article on splitting tax, welfare ballot question
The Portland Press Herald spoke with Mark Brewer, a political science professor at the University of Maine, for an article about Secretary of State Matt Dunlap telling the Maine Republican Party that its proposed referendum to cut the income tax and make changes in the welfare system should be split into separate ballot questions. Brewer said he thinks Republicans packaged the two initiatives so they would have a better chance of passing. “It’s an issue that benefits Republicans and puts Democrats on the defensive really unlike any other issue,” he said, adding that ratifying the tax proposal will be a “tougher slog” because opponents of major tax changes have successfully won over Maine voters in the past. “Democrats have been able to point out to Mainers the services that they’ll lose if you have these kind of tax cuts,” Brewer said. “You can already see the Democrats making the argument of ‘How are you going to pay for this?’ That [answer] is left open ended.”