Joint Order, Directing the Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs To Report Out a Bill

ORDERED, the Senate concurring, that the Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs shall report out, to the House, a bill to the Second Regular Session of the 125th Legislature in accordance with the following.

1. Tax fairness. The bill must include provisions establishing a tax equalization payment on persons whose state and local tax burden is among the top 1% of all taxpayers. The payment must establish a tax equalization rate of at least 1.4% to be applied to every resident individual who is determined, solely on the basis of expanded income and with respect to the most recent tax incidence analysis report filed by the State Tax Assessor with the Legislature under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 36, section 200 to fall within the top 1% of Maine resident individual taxpayers.

2. Ensure preservation of health and human services. The bill must include provisions that establish a separate nonlapsing fund for receipt of revenue from the tax equalization payment. Amounts in the fund must be transferred to the General Fund to preserve: