Maine Center for Economic Policy

06/03/2026

Join us TODAY at noon for a webinar digging into the data that show how billionaire-focused tax cuts, tariffs, and federal inaction on health care are affecting families and communities across the state — and what we can learn from history about the path forward.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6iyMSA2IRBCNgKx6truAyg #/registration

Join us for a webinar on how recent federal economic policies are driving up costs and making everyday essentials less affordable in Maine.

Featuring insights from presentations being given to groups across the state, MECEP President & CEO Garrett Martin will dig into the data that show how billionaire-focused tax cuts, tariffs, and federal inaction on health care are affecting families and communities across the state — and what we can learn from history about the path forward.

Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of:
- How current federal policies are impacting costs in Maine and hurting the economy more broadly
- The deep roots of today’s cost of living crisis and threats to democracy
- The connection between tax policy and widening inequality
- What it takes to challenge concentrated wealth and build a stronger, fairer economy

When: Two options! Tues, June 2 at 6:00 P.M. or Wed, June 3 at noon

Visit mecep.org/events to register.

06/01/2026

The Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) is like lending someone a bucket to catch rain from a leaking roof. It’s too small to hold what’s falling and is taken away before the roof ever gets fixed.

The cruel irony is while hospitals scramble to manage the leak, millions of Americans have simply been pushed out of the system entirely and left to fend for themselves. And this was all done to support tax cuts for the wealthy.

The Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) can’t shield a fragile rural health system from the risks of HR 1.

05/29/2026

It’s not in your head, and it’s not just at the gas pump. Prices keep rising. The latest Personal Consumption Expenditures report (the Fed’s preferred inflation indicator) shows prices up 3.8%. That’s the highest inflation in 3 years. Combined with personal savings plummeting to one of the lowest levels in the past 20 years, it’s clear that working families can’t absorb much more of the current economic chaos.

05/28/2026

Join us for a webinar on how recent federal economic policies are driving up costs and making everyday essentials less affordable in Maine.

Featuring insights from presentations being given to groups across the state, MECEP President & CEO Garrett Martin will dig into the data that show how billionaire-focused tax cuts, tariffs, and federal inaction on health care are affecting families and communities across the state — and what we can learn from history about the path forward.

Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of:
- How current federal policies are impacting costs in Maine and hurting the economy more broadly
- The deep roots of today’s cost of living crisis and threats to democracy
- The connection between tax policy and widening inequality
- What it takes to challenge concentrated wealth and build a stronger, fairer economy

When: Two options! Tues, June 2 at 6:00 P.M. or Wed, June 3 at noon

Visit mecep.org/events to register.

05/28/2026

It's not in your head, and it's not just at the gas pump. Prices continue to rise. The latest Personal Consumption Expenditures report (the Fed's preferred inflation indicator) shows prices up 3.8%. That's the highest inflation in 3 years. Combined with personal savings plummeting to one of the lowest levels in the past 20 years, it's clear that working families can't absorb much more of the current economic chaos.

05/27/2026

Almost 14,000 Mainers (including more than 4,000 kids) have already lost access to food assistance because of the "One Big Beautiful Bill". We don't remember people voting for a Make Hunger Great Again agenda. But that's what they're getting.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

05/15/2026

Following a national trend, over 13,000 Mainers have lost food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) since Congressional Republicans and President Trump enacted their reconciliation bill last July. Maine’s most rural communities, largest cities, and children are being hit hardest.

Following a national trend, over 13,000 Mainers have lost food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) since Congressional Republicans and President Trump enacted their reconciliation bill last July.

05/14/2026

We're expecting Vice President Vance to advance the Trump administration's campaign against at his appearance in Bangor today, potentially threatening to withhold funding over fraud claims and putting nearly 400,000 Mainers’ health care at risk.

Fraud should always be investigated and addressed. But this isn’t really about fraud. It’s about using isolated cases to attack public programs that help working families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities, while ignoring far larger abuses and giveaways that benefit wealthy and politically connected interests. Maine already has oversight systems in place, and our error rates are lower than the national average. Mainers deserve facts and accountability, not political fearmongering designed to divide us and undermine essential health care.

For decades, politicians have used isolated stories about public assistance fraud to divide people and build support for cuts that ultimately hurt working families while benefiting the […]

05/08/2026

Billionaires get richer, Americans get sicker. President Trump and Republicans cut over one trillion dollars from Medicaid and eliminated health care tax credits to hand tax cuts to the ultra-rich, making it even harder for Maine families to afford care. It’s time to stop the .

P.S. Currently taking name suggestions for our large new friend!

05/08/2026

HR 1, the GOP-led budget bill that Congress passed last summer, gave billionaires and big corporations a tax cut and gutted health care. Now Maine small business owners and independent contractors like Jane, Chelsea, and Becky will be some of the hardest hit by steep premium hikes, all while insurance CEOs get even richer. It's time to stop the .