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Full-Text Articles in Law
Putting Equity Back In Reverse Mortgages: Helping Seniors Retire With Dignity, Andrew C. Helman
Putting Equity Back In Reverse Mortgages: Helping Seniors Retire With Dignity, Andrew C. Helman
Maine Policy Review
Policymakers can help some seniors age in place through policies to strengthen private-sector reverse mortgages. In reverse mortgages, individuals who may be “house rich but cash poor” can use their home’s equity to receive regular income or get money through a credit line. Andrew Helman argues that state legislatures can help seniors avoid the “tricks and traps” of reverse mortgages by establishing programs in which lenders who agree to play by rules that ensure the safety and security of such mortgages are placed on a “preferred” list for seniors seeking a loan. He observes that laying the groundwork now can …
Tribal-State Relations, Donna M. Loring
Tribal-State Relations, Donna M. Loring
Maine Policy Review
Donna Loring’s commentary provides an alternative perspective on Native American sovereignty in Maine, looking at the sometimes contentious process of tribal-state relations.
Smart Growth, State Policy And Public Process In Maine: The Dunstan Crossing Experience, Sylvia Most, Samuel B. Merrill, Jack D. Kartez
Smart Growth, State Policy And Public Process In Maine: The Dunstan Crossing Experience, Sylvia Most, Samuel B. Merrill, Jack D. Kartez
Maine Policy Review
Sprawling development in Maine’s growth areas continues in spite of the state’s emphasis on comprehensive planning over the past 20 years. In this article, the authors present some lessons to be learned from Scarborough’s Dunstan Crossing project, a planned development which would have incorporated many of the goals of the national “smart growth” movement. The project was approved by the elected town council (one of whom is co-author Sylvia Most), and it was in compliance with Scarborough’s town comprehensive plan. Nonetheless, the project for now has effectively been blocked after a lengthy period, described here, that saw a citizen referendum, …
Five Hundred Sixty Nations Among Us: Understanding The Basics Of Native American Sovereignty, Stephen Brimley
Five Hundred Sixty Nations Among Us: Understanding The Basics Of Native American Sovereignty, Stephen Brimley
Maine Policy Review
Stephen Brimley presents a general background on the historical context of Native American tribal sovereignty on the national level, and the current political and legal environment in which tribal rights are defined. He describes how tribes have retained varying degrees of the rights they had prior to European contact, and the ways in which state power over tribes has been expanded through court action in the past several decades. Maine’s Native American groups are in a somewhat unique situation with regard to sovereignty, as defined in the Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement Act of 1980.
Taking Charge Of Maine’S Fiscal Fortunes: Taxes Are Only One Piece Of The Puzzle, Josephine M. Laplante
Taking Charge Of Maine’S Fiscal Fortunes: Taxes Are Only One Piece Of The Puzzle, Josephine M. Laplante
Maine Policy Review
Are Maine’s taxes too high? This question and others continue to plague policymakers and citizens throughout Maine. This article provides the first of two perspectives on how to achieve meaningful tax reform. Josephine LaPlante suggests taking the long view, evaluating carefully the state’s tax structure and the impacts of any tax reforms. She presents a comprehensive framework for considering such changes and argues that taking charge of Maine’s fiscal house includes not only tax reform but also a reassessment of how the state provides public services to meet the needs and preferences of its citizens.
Whose Tax Burden? Whose Tax Fairness? And Whose Tax Reform?, Christopher St. John
Whose Tax Burden? Whose Tax Fairness? And Whose Tax Reform?, Christopher St. John
Maine Policy Review
Current efforts to reform Maine’s tax system represent no new business, according to Christopher "Kit" St. John. In this second article in this issue about tax reform, St. John suggests the need to re-examine reform principles in Maine and, more particularly, reassess conventional wisdom that professes a relationship between tax reform and economic competitiveness. He examines recent reform proposals and offers a path forward, one based on relieving tax burden while maintaining tax fairness, especially for low income citizens of Maine.
Tax-And-Match: Resolving Tension Between State Financial Pressure And Federal Public Policy Intentions, A. Mark Woodward
Tax-And-Match: Resolving Tension Between State Financial Pressure And Federal Public Policy Intentions, A. Mark Woodward
Maine Policy Review
How tax-and-match, a federal program designed to help states subsidize hospital care for low income patients, came into existence and how it was overexploited is recent history Mainers should pause to consider. Woodward traces Maine’s tax-and-match experience from its inception in 1991 to its repeal in 1995 and in doing so illustrates a set of larger issues related to the integrity of federal-state relations, the difficulties in developing fiscally sound health policies in a resource tight environment, and the political machinations that can lead to quick-fix solutions over long-term policy resolutions. With federal block grants looming in the future, Woodward …
Overhauling Maine's Tax System, Paula Valente
Overhauling Maine's Tax System, Paula Valente
Maine Policy Review
No abstract provided.