A man wears a pin that reads “I’m Rich, I Can Afford To Pay My Taxes” during a Tax Day protest on April 15, 2017 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
U.S. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine thinks the expiration of former president Donald Trump’s tax cuts next year will be one of the biggest challenges facing the next Congress.
Golden would support raising tax rates for corporations and the wealthiest households, which were the primary beneficiaries of Trump’s cuts, to help reduce the deficit and uphold promises made to seniors in Social Security and Medicare. Republican Austin Theriault, a freshman state legislator who is challenging Golden’s bid for a fourth term, has said he likes tax rates where they are now. Both agree that federal spending needs to be lowered.
Whoever is elected to Congress on Nov. 5 will have to address the expiration of many of the provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that are set to expire in 2025.
Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, have presented diverging economic plans, which will need a cooperative Congress to be enacted, regardless of who wins the Oval Office.
Harris has said she would keep President Joe Biden administration’s promise not to raise taxes on those making less than $400,000 and enact a “billionaire” tax. Trump has vowed to lower the corporate tax rate even further and lift the cap on deductions for state and local taxes.
While Golden supports tax cuts for working- and middle-class Mainers, he opposes tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest households. Golden’s campaign shared in a statement with Maine Morning Star that he “believes in closing loopholes that let millionaires and billionaires and profitable corporations avoid paying their fair share and would support raising their rates to help cut the deficit and keep the promises made to seniors in Social Security and Medicare.”
On the other hand, Theriault has said there are no taxes he would consider raising if elected.
“I don’t think we have a tax problem,” Theriault said during a CD2 debate this month. “We have a spending problem.”
Theriault added that he knows businesses in Maine that have benefited from lower taxes, including by being able to hire more workers. “In fact, we need to look at supporting them, cutting regulations and lowering the cost of energy,” Theriault said.
While she will not appear on the ballot, there is also a declared, unenrolled write-in candidate running for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, Surry resident Diana Merenda, who told Maine Morning Star she would be in favor of lowering the corporate tax rate if companies certify that the lower rate would benefit their consumers by reducing costs.
Reducing the deficit, tariffs, SALT
Theriault sees zero-based budgeting as a solution to the federal deficit.
“Every budget cycle, I believe these federal agencies need to come to the American people and certainly come to Congress with a zero budget,” he said. “Start with zero and then prove to us that this money needs to be delegated for this area.” However, Theriault said he would not want to use this approach for some of the government’s largest expenses, including national defense, Social Security and Medicare.
Golden pointed to the U.S. Federal Reserve recently lowering interest rates, which he said is in part due to the work he’s been a part of in Congress to decrease the projected gap in federal spending. The congressman said he voted for the Inflation Reduction Act, which included provisions to reduce government spending, and against the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, which he felt included too much spending.
As part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed during Trump’s time in the White House, a $10,000 cap was placed on deducting state and local taxes (SALT). Trump has suggested he would scrap that cap if reelected. Golden opposes the elimination of the SALT cap, according to his campaign.
Golden has also proposed imposing tariffs on imported goods, specifically a 10% universal tariff — similar to a plan Trump supports — as a means to promote homegrown innovation and jobs. Theriault is supportive of that plan, however he said he thinks 10% might not be adequate for some industries. Merenda does not support it. Economists also disagree that the universal tariffs will yield the benefits sought.
Child tax credit
Another focus of the incumbent when it comes to the economy has been the child tax credit.
Golden criticized the current tax credit as poorly targeted in a statement to Maine Morning Star. Currently, the maximum child tax credit is $2,000 per qualifying child for an individual making less than $200,000 annually or a couple filing jointly that makes less than $400,000 — a refundability cap Trump increased with a 2017 tax law, expanding the credit to wealthier Americans.
“Families with the lowest incomes receive only a partial credit or no credit at all,” Golden’s campaign added.
Harris’ tax plan includes a permanent expansion of the child tax credit, which Congress expanded during the pandemic in 2021 but did not renew in 2022. Her plan would raise the tax credit back to $3,000 per child — $3,600 for preschoolers and $6,000 for babies.
While the two other incumbents in Maine’s congressional delegation want to see this permanent expansion implemented, Golden has proposed an entirely different approach.
In lieu of a child tax credit, Golden wants a social insurance program for young families, similar in some ways to Social Security for seniors.
This program would be available to more families than are currently able to receive the full child tax credit and would phase out at a lower income threshold to ensure the benefits aren’t wasted on higher-income families, Golden wrote in a letter to Mainers in March.
Golden proposes paying for the program by raising taxes on the top 10% of earners, which he wrote would “ensure the children who benefit are not saddled with growing debt or deficits when they are adults.”
Theriault did not respond to multiple requests from Maine Morning Star about his economic policy stances, including whether he’d support expanding federal child tax credits. When asked what the federal government can do to make it easier for parents to raise children during a CD2 debate, Theriault said the focus should be lowering the cost of living.
“In terms of regulations, I think this is more of a state-level issue,” Theriault said. Maine is one of a dozen states that has its own child tax credit program. Theriault also pointed to public-private partnerships where businesses offer childcare to workers as a solution.
Merenda, the unenrolled declared write-in candidate, similarly would not support expanding federal child tax credits because she views it as a state policy issue.
“Maine’s child tax credit program is a good example of balancing fiscal prudence and social welfare,” Merenda said. “Bringing this issue to the state level is what is needed for the greater good.”
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.