Taxes and the economy are taking center stage in the 2024 presidential campaign. (Photo by Getty Images)
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree said she was glad to see that Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris plans to keep President Joe Biden’s pledge not to raise taxes on the middle class.
”I support the policy proposals put forward by the Biden administration that wealthy Americans and corporations need to pay their fair share in taxes,” Pingree told Maine Morning Star. “I was glad to see Vice President Harris continue to build off this foundation and ensure that no one making less than $400,000 would have their taxes raised.”
Pingree, who has held southern Maine’s U.S. House seat since 2009, will be facing two challengers on Nov. 5, Republican Ron Russell and independent Ethan Alcorn.
Russell presents a contrast to the incumbent, as he said he would mostly support Republican nominee Donald Trump’s plan.
Alcorn did not respond to multiple requests from Maine Morning Star to detail his views on tax policy. During a 1st District debate, Alcorn said he thinks the American people shouldn’t look to the government to solve their economic problems.
“We really need to let the free market take over,” Alcorn said, “and stop making government be the answer to everything.”
Harris has said she would keep the Biden administration’s promises to not raise taxes on those making less than $400,000 and enact a “billionaire” tax. Trump has promised to lower the corporate tax rate even further and lift the cap on deductions for state and local taxes.
Whoever wins the Oval Office will need a cooperative Congress to enact their tax policies, so Maine Morning Star asked the candidates for the 1st District which plan they’d back, or if they’d try to advance an alternative path for the country’s economy.
“My tendency would be to follow the Trump plan,” Russell said. “As a small business owner paying corporate taxes, I saw directly how cuts in corporate tax rates allowed us to hire more employees who contributed more to the tax base than the cuts cost.”
Russell also thinks some parts of Harris’ plan are at odds.
“I would also say that the Harris plan of not raising taxes conflicts greatly with her plan not to renew the Trump tax cuts,” Russell said. “We will see quickly that the claim that the Trump tax cuts only benefited the rich is just rhetoric. If Harris is elected and the Trump tax cuts aren’t renewed, everyone will be impacted by that decision, including the huge majority of those making less than $400,000 a year.”
Another key component of Trump’s plan for the economy is imposing steep tariffs on imported goods, which Maine’s congressional candidates previously detailed varying views on for Maine Morning Star.
Meanwhile, Harris’ tax plans also include a permanent expansion of the child tax credit, which Congress expanded during the COVID-19 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.
Pingree said she fully supports Harris’ proposal and would continue to fight to fully restore and make the expanded child tax credit permanent if reelected.
“The unprecedented progress Congressional Democrats made in 2021 with the expanded child tax credit helped cut child poverty nearly in half within a year, and we’ve seen firsthand the benefits it provided for working families in Maine,” Pingree said.
Congress recently passed a bipartisan bill to expand child tax credit accessibility, which Pingree supported. She told Maine Morning Star it was an important step to fight child poverty and will help tens of thousands more Maine families meet their basic needs.
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.
While Trump has said little publicly about the child tax credit during his current campaign, the policy he set during his former presidency differs from Harris’ plan in that it excludes many low-income families who earn too little and owe no income tax.
Separately, Maine is one of a dozen states that has its own child tax credit program.
Russell said he thinks the current child tax credit is adequate.
“I would need more information on the 2nd and 3rd order effects of changing the current system,” Russell added.
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