Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

Report: Mainers working better, earning less

By Mechele Cooper mcooper@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

AUGUSTA -- Maine workers are more productive than ever but are earning less and receiving fewer benefits, according to a report released this week.

"State policy makers must seek solutions to preserve economic security and promote economic opportunity for Maine workers now," said Garrett Martin, associate director of the Maine Center for Economic Policy and author of "The State of Working Maine: Choices for the Recession and Beyond."

"Doing so will provide an immediate boost to economic activity and better position Maine workers to share in the rewards of a growing economy," he said.

The report said Maine's median household income growth has outpaced the United States' and New England's since 2000, but that wages for low- and middle-income households have remained stagnant or declined.

Other long-term trends that have significant future ramifications for Maine workers include the transition from a natural resources and manufacturing based economy; unionization and historic discrepancies in earnings based on a range of demographic characteristics such as gender; the aging of Maine's work force; urban and coastal communities versus rural and interior communities; and educational attainment, Martin said.

"A critical first step toward prosperity is making sure that Maine workers and low-income households do not lose further ground," Martin said.

He said policy makers must focus on stabilizing employment and putting more money in the pockets of working Mainers by providing property tax relief; ensuring the minimum wage keeps pace with wage growth; promoting job and income security for workers through paid sick leave; investing in education, health care, energy efficiency and critical infrastructure; and awarding business tax credits only to companies that provide quality jobs.

Maine Heritage Policy Center Chief Executive Officer Tarren Bragdon said no state in the country requires paid sick leave for all workers, and said that extra cost to businesses would eliminate jobs for low-income people -- not create or save them.

"What we need to do in the middle of this recession is not find new ways to tax and add cost to businesses, but make it easier for them to hire individuals," Bragdon said. "Specifically, we need to look at business regulations and bureaucratic delays that make it difficult for companies to invest in new equipment and advance their facilities. There's a lot of work that can be done at the state level to speed up that process and reduce bureaucratic delays."

He said the Legislature has been implementing Maine Center for Economic Policy strategies for decades without any success in creating more jobs.

"Rather than following this, what we need to do is look at states who have created new jobs and how they're doing it and replicate those strategies, not increase the cost of doing business yet again here in Maine," he said.

The Center's fiscal policy analyst, Dan Coyne, said L.D. 1816, the $99 million bond package being considered by the Legislature, would generate more than 2,400 jobs. Its emphasis is on transportation and other critical infrastructure projects, he said.

"A successful bond package would create jobs now and encourage new public and private investments that can serve as the foundation of future prosperity," Coyne said. "Now is the time for an appropriate amount of state government investment to help fuel Maine's economy and create and preserve thousands of much needed jobs."

Mechele Cooper -- 623-3811, ext. 408

mcooper@centralmaine.com