In December 1990, the Maine Select Commission on Comprehensive Tax Reform, headed by state Sen. John E. Baldacci of Bangor, was on the cusp of proposing to lower the state sales tax by extending it to entertainment, such as movie tickets and sporting events, adding a tax credit for the poor and perhaps giving counties the ability to impose a local sales tax. “The principal focus was one of fairness,” the Bangor Democrat said of the plan, just before it fell off a cliff along with the Maine economy.

Innumerable tax reform plans have been proposed since, and some small instances of change have occurred – a snack tax went into and out of effect, a penny on the sales tax was added and removed, property taxes have climbed and climbed. But comprehensive remaking of the tax system has not taken place for the simple reason that lawmakers get more criticism for applying a new tax than they get credit for taking away an old one.

While talking with reporters the other day, the governor was asked whether he would support adding tax reform to a budget bill being debated in Augusta. His answer was a vehement “no” – he said he wasn’t interested in any reform until the budget was completed, and he suggested he would veto a budget if it had tax reform in it.

This is unhelpful for multiple reasons. First, through his school district consolidation and Medicaid reform, he is the one who began use of the budget as a vehicle for policy reform. Second, in order to take effect in time for the new fiscal year, a state budget must receive a two-thirds vote of the Legislature, meaning both Democrats and Republicans must agree to it. If a budget with bipartisan support for the kind of tax reform Maine has tried to achieve for two decades comes before him, the governor should pass it enthusiastically. Third, a two-thirds vote is all that’s needed to override his veto – the governor should be careful with his threats.

An unspoken reason for the governor to hesitate about tax reform is that it will likely include raising a broad-based tax, something he has said he won’t do. (All major legislative tax reform plans proposed this year are budget neutral or better, meaning that while they may raise a tax they also offset that increase by cuts elsewhere.) The governor knows that raising a broad-based tax, no matter what else happens, is politically damaging.

But raising – and offsetting – such a tax is the only way to carry out a major reform. After so many years of trying other means, passing it through a budget may be all that lawmakers have left.