Dropping excise tax a bipartisan crusade

AUGUSTA – Looking past this November’s statewide ballot question voting, a couple of activists on the political left and right have found common cause in a new brainstorm: a plan to cut the excise tax on cars and trucks in Maine and give the owners of hybrid vehicles an additional tax break.

The appeal, advocates say, is a combination that would reduce taxes while promoting energy conservation.

“Every Mainer wants their excise taxes lowered,” Pat LaMarche, a veteran Green party leader, told the Portland Press Herald.

But critics are already surfacing with warnings that the kind of tax cuts being talked about would rob local communities of revenue for transportation projects.