Thread by @riocarmine

1/ It's tax conformity season again. Here's some info and context.

First, and most important: What is conformity? It's a question every state must tackle, about whether to adopt changes to federal tax law in their own, state-level tax codes. #mepolitics

2/ Some states have "rolling conformity," in which federal changes are automatically made to state taxes unless the Legislature votes not to make them. Maine doesn't do this. We have purposefully chosen to make our own decisions about our own tax code, every year.

3/ We assess federal changes, debate whether they make sense for Maine, and only adopt those changes to our own tax laws (or "conform") if a majority of the Legislature votes to. This is a good approach, because ...

4/ ... Maine doesn't have the same fiscal tools (like the ability to run a deficit) that the federal government has. So our state tax code cannot and should not automatically change to reflect changes in federal tax law.

5/ Second: Maine's approach to conformity is not new, We do this every year. Remember that when corporations and other special interests start acting like they're shocked Maine might make a different decision than the federal government. They're not. It's fake.

6/ Third: Maine has a good recent history of rejecting federal tax changes that don't make sense for Mainers. When Trump passed a massive tax break for the wealthy and big corporations, Maine mostly said "nah, we're good."

7/ Lawmakers must be just as deliberate with this year's conformity decisions. The federal government did A LOT of tinkering in the tax code in the last year. Maine has to decide what makes sense for Mainers, like we always do.

8/ TL;DR: Don't be fooled by lobbyists or special interests who try to spin the conformity debate like the default position is to blindly adopt federal tax policy, no matter what it is. Maine's motto is "Dirigo." We don't follow. We lead. #mepolitics