Starting in 2012, former Governor Paul LePage and GOP lawmakers raised the estate tax threshold, below which the estate tax does not apply, from $1 million to $5.6 million for individuals or $11.2 million for joint estates of married couples. Rep. Collings’ bill would have lowered the exclusion amount back to $3 million for individuals, still much higher than it was in 2011. It would have also created a higher threshold of $4 million for family farms and aquaculture, fishing and wood harvesting businesses.
Slashing the estate tax has allowed more and more wealth to accumulate at the top, tax-free. That perpetuates inequality across generations, as the wealthiest families leverage their abundant resources to increase their share of the economic pie and pass their wealth on to their heirs.
An amended version of the bill passed the House, but it failed in the Senate.
House Roll Call #301, to approve "ought not to pass" report. No Senate roll call.