LEWISTON — The Great Falls Forum will be held Friday, Jan. 16, with economist and former Maine state Sen. Dick Woodbury speaking on “The Policy and Politics of Reforming Maine’s Tax System.”
The lecture will take place from noon to 1 p.m. in Callahan Hall at the Lewiston Public Library.
Woodbury recently served five terms as an independent in the Maine Legislature, one of them as chairman of the Taxation Committee. He has been involved in numerous bipartisan groups interested in reforming Maine’s tax system and works with a national research and education program on population aging.
Maine’s tax system has been described by critics as some combination of imbalanced, burdensome, unfair, uncompetitive, complex, archaic and volatile. While reforming the system has been a prominent topic of public policy discussions for the past decade, efforts at comprehensive reform have repeatedly failed.
As an economist and independent lawmaker, Woodbury was involved in many of these reform efforts, including the “Gang of 11” proposal before the Legislature in 2013, which looked at the entire tax code, including property tax reform.
At his forum presentation, he will share his reflections on the policy and politics of tax reform, along with his assessment of whether a comprehensive restructuring of the system may someday be possible.
Admission is free to all forum events and no reservations are required. This program is a bring-your-own brown-bag lunch event. Coffee, tea and bottled water will be available on site at the library.
The Great Falls Forum is co-sponsored by the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce, Bates College, Lewiston Public Library and the Sun Journal.
The Lewiston Public Library is at 200 Lisbon St., at the corner of Pine Street. For more information on Thursday’s lecture or other upcoming events, call 513-3135 or visit www.LPLonline.org.
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