This study presents an analysis of the potential implementation of a seasonal sales tax in Maine, focusing on its impact on state revenue and tax burden distribution. We address three key questions of interest to policymakers: the effect of various seasonal tax scenarios on overall tax revenue, the extent of tax burden shift from residents to tourists, and the potential impacts on local businesses. Our model incorporates differential price elasticities for residents and tourists, as well as seasonal spending patterns, to provide robust estimates. By combining theoretical modeling with real-world data, this research offers evidence-based insights to inform policy decisions. The findings suggest that a well-designed seasonal sales tax could potentially increase state revenue and shift the tax burden away from permanent residents and towards tourists. Our baseline estimates suggest a seasonal sales tax system could increase sales tax revenue by $117 million per year, of which 76% of the burden would be borne by out-of-state tourists. As an overall share, tourists’ burden of the total annual sales tax revenue in Maine would rise from 20.6% to 25.3%.

The report is available here.

A legislative testimony citing this report is available here.

This article summarizes the implementation and sunset of the temporary policy options within SNAP, NSLP, and the SBP in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Within the SNAP program, COVID-19 policy options greatly expanded benefit amounts and the ability to utilize SNAP benefits as forms of payment when purchasing grocery products online. While the temporary benefit increases have sunset as policy options, the ability to utilize EBT as a form of payment online has remained. Like SNAP, the major changes to NSLP and SBP delivery have also sunset, largely due to schools returning to in-person learning. However, the advent of Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (Summer EBT), a program that pays out EBT benefits during the summer months when school meals are not served, has emerged and is also positioned to become a permanent feature of the food and nutrition assistance landscape (USDA 2023). 

The report is available here.