Response to Another View

Jan Dolcater’s opinion piece on Jan. 30 discusses the Trump tax bill. While there are some apparent though temporary benefits for workers and middle class people, such as pay bonuses and a modest reduction in income taxes, I would like to highlight the ways in which this bill will have negative effects on people’s lives.

Less revenue means less money for many things Americans need and depend upon, such as agencies that protect us from bad food and drugs, track diseases and research for cures, support small business development, care for the bridges, airports, national highways, national parks (which, like many things in the future, will be much more costly to citizens), support for the arts, programs for special education and grants for college students, grants to states for education, public libraries, water safety, flood control, disaster relief, drug treatment programs, law enforcement, and many other aspects of civic life which will mean the states will have less money,and therefore, the towns.

This will, of course, lead to higher property taxes: if you save money on your income taxes, you will definitely be paying higher local taxes. It is just shifting the cost onto municipalities and states. Those in the highest income brackets and the multi-national corporations will become even wealthier while we as a community will become poorer in many ways. Because the tax cuts were too large at the top, the deficit will grow and there will even more cutting of essential services. People will complain that the government isn’t there for them when they need it, but making the choice between further enriching the wealthy or keeping the social contract has been made, at least for the foreseeable future. I, for one, think it was a bad deal.

Susan Brown Stoddard,

Brunswick

Check for Unclaimed Property

We are writing — as we do every year — to urge all readers to take a moment to check with the Maine Treasurer’s office to see if there is any unclaimed property that might belong to you.

Every year, Maine releases an updated list of dormant bank balances, missing checks, stock dividends, inheritances and other assets that have gone unclaimed. All of this adds up to tens of millions of dollars that sit in state accounts until the rightful owners come forward.

The problem is that most people have no idea that this list even exists, let alone whether or not an item on it might belong to them.

There are two ways to look up yourself, your family or your business and make a claim, both of which are free. The best, most effective way is to search at: maineunclaimedproperty.gov/. If you are having trouble or don’t have access to a computer or to the internet, you can call the Treasurer’s unclaimed property hotline at 624- 7470 during normal business hours.

Finally, please be very careful of scams. Scammers have in the past pretended to be speaking for the Treasurer’s office in an attempt to commit identity theft. While there are some legitimate businesses that help match you with missing property, be very careful of people who try to contact you. The safest thing is just to contact the Treasurer’s office yourself using the methods above. If you suspect a scam, get in touch with the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at 1-800-436-2131 or Consumer. mediation@maine.gov.

We hope this helps you recover any assets that might belong to you. If you have any questions about this or about anything going on in the Maine Legislature, please feel free to reach out to us at denise.tepler@legislature.maine.go v and Seth.berry@legislature.maine.gov.

Reps. Denise Tepler and Seth

Berry