WHAT WE FOUND:
City leaders made their case for DC Statehood on Tuesday in front of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. One common argument for statehood has to do with federal taxes paid by DC residents. DC pays more federal taxes per capita, said Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton during the hearing. And I will repeat that one. The residents I represent pay more taxes per capita than any state.
This claim has also been made by many on social media, mostly by people advocating for statehood.
Three simple reasons for #DCStatehood:
️ DC’s population is larger than two states.
The State House complex appears through trees at the top of Augusta’s Howard Hill during a walking tour of the land on April 18. The wooded hill forms a backdrop to the State House. Staff file photo by Joe Phelan
Sue Bell, left, city councilor Dale McCormick and Brian Kent look down on Kennedy Brook during a walking tour of Howard Hill on Friday April 18, 2014 in Augusta. The wooded hill is backdrop to the State House. Staff file photo by Joe Phelan
They did so without $337,500 in voter-approved Land for Maine’s Future funds awarded to assist in the purchase but held up by Gov. Paul LePage’s refusal to issue $6.5 million in bonds approved by voters in 2010 and $5 million approved in 2012. Those bonds include money the Land for Maine’s Future program has approved for 30 conservation projects, including the $337,500 Kennebec Land Trust officials were counting on to help fund the $1.2 million Howard Hill project.
Residents will be able to get rid of much of the junk that’s accumulated in their attics, basements and garages when the city holds its annual clean-up day next month.