Last Friday, the Kennebec Journal had this report that the wife of Republican candidate for governor, Paul LePage, had claimed the homestead exemption in two states. Simply put, she was claiming a tax break offered by states to qualified resident homeowners, in this case, Maine, where her husband is running for governor, and Florida, where her ailing mother lives.
Applying for the homestead exemption in Maine is easy - you simply fill out a form and sign it. Florida, however, makes it more difficult: amongst other things, one must submit a notarized Declaration of Domicile and have a Florida drivers license or vehicle tags. Ann LePage had done both of these things.
Here's where the story gets interesting.
Soon after Paul unexpectedly won the GOP nomination on 8 June, Ann transferred her drivers license back to Maine. There was much speculation as to exactly why she would claim residency in Florida knowing that her husband was going to run for governor, and that the homestead exemption would only amount to around $500 in savings - hardly worth it.
But it turns out that the couple has one child currently at Florida State University, and another that recently graduated. The difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition at the school is huge - many thousands of dollars.
LePage was scheduled to have three press conferences today, and was asked about this at all three. Here are tapes from the last two:
LePage's claim that he was "never" on the deed to his Maine house was disproved by AJ Higgins with a phone call:
A.J. Higgins: "Why did you take you name off your real estate in Waterville?"
Paul LePage: "I never had it on, never had it on, ever."
But that's not what records at the Kennebec County registry of deeds show. And later in the day, a spokesman for the LePage campaign called MPBN to rescind LePage's statement and apologize.
Brent Littlefield also confirmed that, in fact, the candidate's name was on the Waterville deed at one time.
What's not on the second tape is this exchange LePage had with a reporter asking a question about his economic plan for the State, the reason for the press event:
When pressed by Maine Today Media reporter Rebecca Metzler at an Augusta news conference about where, specifically, he would cut the waste, LePage had this to say: "I think you need to read the plan first -- absorb the plan and then we can talk about it a little bit more."
Rebecca Metzler: "I read the plan. I didn't see any cuts outlined in it."
Paul LePage: "You didn't?"
Rebecca Metzler: "In your plan here?"
Paul LePage: "You understand economics? If you do, it's clear, it's very clear. If you really, truly understand you can see the direction we're going take the government. We're going take the government to a smaller government."
Calling a reporter stupid is always a great idea.
LePage has a long history of sweet little lies, one that seems to have become a pattern, and that it's only now under public scrutiny that it has become well known.
UPDATE: AJ Higgins of Maine Public Radio now reports that:
And the candidate is now acknowledging that two of his children did qualify for in-state tuition, at a considerable savings, at Florida State University. FSU has a number of resident tuition requirements -- including proof of receiving a Florida homestead exemption benefit.
There are some that will look at this and give LePage props for being clever. But many others will see this as gaming the system, ironic in that one of the main tenets of his campaign is welfare reform, including clamping down on those that game the system.