Fed up with Taxes turns in sigs, Health Coverage for Maine urges signers to remove names

Previous coverage: Fed up with taxes advertises in beer aisle; Fed up with Taxes: PAC report highlights; Fed up with taxes coalition launches signature campaign; Health Coverage for Maine launches campaign; The opponents to the people’s veto: PAC report highlights

Fed Up with Taxes, the group urging a People’s Veto of the recently passed beer, wine and soda taxes, turned in 90,000 signatures to the Secretary of State’s office today.

This is far more than the 55,087 signatures needed for the veto. Newell Auger, chairman of the group, said municipal clerks have validated 80 percent of the signatures.

The signatures were turned in two days before the July 17 deadline.

If the petition is approved, it will force a November vote on the taxes. Auger said his group is already preparing for a fall campaign.

 “Maine people now get to have the final say on these new taxes,” Augur said in a release. “Voters from all over the state eagerly signed our petitions because Maine families are struggling in this difficult economy. This is absolutely the worst time to be raising taxes on beverages, health care or anything else.”

Fed Up with Taxes faced opposition from Health Coverage for Maine, who urged people not to sign. Both groups have accused each other of representing special interests.

“A petition supported by the big national beverage companies could cause thousands of Maine children, families and small businesses to lose their health coverage,” reads the opposition’s Web site.

In their most recent release, Fed Up with Taxes criticized Health Coverage for Maine for being funded by primarily Connecticut hedge fund owner Donald Sussman.

“Our filing today is not just a victory for the people of Maine, it also represents a major defeat for the politicians and special interests who desperately tried to convince Maine people that raising our taxes even higher is a good thing,” Augur said. “We can certainly expect more of that as we head into November, but Maine people just aren’t buying it this time.”

Another group opposing the people’s veto, The League of Young Voters, sent out an e-mail informing their members that they could change their minds if they did sign the petition, and directing them to this link on Health Coverage for Maine’s Web site.

The group is also collecting stories from people who may have been misled in the petition gathering process.