BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 20, 2023
A new attack on the grocery chain Whole Foods has united lawmakers who rarely agree and attracted a similarly wide-ranging group of opponents, with some calling the idea an abuse of the tax code. Whole Foods Market, the Amazon-owned company with a single Maine store in Portland, has become a target of the state’s iconic lobster fishery and its supporters across the political spectrum since it stopped selling Maine lobster in November, citing sustainability concerns. In a Maine-flavored riff on punishments being tried by state-level politicians across the country, a group of influential lawmakers is trying to repeal a tax break for Whole Foods. On the other side, the Mills administration and tax watchers argue it would be hard to administer or call it an inappropriate use of a tax policy.