FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News from Progress Michigan
December 1, 2016
Contact: Sam Inglot, 616-916-0574, sam@progressmichigan.org
Progress Michigan to Michigan Senate: What the Hell?
Income tax collection bill package needs to stop in Michigan House
LANSING — Progress Michigan is calling on House Democrats to do the right thing and reject a bill package that would allow a handful of corporations to siphon income taxes from their employees directly into their coffers. The Republican-controlled Michigan Senate approved the bill package on Wednesday with help from every one of the Senate Democrats.
The bills in question are Senate Bills 1153, 1154, and 1155. According to the Detroit Free Press “the Senate Fiscal Agency analysis on the bill package says it would reduce general fund and School Aid Fund revenue by a maximum of $250 million per year, with $190.5 million lost to the general fund and $59.5 million lost to the School Aid Fund.”
“We’ve come to expect Republicans to toe the line for corporations, but frankly, the fact that Democrats joined the Republicans in passing this through the Senate is a betrayal to the values they regularly profess. Members of the House from both sides of the aisle need to stop this bill dead in its tracks,” said Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan. “This is not what people voted for. Elected officials and candidates — Democrats in particular — have promised they would take Wall Street and big business to task, but this bill does the exact opposite. Corporations should not have the power to usurp the role of taxation from the public sphere. Those tax dollars are supposed to pay for roads, schools, health services, and public safety. They should not be used to boost profits for corporations. Michigan has given the farm away to corporations over the last six years of total Republican control and it’s been disastrous for working families and communities around the state. Working people around the state spoke loud and clear in November that they want leaders who stand up for them — not wealthy special interests — and Progress Michigan will, even when their elected leaders won’t.”
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