LANSING, Mich. (AP) — House Republicans have significantly revised their income tax cut plan, proposing to drop the 4.25 percent rate to 3.9 percent over four years and no longer calling for the tax to be phased out entirely over decades.
Legislation that cleared a committee last week would have cut the tax to 3.9 percent in 2018. Under changes to the bill made Tuesday, the tax would drop by one-tenth of a percentage point annually from 2018 through 2020 and 0.05 percentage points in 2021.
A final vote on the measure was not taken, as it appeared majority Republicans did not yet have enough support to send the bill to the GOP-controlled Senate.
Gov. Rick Snyder has expressed “serious concerns” with cutting the income tax.
The Republican governor issued a statement Tuesday night saying he appreciates that House leaders took seriously his concerns. But he says he still has “a billion dollars’ worth of concerns because there has been no plan presented as to how this will affect residents and their communities statewide.”
Snyder notes that reducing the 4.25 percent income tax to 3.9 percent over four years would reduce revenues by $500 million in 2019 and more than $1 billion by 2022 – years when more money will be spent to improve roads and bridges.
