LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Republican lawmakers and Governor Gretchen Whitmer are at odds over how to spend a surplus of state funds. They both want to give relief to taxpayers but differ in how and when to do it.
An additional $5 billion in projected tax revenues were revealed Friday in a review during the Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference.
Thursday, state lawmakers passed legislation aimed at longterm tax cuts. The bill cuts the personal income tax rate by $1,800; it creates a child tax credit; it fully reinstates the credit for low-income workers; and it revises and expands a break for disabled veterans.
House republicans say an average family of four would have a permanent $1,300 tax cut.
"It's a big tax cut, $2.5 billion," said State Rep. Matt Hall (R-Comstock Township). "It's a real plan, and it's permanent. And it'll help Michigan families and workers for years to come."
Hall chairs the House Tax Policy Committee and says he's interested in more tax cuts and that this is just the beginning.
"Because we have a lot of money sitting around, more than anybody's ever seen before in state government. And so it is sustainable, and we can afford to give it back to the people and we should give it back to the people because it's their money, not the government's."
The tax cuts wouldn't take effect until 2023. The governor has vetoed a previous tax cut and is expected to do the same here.
The same day the legislation was passed, the governor proposed a one-time $500 rebate for "working families" that would go out immediately.
Representative Hall called it a one-time gimmick right before an election.
The Governor's office responded Friday, questioning how a tax cut proposal a year from now is better than the Governor's plan to send $500 as inflation impacts everyone right now.
A spokesperson sent this statement:
"Governor Whitmer has always said she will work with anyone who wants to get things done and put Michiganders first. With rising costs at the grocery store and at the gas pump, the best way we can put Michiganders first is by delivering immediate relief to working families across the state. That's why Governor Whitmer put forward the MI Tax Rebate Right Now plan to return $500 to working families. In the spirit of continued bipartisan collaboration with the legislature, we are eager to sit down with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to negotiate details for the plan that everyone can agree on. But one thing must be certain: we believe it should deliver immediate relief to families who have worked their tail off, paid their dues, and could use a little extra help right now – not a year from now. If the legislature takes up this proposal with the same urgency that Michiganders deserve, this money could begin hitting bank accounts or mailboxes in the very near future."
