Your proposal gives no help for families this year. Our proposal—the Governor’s proposal—does. Under your plan, the average Michigan family making between $75,000 and $100,000 per year would get less than $200 per year in benefit from the income tax cut. A millionaire would get $18,000 per year; a multi-millionaire, $175,000 per year; a billionaire, $3.5 million per year. Under your income tax cut, a billionaire gets a yacht, a millionaire gets a new boat, and a family gets a dinghy. In the middle of a crisis, you’re going to use that as an excuse to give those who are the richest among us the largest part of a tax cut—but not even until next year.
These families can’t wait. It’s time for us to be worried about them. We can no longer subsidize tax cuts for the wealthy. We can no longer give the wealthy cookies and the rest of us crumbs. We can no longer wait until next year after an election after you promised them to do something. This proposal is simple. Let’s give taxpayers their money back right now. Let’s give working families their money back right now. No more politics, no more giveaways to the richest among us. Money for those who are suffering right now. I ask you to vote “yes” on my substitute.
Senator Shirkey’s statement, in which Senators Bumstead, Daley, VanderWall, Victory, LaSata, Runestad, Barrett, Wozniak, MacDonald, Zorn, Theis, Huizenga, Outman and Bizon concurred, is as follows:
As a matter of fact, there is further discussion.
The pandering effort of this Governor to try and cover up for all the pain and suffering she has been complicit with over the last two years, most recently with our President, in creating the inflation that we’re fighting today is amazing. The last-minute effort to try and interrupt an ongoing tax policy that will help families more now than their suggestion is, and it will be ongoing.
Let me tell you and share with you exactly what their proposal would do. It would remove an increase in personal exemption for everybody, ongoing. It would remove an increase in personal exemption and an inflation adjuster for our seniors, ongoing. It would remove the reduction in income tax rate from 4.25 to 4, ongoing. It would remove the increase in the EITC—something that these people who we’re trying to help because of the damage being done by this administration and that in Washington, D.C.—would remove that, ongoing. And it would remove a $500 non-refundable child credit, ongoing.
Let there be no mistake—our plan is sustainable, it’s ongoing. It will result in $1,300 per year for the average family of two kids, ongoing, not just a one-time $500 attempt to pay off. I’m getting sick and tired of this administration not acknowledging their effort and their role in what has been created for the citizens of this state, and quite frankly the rest of the nation. There is no reason why we should be paying $4.69 per gallon for gas, but for the policies of this administration in D.C., complicit with the policies of this administration in Michigan. All I have to do is cite Line 5, and it goes on and on and on. Now, you can play funny games and try to get press releases that you tried to get some money right now. Well, who’s to say we’re done? We are only beginning. But I’m damn proud of what this body is about to pass and we are not done yet.
The following bill was read a third time:
Senate Bill No. 784, entitled
A bill to amend 1893 PA 206, entitled “The general property tax act,” by amending section 7b (MCL 211.7b), as amended by 2013 PA 161.
The question being on the passage of the bill,
The bill was passed, a majority of the members serving voting therefor, as follows: