LANSING – Senate Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing), House Democratic LeaderTim Greimel (D-Auburn Hills) and other members of the Senate and House Democratic Caucuses joined today to expose the real impact of Snyder’s budget proposals that have been built on school cuts and tax increases. Democrats also questioned the Governor’s election year about-face and the motives behind many of the budget recommendations he is expected to make tomorrow.
“While the Governor is keen on branding himself ‘The Comeback Kid,’ he has proven to be nothing more than what we knew him to be all along—an accountant compelled to cook the books in order to tell his own version of the truth,” said Senate Democratic Leader Whitmer. “You don’t need to look any further than the nearest teacher, student, parent or school board member to witness just how hard our schools have been hit under this administration. The governor’s proposed increase will be a drop in the bucket in comparison to the $2 billion his administration has robbed our schools of over the past three years.”
In the governor’s budget presentation on Wednesday, he is expected to continue to distort the record about his administration’s cuts to the School Aid Fund in past budgets and roll out several proposals that are little more than politically-motivated pandering. The Governor is also expected to tout a budget surplus that was created by cutting school funding and raising taxes, and propose that it be channeled into meager tax relief that is designed more for political cover than economic revitalization.
“The hard-working men and women of Michigan deserve a budget that reflects their priorities, not the priorities of big corporations and the politicians they fund,” House Democratic Leader Greimel said. “In recent years, those big corporations were given a massive tax break that middle-class families and seniors paid for through higher taxes. Those tax breaks failed to bring the jobs we were promised, and it’s time for tax relief for Michigan families. Our budget must include the elimination of the retirement tax and the restoration of the Homestead Property Tax Credit, the Child Tax Deduction, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and numerous other tax credits and deductions Michigan families have relied on to make ends meet.”
The legislative Democrats noted that the minor income tax change introduced by legislative Republicans equates to 35 cents per day for the average Michigan family. In 2010, prior to the Republican elimination of many tax credits, the typical Michigan family of three had a total state tax liability of $38 after tax credits. Following the Republican tax changes, that same family owed $1,476 in 2013. Rolling back the income tax would only save this family $128.17, still leaving their tax liability 35 times greater than it was in 2010.