“The Senate Republican’s ‘reverse-Robin-Hood’ road plan would increase taxes on low- and middle-income families in a failed attempt to fix our roads, while giving those at the top another tax cut. The complete opposite of my plan to equalize the percent of income we all contribute in state and local taxes by establishing a graduated income tax that cuts taxes for 95% of Michiganders. My plan would also generate up to $760 million per year in new revenue to help fix our roads.
“The Legislature has changed the income tax 8 times in the last 16 years. Now Senate Republicans are at it again, creating a very complicated process that leads to uncertainty every year and fails to fix the roads.
“What we need to do is fix our broken state and local tax system, which subsidizes the top 5 percent at everyone else’s expense. My plan would create Constitutionally-guaranteed equal taxation for everyone, prevent the Legislature from messing around with the income tax again, and goes a long way toward fixing our roads.”
State Rep. Jim Townsend is the ranking Democrat of the House Tax Policy Committee and represents the cities of Madison Heights and Royal Oak