The signal moment in the budget reform agenda of Gov. Rick Snyder came by a margin of one, as the state Senate voted 20-19 in May 2011 to approve a $1.7 billion tax cut for business and impose a variety of changes to Michigan’s personal income tax. Lt. Gov. Brian Calley cast a rare tie-breaking […]
2012 – Proposal 5
Posted inMichigan Government
Anti-Prop 5 ad gets 'no foul' from Michigan Truth Squad
MICHIGAN TRUTH SQUAD ANALYSIS: “Vote No on Proposal 5” Who: Defend Michigan Democracy, anti-Proposal 5 group What: radio ad, Internet/TV ad Truth Squad call: No foul Proposal 5 would add a constitutional amendment that would require any increase in statewide taxes – new taxes, expanding tax bases, or rising tax rates – be approved by […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Pro-Prop 5 campaign earns flagrant foul from Truth Squad
MICHIGAN TRUTH SQUAD ANALYSIS: “You Decide”, “Collision Course”, “Enough Spending” and “Not Rocket Science” Who: Michigan Alliance for Prosperity, Pro-Proposal 5 group What: Radio ads Truth Squad call: Flagrant foul The radio ads back Proposal 5, a Nov. 6 ballot proposal to add a constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds vote of the Legislature for any […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Proposal 5 seeks end to majority rule on taxes
The signal moment in the budget reform agenda of Gov. Rick Snyder came by a margin of one, as the state Senate voted 20-19 in May 2011 to approve a $1.7 billion tax cut for business and impose a variety of changes to Michigan’s personal income tax. Lt. Gov. Brian Calley cast a rare tie-breaking […]
Posted inMichigan Government
California is poster child for tax limitation rules, for advocates and critics alike
In the depths of the Great Depression, California lawmakers devised a bold prescription for balancing the state books. Called Proposition 1, the 1933 measure called for a complicated shift in taxes between state and local governments and boosted state spending for schools. Almost as an afterthought, it required a two-thirds vote in each chamber to […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Prop 5 advocates say taxes are high, but figures show Michigan in the middle
It is an article of faith among small government advocates that Michigan residents are overtaxed, especially in relation to other states. That might have been true in 1985, when Michigan ranked seventh in the nation with a state and local tax burden of 10.4 percent, compared to a national average of 9.7 percent. The data […]
Posted inPeter Luke: Eye on the Capitol
Proposal 5 would take political dysfunction in State Capitol to whole new level
Five years ago this week, Michigan lawmakers were hurtling toward their own fiscal cliff as a new budget year loomed with no spending and revenue agreement in sight. A month of legislative chaos marked by a desultory combination of boredom, tension, recrimination and fatigue ended in the early morning of Oct. 1 when lawmakers gave […]