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twotap
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- In a Press Release this week: House Republicans proposed an alternative to the recently approved service tax, which is scheduled to take effect Dec. 1. The caucus offered a detailed plan to repeal the harmful tax and restructure government to fill the budget gap so that no tax increase is necessary.
The service tax is not the only option Michigan has right now, nor is it by any means the best option, said House Republican Leader Craig DeRoche. Lawmakers have before them a tough choice make reforms to state government or kill more jobs. Lansing must refocus on providing better services at a lower price to the taxpayer.
The reforms House Republicans propose eliminates $677 million from the state budget, well above the $614 million the service tax is expected to generate for this fiscal year.
The state shouldnt fund a 10-percent increase in government spending when taxpayers are losing their jobs, said Minority Vice-Chair of Appropriations Dan Acciavatti. There is no faster way to accelerate Michigans downward economic spiral than to tax the few areas in the economy showing growth.
The House Republican reforms for the Fiscal Year 2007-08 budget include:
Five percent legislator pay cut - $600,000
Michigan Business Tax transition windfall - $219,400,000
Reexamine state employee benefits - $100,000,000
Department of Information Technology reduction - $10,000,000
Competitively bid corrections services- $50,000,000
Charge prisoners more for goods purchased in prison - $3,000,000
Streamline the Department of Community Health - $92,833,331
Department of Human Services reform - $109,499,998
Stop new appropriations to 21st Century Jobs program - $75,000,000
Eliminate the Community Service Commission Grant to train volunteers - $3,190,000
Remove the increase to the Treasury Department to implement the new taxes - $9,000,000
Continued reduction of public transit funding - $5,000,000
These are not easy reforms, but what Michigan needs most is leaders willing to make tough decisions to fix Michigans economy, said state Rep. John Stakoe. Our proposal and the eight and a half percent increase in government spending both show that the Democrats did not need to raise taxes. Rather, we need to respect the taxpayer by reforming government and fighting for jobs in Michigan.
DeRoche said: Reforms and structural changes will have to be made to change the way government operates, both immediately and in the long run. We are asking for support on this repeal because everyone realizes the harmful effects this tax will have on our economy. |
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Sun Nov 04, 2007 9:24 am |
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Adam
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Some of these proposed cuts would eliminate goverment employees. Granholm and the democrats would not allow that. Government employees are the most powerful lobbying group in the state.
If we did things right I'm not convinved we would even need a state income tax except that most liberals and Republicans feel good about supporting the war on drugs. |
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Adam
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Mysearchisover.com
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FB
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Jobs
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Sun Nov 04, 2007 1:01 pm |
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