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Clear Taxing & Spending

Tax bellwether: will Michigan follow Oregon?

January 28, 2010 – 10:18 am

Tremors from a big vote in Oregon Tuesday can be felt in Lansing.
"Oregon voters bucked decades of anti-tax and anti-Salem sentiment Tuesday, raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy to prevent further erosion of public schools and other state services," the Oregonian reported. "The tax measures passed easily, with late returns showing a 54 percent [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in Fresh Thoughts | Comments (6)

Budget reforms and Lions fans

January 14, 2010 – 11:00 am

The Lansing State Journal recently quoted me on budget reform… "I thought (budget reform) was crucial for the past four years. Every year, I think this has to be the year, and every year I'm wrong. It's like being a Lions fan."
Remember the governor's commission's of veteran bipartisan budget experts who recommended everything from cuts [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in Accountability, Fresh Thoughts | Comments (0)

An olive leaf on tax policy

December 10, 2009 – 11:36 am

The AARP is a dogged advocate for senior citizens. But this dogged advocate is setting a collaborative tone on Michigan tax policy.
Steve Gools, AARP Michigan senior state director, recently did a pretty rare thing in Lansing — he suggested his interest group was willing to step outside its own interest and sacrifice.
Michigan State University's policy [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in Fresh Thoughts | Comments (2)

SPECIAL REPORT: Other states take run at beer taxes (but come up short)

December 3, 2009 – 11:56 am

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the latest in the Center's ongoing series of special reports on forward-looking, statewide public policy issues.
By Melissa Preddy
In 1966, "That Girl" and "The Monkees" debuted on TV, gasoline cost 32 cents a gallon, the Dow Jones industrial average closed at 785 and Michigan's beer excise tax was 2 cents a can.
Forty-three [...]

By The Center for Michigan | Also posted in Fresh Thoughts | Comments (6)

SPECIAL REPORT: Numbers every Michigan voter needs to know in 2010

November 13, 2009 – 11:05 am

If you are willing to invest fifteen minutes to read the Center's new issue guide on state taxes and spending, you will have fresh understanding of the public purse and Michigan's future prospects for tax reform and delivery of such basic services as schools, police and fire protection, and the social safety net.
Even more importantly, you'll [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in Fresh Thoughts | Comments (2)

Tax breaks are easier to give than take away

October 15, 2009 – 1:08 pm

By Ken Sikkema
Around Lansing, there's a growing sense that tax breaks doled out by the Legislature over the past few decades are worth looking at as part of the solution to Michigan’s ongoing budget crisis.
The official name for such tax breaks is “tax expenditures” and Michigan has about $36 billion worth. (Click here for the [...]

By The Center for Michigan | Also posted in Fresh Thoughts, The Center at Work | Comments (1)

Center "action group" to tackle tax reform in November

October 9, 2009 – 11:47 am

Businesses concerned about their future tax liabilities and schools trying to figure out their budgets be damned.
Michigan's budget, or lack thereof, remains a murky mess of continuations, potential future supplements, and ideas passed in one chamber or another, but not by both and not with a governor's signature.
The House passed $160 million or so in [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in Fresh Thoughts, The Center at Work | Comments (7)

SPECIAL REPORT: Other states struggle with tax changes, too

September 30, 2009 – 6:07 pm

By Melissa Preddy
Michigan isn't the only state struggling to balance its books during a recession without turning off business growth.
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) projects a $142 billion aggregate budget shortfall in the 2010 fiscal year, despite efforts to cut costs and increase revenue. Cash-strapped legislatures coast to coast are grappling with the [...]

By The Center for Michigan | Also posted in Fresh Thoughts, The Center at Work | Comments (0)

More on tax reform nationwide

September 30, 2009 – 6:06 pm

Here's a quick look at dozens of tax changes in state governments across the country this year. A few of particular note…
Illinois raised $50 million by raising taxes on sports and energy drinks.
Kansas killed its film tax credit for two years.
California raised both sales and income taxes.
Indiana and Ohio haven't raised any yet.
In Pennsylvania, lawmakers [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in Fresh Thoughts, The Center at Work | Comments (1)

Reform coalition gets money-saving win on prison boot camp

September 30, 2009 – 6:05 pm

Michigan taxpayers saved more than $30 million per year under a deal reached Wednesday to keep a prison boot camp open near Chelsea.
Closing the camp would have added costs to the state budget because boot camp prisoners would have had to serve longer sentences in higher-security prisons despite recent data suggesting boot camp prisoners were [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in Accountability, Fresh Thoughts, The Center at Work | Comments (0)

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