LANSING, Mich. — Both Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Republican-led Michigan Legislature proposed new plans to cut taxes Thursday but remained at odds over the scope and immediacy of any relief.
Whitmer called for a one-time $500 rebate for “working families,” adding to her earlier proposals to gradually repeal a tax on retirement income and fully restore a credit for lower-wage earners. GOP lawmakers planned to quickly pass legislation that would permanently reduce the state income tax, increase the personal exemption, create a child tax credit, fully reinstate the break for low-income workers and expand a property tax credit to include partially disabled veterans.
Whitmer vetoed a similar $2.5 billion plan two months ago, saying it would reduce funding too much.
The steps Thursday came a day before Whitmer's administration and legislative economists are expected to revise tax revenue estimates in Michigan's two main accounts upward by billions of dollars for both this fiscal year and next. Pandemic-related budget surpluses are even larger now than was forecast in January.
“Let's take advantage of our additional revenue to put money in people's pockets and deliver real relief right now to taxpayers,” the governor wrote in a letter to legislative leaders, citing high inflation. Specifics on eligibility for the rebate were not released, nor was the price tag.
Gideon D'Assandro, spokesperson for House Speaker Jason Wentworth, said her proposed $500 rebate “is not nearly good enough for families struggling to buy groceries or gas with rising inflation. ... With billions of dollars in surplus revenue, state government can do better than this. Republicans are going to make working families a priority and deliver real savings.”
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