3/25/13 - A bill to undo the changes to middle-class families that resulted from eliminating the Michigan Business tax is being backed by five Republican lawmakers, including a local state senator. In 2011, a bill backed by Governor Rick Snyder changed the state tax code to eliminate the business tax with the aim of improving Michigan's business environment. Other changes to the tax code had to be made in order to make up for the eliminated tax, including a first-ever tax on pensions in Michigan and limiting homestead property credits. A group of five senators, who voted against the changes, including Joe Hune of Hamburg Township, are now trying to get them repealed. They say the pension exemptions are crucial for retirees and homestead credits are particularly important to widows and widowers. At the time the tax was first proposed, Hune said he didn't expect it would pass, but indicated he had been clear with the Snyder Administration he could not support any new taxes. Senate Democrats, who have strongly opposed the tax from the beginning, have proposed similar legislation for nearly two years and a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, said the GOP bill "reeks of opportunism." (JK)
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