Michigan Senate raises taxes on seniors, working families

Photo by Beenish Ahmed

The Michigan State Senate voted May 12 to raise taxes on seniors and working families to pay for a $1.8 billion tax break for corporate special interests like insurance companies, oil companies and Wall Street banks. More than a quarter of the Senate Republican caucus voted to reject the measure, forcing a 19-19 tie, which was broken by Republican Lt. Gov. Brian Calley.

According to a recent poll conducted by EPIC-MRA, 61 percent of Michigan voters oppose the plan to remove the income tax exemption for pension income, and 66 percent of voters oppose eliminating the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Let’s hope this majority remembers the Republicans’ vote to tax their pensions come November 2012.

“Michigan seniors and working families just got stuck with the bill for a huge corporate tax giveaway that even leading Republicans say has ‘no guarantee’ of creating more jobs,” said Zack Pohl, spokesman for the We Are the People coalition.

During a town hall meeting last month, House Speaker Jase Bolger, R-Marshall, was asked what the Legislature was doing to create jobs. Bolger responded “I never said I would ... nor did I say the budget would.”

Support surges for Ohio referendum on SB 5 
Opponents of Senate Bill 5 – legislation that takes away public workers' collective bargaining rights – are gathering signatures to put SB 5 to a referendum vote this November. In just one month, they’ve already collected 214,399 of the 231,149 needed for the ballot initiative. In a May 20 press release, We Are Ohio said they have more than 10,000 volunteers circulating petitions and are struggling to keep up with demand.

“The unprecedented level of support from communities all across the state is staggering,” said Melissa Fazekas, spokeswoman for We Are Ohio.

The Ohio Fraternal Order of Police recently rescinded its endorsement of state Sen. Shannon Jones, who sponsored SB 5.

Ohio GOP won’t tax private prison owners  
Ohio Republicans are pushing to privatize the state’s prisons, ostensibly selling it as a way to increase revenue without tax hikes. Problem is Ohio’s taxpayers will be footing the bill, since the House Republican plan exempts the private prison owners from paying sales tax, income tax and commercial tax. All they’ll pay is property tax, leading Ohio voters to question why Republican lawmakers think it’s unfair to tax a private company’s profits from privatizing state assets and government jobs that pay good wages and benefits. 

Also in Ohio, the Republican-controlled House Commerce and Labor Committee advanced a proposal May 12 to restrict state funding for construction projects that require union labor.

New Hampshire governor vetoes right to work 
Override vote expected

On May 11, Gov. John Lynch vetoed HB 474, a bill that would have turned New Hampshire into a right-to-work (RTW) state. The bill goes back to the House for an override vote, possibly on May 25.

In vetoing the bill Lynch said the bill is driven by outside interest groups.

“There is no justification in this case for state government to interfere with the right of private businesses to freely negotiate and enter into contracts with their employees,” Lynch said. “There is no evidence that this legislation will offer any benefits to New Hampshire’s economy or workers.”

In fact, the evidence points in the opposite direction. In states with so-called RTW laws, workers make an average of $5,000 less per year, 21 percent more people lack health insurance and workplace deaths are 51 percent higher than states without the law. The 22 so-called RTW states have higher unemployment rates and lower average wages than New Hampshire. 

The governor also has said that New Hampshire has one of the fastest growing economies and lowest unemployment rates. “In states with a right-to-work law, workers on average have a lower standard of living, bringing home less in their paychecks and going without health insurance more frequently,” he wrote in a letter to lawmakers.

CQ Press has backed up that argument. They rank New Hampshire the most livable state in the nation, based on median household income, state business tax climate, employment, educational factors and crime rate.

The Republican-controlled legislature in Concord is not alone in introducing legislation aimed at hurting families. Since January, Republican-led legislatures in 14 states have introduced proposals – driven by national outside interest groups – aimed at dismantling unions in those states.  

The real motive behind efforts to pass the so-called RTW bills is to create a country without unions – where no one is left to stand up for workers when Wall Street executives outsource jobs or cut workers’ wages and benefits. 

Politicians and CEOs know that unions are a check on corporate greed, and they are working to weaken or eliminate worker organizations in order to increase their profits. 

The good news is nobody was fooled, and smart lawmakers in many of those states rightly have rejected such over-reaching proposals. Like Lynch, they have rejected outside national interest groups’ efforts to interfere with the right of private business to freely negotiate and enter into contracts with their employees.

Wisconsin recall efforts move ahead 
Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board (GAB) has officially verified enough recall petition signatures filed for Sen. Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse. An independent state review of the petitions to recall Sens. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon, and Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac, found the signatures to be valid, but the GAB is still reviewing challenges submitted by both senators before the full board is scheduled to order another election May 23. When approved, all elections will take place July 12, unless there is a primary. The last recall drive, targeting Democrat Julia Lassa, has failed.

But the Republicans may pull out some last-minute maneuvers. Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller, D-Monona, told the Capital Times he would not put it past the state’s GOP to push through a redistricting plan before the recall elections take place.

Not the least bit discouraged by public outcry over the governor’s budget bill that takes away collective bargaining rights for teachers and other public servants, Wisconsin’s conservatives are piling on to Walker’s anti-union agenda. State Rep. Bob Ziegelbauer (and Independent who voted for Walker’s bill) introduced legislation May 10 that would strip police officers and firefighters of their collective bargaining rights.