LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – House and Senate Republican Leaders are calling for transparency and bipartisanship from Governor Gretchen Whitmer ahead of her full budget announcement today.  

Perhaps the greatest frustrations expressed at a press conference with House Minority Leader Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) and Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Township) pertained to the possibility of eliminating the automatic income tax rollback for Michiganders and the $180 one time checks. 

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“What we’ve seen of the [Democrat Tax Plan], from what we can tell,” Hall said, “It appears that they’re still going to eliminate this income tax trigger.” 

He also broke down how much the $180 checks would benefit families. 

“The Democrats have had to change and try to instead bribe the people of Michigan with these $180 checks, which amounts to 50 cents a day,” Hall added taking two quarters from his pocket, “I’ll just say what they’re trying to do is eliminate this income tax trigger which is going to give permanent relief to all people of Michigan.” 

Hall also claimed to fact check the Governor’s claim that families would save an average of $3,000 when he claimed that $2,300 of it comes from the Federal Earned Income Tax Credit. On average it’s $700 that the Michigan families will earn. 

“They could have passed this last week,” Nesbitt said, “But they seem to be holding this hostage for some reason that I don’t quite understand.” 

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According to Nesbitt, given the surplus of the state, it should not be that hard to pass a bill.  

“At the end of the day, The state is looking at a $9 billion dollar current surplus- $2 billion on-going surplus,” Nesbitt said, “Very different from 12 years ago when in 2011 we were facing a $2 billion annual deficit.  And so going into this year it shouldn’t be that hard to find a bipartisan compromise to pass real meaningful tax relief for working families and all seniors.” 

Hall also proposed an incentive for businesses through a research and development tax credit. 

“Michigan should lead the nation in innovation — researching complex issues, developing creative new technologies, and building the economy of the future with high-paying, high-tech careers,” Hall said. “With a strong research and development tax credit, Michigan can be first in the country for investments in cutting-edge engineering and research. Michigan is home to some of the most advanced automotive engineering and research in the world, and Michigan workers are also conducting pioneering research and development in life sciences, electronics, agriculture, and other industries — all in Michigan. With my plan for a research and development tax credit, Michigan will compete nationally and globally to attract future projects in research and development and engineering, accompanied by the best, high-paying careers, at businesses large and small.”

The plan would provide up to $500 million in research and development tax credits each year and would provide a credit worth 15% of a business’s federal research and development tax credit, up to a $2 million credit in a year.  If a business’s tax liability exceeded its eligible credit, then the credit would carry up to 15 years into the future.