Whitmer Blasts Republicans
Lansing – Senate Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer blasted Republican leaders for introducing legislation today to repeal the Personal Property Tax without giving schools, communities or families any details about how that money would be replaced. Whitmer said it was the latest in a line of Republican legislation that blindly hands money over to corporations while asking schools, families and seniors to sacrifice further.
“Republicans already rushed through a wholesale overhaul of Michigan’s tax structure that gave a $1.8 billion handout to large corporations last year, and despite lacking even a single metric to claim that their plan has created a single job or a dollar of economic growth in our state, today they are taking us back down that same misguided road,” said Whitmer. “This legislation would take nearly $1 billion more away from our schools, our public safety and our neighborhoods and hand it over to businesses with no questions asked, no promises of new jobs and no metrics of success required.”
Whitmer said today’s action raises a serious question of whether the Republicans are working to represent Michigan’s working families or billion dollar corporations instead.
“Do Republican values lie in lining the pockets of those already at the top, or extending a helping hand to those trying to get back on their feet?” asked Whitmer. “This legislation is guaranteed to raise taxes on Michigan’s families while additionally cutting the most critical services our communities rely on.”
Senator Whitmer added that while many members of the Democratic caucus support altering or eliminating the Personal Property Tax, the haphazard legislation introduced by the Republicans today is simply the wrong approach to accomplish that.
“We simply cannot solve our state’s problems by blindly handing out money to corporations and hoping they’ll create new jobs here,” added Whitmer. “Our Michigan 2020 Plan would take those same resources Republicans are looking to tap into, expired tax credits, and create the educated workforce here in Michigan that will actually drive job creation to our state.
“The choice is simple: kids or corporations. I know where my caucus and I stand, and based on the legislation they’ve introduced today, I know exactly where my Republican colleagues stand as well. Not with us, not with Michigan’s families, and certainly not with Michigan’s school kids.”
The Senate Democrats have additional information on the consequences of the legislation introduced by Republicans today online at www.senatedems.com/ppt.