Graduated Income Tax Proposal Under Consideration by Democrats

Representative Jim Townsend (D-Royal Oak) has been pushing a proposal for a graduated income tax, which has been met with a mixture of support and opposition along party lines. According to Representative Townsend, the proposal would result in a tax cut for 95 percent of Michiganders who pay income tax. The proposal would replace the current 4.25 percent income tax with an incremental tax starting at 3 percent and increasing up to 10 percent for those who make more than $1 million annually.

Among those opposed to the proposal are legislative Republicans, meaning the proposal would have to be implemented through a ballot initiative. The business community, including the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, joins the Republicans in the state legislature in their strong opposition to the bill.

While few have officially supported the proposal, many groups have positive feelings and believe that if an official stance were to be taken it would be one of support. The Michigan AFL-CIO, Kalamazoo County Democrats, and the Oakland County Democrats are among those groups who have released statements of praise for the graduated income tax proposal.

Many prominent Democrats from groups who support the proposal believe that multiple issues supported by Democrats could end up on the ballot in 2016, leading to a higher turnout in Michigan. While the issue of graduated income tax has failed three times in the past, Joe DiSano, a Democrat strategist, believes those failures were a result of vague ballot initiatives.

posted by PAA Online , Friday, June 12, 2015 10:08 AM
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