11/13/2008
CONTACT: Charles Owens, 517-485-3409 or Jason Brewer, 202-406-4435
Small business pays while lawmakers play
LANSING, Mich. -- The state's leading small business association, the National Federation of Independent Business, today urged state lawmakers to halt action in the lame-duck session on any bills that seek to give taxpayer handouts to favored businesses or industries. The call came after legislation (SB 1264) advanced in the Senate Finance Committee that would grant refundable credits against the Michigan Business Tax to only one business in the state.
"Enough is enough," said Charlie Owens, NFIB/Michigan state director. "The Legislature continues to give favored tax treatment to a few specific businesses and industries with money it does not have, all the while denying needed tax revisions that would benefit all businesses."
Owens pointed out that there are bills in the Legislature at this moment that would correct the gross receipts base issue with the MBT and eliminate the MBT surcharge that are more important than any bill that grants favored tax status to a select few at the expense of the entire business community.
"These issues need to be sorted out by the new Legislature in 2009 and not acted on in the haste of the lame-duck session," said Owens. "We need a coherent business tax policy, not this piecemeal handout approach, if we are ever going to turn this state around."
