LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – An area lawmaker is criticizing Governor Whitmer for reportedly attempting to block an automatic income tax cut set to take effect this year that is expected to return $700 million to Michigan families.
State Representative Sarah Lightner, Republican vice chair of the House Appropriations Committee, whose 45th State House District includes portions of Calhoun, Jackson and Kalamazoo counties, said Wednesday that “Michigan families have been begging for relief from historic inflation rates, and now that relief is finally on the horizon the governor is actively working to strip it away.”
Lightner say the income tax cut was expected to take place this year thanks to a large increase in surplus revenue coming into the state and a 2015 law put in place by Republicans that triggers an automatic reduction of the state income tax when general fund revenues significantly outpace inflation.
She says the governor has proposed a plan that will circumvent legislators by retroactively diverting revenues from the general fund into the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) fund, which is used to pay for corporate projects. Lightner says the maneuver will jeopardize the automatic tax cut while undermining key accountability procedures that were originally established for SOAR.
