I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
Former State Rep. Steve Bieda admits that he crafted the often criticized Michigan Business Tax in 2007.
The bill he authored was eventually adopted by the state to replace the Single Business Tax, which was just as hated. The bill that passed was laden with incentives and loopholes — and tagged with a 22 percent surcharge on top.
The Chamber of Commerce hates the tax, and has developed a laundry list of complaints about it. The GOP candidates for governor have called for its repeal. Democratic candidates have said the tax needs to be fixed.
But Bieda, who is vying against former House colleague Frank Accavitti for the Democratic nomination for the 9th Senate district, says the tax is being unfairly criticized, reports the Macomb Daily.
“They just pulled out the playbook from the old SBT days. The problem I have with these people is they don’t talk about how they’re going to replace all that revenue,” he said. “Do they really want for only the mom-and-pop businesses to pay taxes or force only the citizens to pay taxes?”
Accavitti, while claiming he won’t run a negative campaign, calls the business tax the “Michigan Bieda Tax” and refers to Bieda as the “father” of the surcharge– which was created to replace a tax on services Gov. Jennifer Granholm wanted. The irony is, Accavitti voted to support the new tax while he was in the state House.
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter