Capitol protests to ramp up this week

Groups as varied as the American Association of Retired People, labor unions and the Michigan League for Human Services are launching a series of protests and rallies this week to challenge Republican Gov. Rick Snyder’s budget proposals and bills that would weaken unions.

On Monday, Progress Michigan will hold a series of press conferences across the state highlighting the impacts of Snyder’s budget proposals, including state revenue sharing cuts, education cuts and more. The press conferences, which will feature local elected leaders, Chamber of Commerce members, union members and more, will take place in Mt. Clemens, Monroe, Marshall, Detroit, Birmingham, Lansing, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Saginaw and Kalamazoo Monday.

The press conference will precede a protest planned Tuesday by the AARP and the Michigan League for Human Services. Those two groups are worried about budget proposals by the Snyder administration to tax retirement incomes and to eliminate the Earned Income Tax Credit, respectively.

The AARP issued the following statement as part of an action alert released over the weekend:

AARP believes this budget is an all out attack on older Michiganders. We believe what our members are getting in this plan is a much higher tax bill and reduced services. This plan would raise taxes on 1.1 million seniors in exchange for a business tax cut, while also reducing spending for public schools and universities, police and fire fighters, local road repairs and other vital programs and services. This is unfair and unacceptable!

Meanwhile, on Monday, the Michigan League for Human Services will launch a video series called “I am the Earned Income Tax Credit.” The series will feature four Michigan residents who rely on the EITC to pay for everyday things. In addition to the videos, the group also launched a new website addressing the issue.

While lawmakers have been clear that they oppose the pension tax in Snyder’s proposal, they have been relatively mute in reference to the EITC. Judy Putnam, communications director for the MILHS told the Michigan Messenger, “Elected officials seem very attuned to needs of senior voter but not always to the needs of poor people. Ironically, the polling done by the Detroit Free Press/WXYZ shows that more voters oppose eliminating the EITC than are opposed to taxing pensions yet much of the media/discussion has been on pensions. The AARP is very effective in getting its members to make calls to lawmakers.”

Putnam says the AARP planned the Tuesday rally, but invited the League and other groups to join.

“The Snyder plan reduces business taxes by 86 percent and increases personal income taxes 31 percent, mostly by eliminating the EITC and increasing taxes on seniors,” she says. “Our groups agree that vulnerable working families, most of them with children, and seniors should not bear the brunt of a dramatic tax decreases to business. Studies show that Michigan’s business tax is average — we’re not a high-tax state. Part of the efforts are to keep groups from being pitted against each other.”

Putnam says there are other ways aside from Snyder’s proposal to address the budget deficit.

“Michigan should modernize its tax system by expanding the sales tax to services and adopting a graduated income tax for starters. These are ways to capture the growth in the economy and have a revenue base that keeps up with inflation,” Putnam says. “There are other ways — we haven’t raised the beer tax in 50 years for example — but sales tax and graduated income tax are the big ones. We also have $34 billion in tax expenditures — credits, exemptions, deductions and the like — that can be reviewed. Starting with the one for low-income people (the EITC) is targeting those who can least afford it.”

Snyder has proposed freezing income taxes at their current rate, rather than allowing them to fall back to the 2007 level, but that tax is a flat tax.

The League is also worried about a proposal to “reform” welfare that would put a life time limit on benefits and require drug testing for those receiving benefits from the state. The lifetime limits would not apply to those who are disabled, Republicans have said.

“There is new research that shows the devastating, lifelong impact on very young children growing up in poverty. The EITC plan alone will dump 25,000 people in working families, including 14,000 children, into poverty, and worsen poverty for 700,000 more people. At a time when we have double-digit unemployment, it seems heartless to pull these kind of supports for very vulnerable people. It also seems foolish,” Putnam says. “You can pay more now or later. New research shows increasing family income has a very positive impact on young children and their later educational attainment. Ending the EITC and imposing new limits on families on cash assistance will hurt these families obviously. We know that almost all of families on long-term cash assistance are working in addition to receiving he Family Independence Program grant. They are doing what we ask them to do.”

In addition to the protest on Tuesday, unions are planning a protest on Wednesday. A Facebook group called “Invite Michael Moore to the Capitol” has also formed to encourage filmmaker and Traverse City resident Michael Moore to Lansing for the protests. Moore’s staff are not certain if he will be in Lansing or not.