“Today, Michigan middle-class families and senior citizens know all too well how the Republican tax increases have unfairly burdened them,” said Greimel. “It’s time Republicans realize how much damage their tax policies have done, and work with us to support bills giving much-needed tax relief to struggling families and seniors.”

Last session, the Republican-led Legislature made severe changes to the Michigan tax code that punished middle-class families and seniors, including a new tax on retirement income, eliminating the Homestead Property Tax Credit for many homeowners, a drastic cut to the Earned Income Tax Credit and the elimination of the $600 per-child tax deduction and tax credits for charitable donations. These changes were made to fund nearly $2 billion in tax breaks for big corporations, effectively making Michigan’s low-income and middle-class families pay for a handout to big corporations. The new taxes took effect in 2012, and many taxpayers became aware of them for the first time as they filed their state income taxes this year.

“I have heard repeatedly from residents in my district that they are shocked and outraged over the tax changes that are directly hurting seniors who have no way to make it up and struggling families who are trying to make ends meet,” said Rep. Abed. “From emails, letters, calls to my office and talking to people at my coffee hours, I have heard over and over again how hard the tax changes have hit them. Many have had their return dramatically cut and some even end up owing taxes. This is money seniors and families were relying on to pay property taxes, make needed repairs and catch up on bills. Michiganders deserve better than to lose money so that big corporations can have tax breaks.”

Over the past two months, Democratic state representatives heard the concerns of struggling Michiganders during their Real State of Our State Listening Tour. After the tour’s completion, legislators used this feedback to construct Michigan’s Middle Class Plan, including the following tax initiatives:

• Repeal the new tax on senior retirement income
• Require employers to inform employees about the Earned Income Tax Credit
• Restore the Earned Income Tax Credit to 11 percent in the first year
• Restore the Homestead Property Tax Credit
• Restore the child deduction

Along with these initiatives, the House Democrats pledge to continue fighting against tax increases on the middle class and seniors every time a new, harmful tax is introduced to the Legislature, and to keep Michigan taxpayers aware of the changes through a series of town halls held across the state.

“The tax relief plan that we are proposing will bring real relief to Michigan families,” said Rep. Cochran. “If we want a strong economy in our state then our middle-class families and senior citizens have to be able to afford to live here. It’s important to pass our bills because they will put money back in the hands of our families so they can take care of their needs.”

LANSING — House Democratic Leader Tim Greimel (D-Auburn Hills) and state Representative Rashida H. Tlaib (D-Detroit), Democratic vice chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, voiced their strong opposition to the budget proposal that was voted out of the committee today. The budget covers funding to state departments for the coming fiscal year.

“A budget is a priorities document, and, once again, House Republicans are showing us just how misguided their priorities are. This budget hurts middle-class families, puts children at risk, and endangers our environment,” Greimel said. “These aren’t just numbers we’re talking about; real, hard-working Michiganders are going to feel the brunt of this budget’s devastating cuts and its failure to adequately invest in education or to restore basic tax fairness.”

Included in the House Republicans’ proposal are refusals to accept federal dollars to expand Medicaid and Healthy Kids Dental, proposals that Gov. Rick Snyder endorsed; denying funding increases for infant mortality prevention and the Office of the Great Lakes; and cutting child welfare staff and programming. Democrats offered amendments to correct these and many other egregious proposals, but almost all were voted down. Even amendments that would have saved the state money, such as capping compensation and benefits for state department directors to be no higher than the governor’s salary, were denied.

“About 400,000 Michigan residents will miss out on health care without the Medicaid expansion. Overburdened DHS caseworkers mean children in the foster system will slip through the cracks. Those are just two of the terrible effects of this Republican budget,” Tlaib said. “I am appalled that some representatives could vote for a budget like this, and I am truly worried by the grave consequences of this budget if it becomes law.”

In contrast, the House Democrats’ budget plan stands up for families and provides services that Michiganders need. The Democratic proposal provides needed tax relief to Michigan’s middle-class families, invests in education at all levels from pre-school through college, increases funding for veterans services by $16 million, including restoring necessary maintenance funding to veterans homes, which Republicans reduced; increases revenue sharing so that local communities can fund public safety ; and retains $50 million in film credits so the industry can continue to grow and create jobs.

“My Democratic colleagues and I will continue pushing to provide tax relief to Michigan families and to invest in education,” Greimel said. “Those are the keys to strengthening our economy and giving all Michiganders an opportunity to succeed.”

LANSING — State Representatives Rashida H. Tlaib (D-Detroit), Brandon Dillon (D-Grand Rapids), Sam Singh (D-East Lansing) and Adam F. Zemke (D-Ann Arbor) voiced their opposition to the proposed budget for Michigan’s K-12 schools and colleges. Despite their objections, the budget was voted out of the Appropriations Committee and heads to consideration in the full House.

“By failing to properly invest in education, Republicans are creating a long-term liability for our children,” said Tlaib, the Democratic vice chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee. “A good education is a priority for families across the state. Unfortunately, some in Lansing don’t share that priority.”

Although House Republicans will claim they are putting a small amount of money back into schools, this budget takes hundreds of millions of dollars out of the School Aid Fund, and it contains no increase in the per-pupil foundation allowance, meaning there’s no reversal for the drastic cuts that schools have faced over the last two years. In the Democrats’ proposed budget, funding is increased by $320 per pupil. Additionally, Republicans decreased funding for Great Start programs relative to the executive recommendation, meaning fewer kids will be eligible for early education. However, Democrats have proposed raising early education funding by $65 million.

“After two years of taking out nearly $2 billion for K-12 schools, the House Republican budget still fails to provide any real increases for school districts,” said Dillon, Democratic vice chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on School Aid. “Gov. Snyder and House Republicans have done major damage to our schools over the last two years, and this budget does nothing to repair that.”

The higher education budget also increases by a mere 2.2 percent. But much of that funding is tied to various performance metrics, and some universities that legally negotiated labor contracts will see a 15 percent cut in their funding. Additionally, the budget retains language that places onerous restrictions on research and denies health care benefits to university employees’ partners and their dependents.

“Our students take note of policies like this when deciding where to go to school. If we keep this backward mindset in place, we stand to lose some of the best and brightest minds of our state,” said Singh, Democratic vice chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher Education. “The scientific research that universities conduct not only helps attract and retain talented individuals, it draws businesses. We should be encouraging more research, not stifling it.”

The community colleges budget also ties funding to a series of performance standards. Zemke, the Democratic vice chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Community Colleges, offered amendments to increase the overall funding in the budget, and to replace money taken from the School Aid Fund with money from the General Fund, so the School Aid Fund could be freed up for use in K-12 schools, its intended purpose.

“I’m disappointed that my colleagues chose not to adopt these amendments. It’s critical that we provide proper funding to community colleges,” Zemke said. “Every avenue for education that we can provide needs to be open to Michigan students. Whether it’s a stepping stone to a four-year school, entry into a trade program or training for a new career, community colleges play a pivotal role in creating the talented workforce that we need to meet the demands of Michigan’s 21st century economy.”

“Our priorities are tax relief for middle-class families, restoring funding to education and increasing economic security for Michigan families. The governor’s agenda puts corporations before middle-class families,” Greimel said. “The governor’s experiment hasn’t worked, and unemployment in Michigan is still greater than the national rate. Our budget offers Michigan families the relief they need right now.”

The House Democratic budget proposal doesn’t just outline where taxpayer dollars could be better spent, but it also details how the tax cuts and funding proposals could be supported. The funding priorities include:

• $781.8 million in middle-class tax relief, including the repeal of the senior tax, restoration of the $600 per-child deduction, fully restoring the Homestead Property Tax Credit and phasing back in the Earned Income Tax Credit;
• Restoring $537 million to Michigan classrooms, including $65 million for early childhood education;
• Making higher education more affordable with a $37.5 million investment;
• Creating real jobs for our Michigan workers with an investment of $50 million for film incentives and brownfield redevelopment and historic preservation incentives at $20 million; and
• Protecting our community values with a $62.4 million investment for public safety and local services, $4 million for women’s health and $16 million in veteran services.

“This budget would finally begin to restore funding to our schools and universities after years of crippling cuts,” Dillon said. “After seeing classrooms across Michigan suffer with cuts of nearly $2 billion over the past two years, investing an extra $320 per student will start to repair our strained school system and help our kids compete for 21st century jobs. By making college more affordable by investing $37.5 million, we will get our state on a better footing to start attracting good-paying jobs back to Michigan. We must invest in our future.”

To fund these expenditures, House Democrats propose to prioritize the budget and get rid of corporate welfare programs that don’t work. “We can’t afford to spend taxpayer funds on tax breaks for big corporations that don’t create more jobs. Michigan families, not CEOs, are the key to reviving Michigan’s economy,” Greimel said.

Funding sources for the House Democratic budget include:

• $115 million from reducing MEDC’s corporate welfare programs that have no track record of creating new jobs;
• $206 million by accepting federal Medicaid expansion dollars;
• $200 million in eliminating government waste through audit savings;
• $300 million from cost-effective vendor contracts; and
• $158 million from the budget stabilization fund.

“The Republicans’ priorities are wrong for Michigan,” Tlaib said. “Our budget priorities proposal invests in Michigan families first. We got it right by fixing the potholes in education first and creating a safety net for our seniors and families. Our families deserve fair opportunities for a better life in Michigan. Our priorities also made sure that we have adequate fire and police services and made sure that our men and women who served us well get the best veteran services we can fund. The direction that Republicans have taken our state creates future liabilities that we won’t be able to afford, so it is critical that we all work together to get the state budget right and working for all of Michigan not just a few.”

By Jonathan Oosting | mlive.com

LANSING, MI — Michigan House Democrats are heading home, hoping to connect with constituents following a divisive year in Lansing.

House Minority Leader Tim Griemel on Friday confirmed dates for the “State of Our State” listening tour, a series of town hall-style meetings with local lawmakers beginning tonight in Canton.

“Republicans have repeatedly shown that they put their corporate donors before Michigan residents,” Greimel said in a release, suggesting that GOP priorities have hurt the state “They handed massive tax giveaways to big corporations and fat-cat CEOs, and paid for them by slashing education funding and raising taxes on middle-class families.”

Democratic Reps. Dian Slavens of Canton, Andrew Kandrevas of Southgate and Robert Kosowski of Westland will meet with citizens this evening at the Canton Public Library. Weekly meetings will continue this month and next in Sterling Heights, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Hancock, Monroe, Lansing, Detroit and Flint.

The tour was inspired, in part, by last year’s controversial right-to-work law, according to House Democratic spokesperson Katie Carey. Republican lawmakers passed the legislation via a substitute bill, which meant that it was not subject to public committee hearings, and state police closed the Capitol building for several hours in the midst of a large union-led protest.

“I think a lot of our members are frustrated that the general public has been shut out of a lot of decisions made in Lansing,” Carey said. “They were literally shut out of the Capitol during right to work. We want to make sure we’re listening.”

Griemel first announced plans for the “State of Our State” tour last month as he criticized the Republican party ahead of Gov. Rick Snyder’s State of the State address, prompting the opposition to accuse him of promoting division rather than solutions.

“The people of Michigan have all the negativity and bickering they can stand coming out of Washington,” Ari Adler, press secretary for House Speaker Jase Bolger, said at the time. “They do not want excuses and finger-pointing, they want results. That’s why the Republican-controlled Legislature has been so successful on behalf of Michigan residents the past two years. This is Michigan; we get things done.”

The official swearing-in ceremony for State Rep.-elect Lamonte, D-Montague, featured students in the audience and the high school band inside the Muskegon High School auditorium. Although it had the feel of a school assembly, the purpose and message focused on Lamonte’s victory over Republican incumbent Holly Hughes last month and Lamonte’s focus once she gets to Lansing.

Lamonte, a Montague resident, said she is excited to begin her two-year term Jan. 1 in the state House of Representatives and concerned about the legislative activities taking place in the lame-duck session. She issued a press release last week sharing her opposition to the pending right-to-work legislation.

Lamonte told the auditorium crowd of campaign supporters, students and teachers that she will work for the community and solicited their help by sharing their ideas and concerns regarding the community and state.

“My door is always going to be open to all the members in the community,” Lamonte said.

Lamonte took the oath of office from Muskegon County Circuit Chief Judge William C. Marietti. As a state representative, Lamonte also is set to take part in a ceremonial swearing-in ceremony Jan. 9 in Lansing.

State Rep. Maria Hovey-Wright, D-Muskegon, also spoke during the ceremony, describing Lamonte as a smart, articulate and nice person who will stick up for the community. Hovey-Wright won re-election last month to the state House.

Hovey-Wright and Lamonte are in the minority party in the House.

“We will need very tough legislators,” Hovey-Wright said of the difficult issues facing the state. “We have just elected one tough woman to fight those challenges. That woman is Collene Lamonte.”

Hovey-Wright added: “All I have to say is, ‘Look out Lansing. Here comes Rep. Collene Lamonte.’”

Lamonte, a teacher with Muskegon Public Schools, said she plans to continue teaching up to the holiday break then take a two-year leave of absence. That is allowed by her contract.

Lamonte edge Hughes by a little more than 300 votes in the 91st District state House race. The margin of victory was 48-47 percent. Libertarian Party challenger Nick Sundquist garnered 5 percent of the votes cast in the Nov. 6 general election.

LANSING — House Democratic Leader-elect Tim Greimel (D-Auburn Hills) and the House Democratic Caucus today denounced legislation passed during the Legislature’s lame duck session. New laws that attack middle-class economic security and women’s health, weaken accountability and transparency in elections, and override the will of the people were all passed and sent to the governor over the past two weeks. Topping the Christmas tree of shame is a new $1 billion giveaway to corporations that comes on top of a $1.8 billion corporate tax break the same Legislature passed last year.

“If there was any doubt in the existence of a Santa Claus, the lame duck action erased it: Republicans fell over themselves to hand over a gift-wrapped sack of goodies for their corporate donors and extreme special interest groups,” Greimel said. “These bills ran over Michigan voters like a sled, leaving our state’s middle-class families, kids and women trampled in its wake.”

The action in this Legislature was relentless, but it was far from positive for the people of Michigan. Low-lights of the lame duck session include:

• The undermining of collective bargaining rights through the union-busting “right-to-work” laws rammed through the Legislature without a single committee hearing or word of public testimony (House Bill 4003 and Senate Bill 116). Merry Christmas, Michigan workers!
• Severe restrictions on women’s health care, including a law intended to regulate most of the state’s abortion providers out of business and a new requirement that women buy an additional insurance rider for abortions (HB 5711). Happy Hanukkah, Michigan women!
• The utter disregard of the will of Michigan voters by reinstating an emergency financial manager law that lets the governor appoint dictators to struggling cities (SB 865). Happy Festivus for the rest of us!
• A re-write of our corrections code that allows corporations to run private prisons (SB 878). Merry Yule, Michigan corrections officers! Stay safe, those of you who will live near these corporate prisons!
• The elimination of the personal property tax (HB 6022, 6024-6026), will drain hundreds of millions of dollars out of local police and fire departments and local schools. As this will impact each and every Michigan resident, that’s a Happy Kwanzaa, Michigan businesses!
• Not last, and certainly not least, a revision of the recall law designed to make sure that the legislators who forced these laws onto us will be almost immune from the threat of recall in the coming years. Happy New Year, everyone!

Taken together, these new laws amount to a corporate takeover of the priorities of Michigan Legislature, Greimel said.

“Instead of representing the needs and wants of the people who put them into office, Republican politicians are relentlessly serving their corporate donors and ignoring the will of the voters by making it harder for people to hold them accountable,” Greimel said. “What Republicans have done to Michigan in this lame duck session is shameful. The House Democrats won’t rest until Michigan’s government is once again working for the people, not against them.”

And they blasted Gov. Rick Snyder for doing an about face Thursday and coming out in favor of the controversial legislation.

“The governor of Michigan is one greedy nerd and he’s one weak geek,” said incoming House Minority Leader Tim Greimel, D-Auburn Hills.

Right-to-work legislation makes it illegal to require financial support of a union as a condition of employment.

Snyder set off a political firestorm when he came out in support of legislation introduced in the House and partly passed through the Legislature Thursday.

Snyder and GOP legislative leaders say it’s a matter of giving Michigan workers a choice whether they want to financially support a union or not.

But current House Minority Leader Richard Hammel, D-Mt. Morris Township, said the process lacked the transparency Snyder has trumpeted as one of his guiding principles.

“From floor introduction to passage the entire process in the House took 90 minutes,” Hammel said. “There were no committee hearings; no opportunity for debate.”

READ THE RIGHT-TO-WORK BILLS:

• Senate Bill 116
• House Bill 4003
• House Bill 4054

As the minority party in both houses of the state Legislature, Democratic lawmakers and their union supporters were left to protest the way Republicans used their legislative muscle to push right-to-work bills through the Senate and House in a single day.

“We’ll look at all of the options — recalls, ballot proposals, whatever is going to re-establish the rights of workers in Michigan,” UAW President Bob King said as he and more than 1,000 union members were locked outside the Capitol.

Politically wounded, Democrats said any chances of bipartisan cooperation has been wiped away by the GOP’s actions.

“What we had today is a declaration of war — a war on labor unions,” said state Rep. Woodrow Stanley, D-Flint. “What goes over the cliff is any thought of bipartisanship.”

There was no legislative hearing for public testimony. House Republicans attached a right-to-work law for private sector workers to a bill that had laid dormant since mid-January 2011.

“This is what passes for transparency here?” asked state Rep. Brandon Dillon, D-Grand Rapids.

“This is where democracy goes to die today in this state.”

Republicans have a 64-46 majority in the House that will narrow to 59-51 in January — just one more member than the number of Republicans who voted for the bill Thursday.

“They know that in January those votes will no longer be here because their agenda was repudiated in the November election, they lost a number of votes, and they have to rush to get this done,” said state Rep. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor.

“They have to deliver for Dick DeVos and the Chamber of Commerce before the will of the people is visited upon this chamber by new members.”

The Michigan Chamber of Commerce came off the sidelines and endorsed right-to-work legislation Monday, while DeVos, a millionaire heir of the Amway fortune, is believed to be one of the driving forces behind the legislation.

Democrats have kicked DeVos and real estate developer Ron Weiser’s names around in the right-to-work debate to accuse Republicans of doing the bidding of wealthy Republican donors.

“I’ve met more with Bob King on this issue than I’ve met with Dick DeVos or Ron Weiser,” House Speaker Jase Bolger, R-Marshall, told reporters.

Fifty-seven of the 110 members are “effective lame ducks” and won’t face voters again because they are term-limited either this year or at the end of 2014 or were not re-elected this year, said outgoing state Rep. Tim Bledsoe, D-Grosse Pointe.

“The majority of us are lame ducks and a bunch of lame ducks shouldn’t be doing monumental game-change type legislation like right to work,” said Bledsoe, a lame duck who lost a Democratic primary.

Democrats were able to invoke a rarely used procedure to have the House clerk read the entire bill aloud — a short-lived tactic that bought them some time for an Ingham County Circuit Court judge to issue an injunction ordering the locked-down state Capitol doors be open to the public.

That prompted Democratic lawmakers to walk out of the chamber just before voting got under way to symbolically let the protesters in — and then found they themselves briefly locked out of the building.

“I came out to escort the citizens back into their house … and I was denied re-entry,” said state Rep. Vicki Barnett, D-Farmington Hills. The Democratic lawmakers had to call staffers to the entrance to convince police to let them back into the Capitol so they could eventually cast “no” votes.

“This is a pivotal moment in Michigan’s history,” Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, said at a news conference at the Capitol.

“If they declare war on the middle class … no one should be surprised if the whole environment at the Capitol changes.”

Pressure has been building to introduce a right-to-work bill since voters in the Nov. 6 election defeated a union-backed initiative to enshrine collective-bargaining rights in the state constitution. Such a bill would make it illegal to require financial support of a union as a condition of employment.

On Tuesday, Gov. Rick Snyder said right-to-work is now “on the agenda” in Lansing. Before Tuesday, he consistently said the issue was too divisive and not on his agenda.

Snyder said talks with labor groups and others continue and that no decisions have been made on when or whether to proceed with a bill.

Senate and House Democrats would not say what specific actions they would take in an attempt to block it.

“All legal options are on the table to do anything and everything possible to stop this horrific law from coming into effect,” said Rep. Tim Greimel, D-Auburn Hills, the incoming House Minority Leader.

Greimel urged Snyder to make a clearer statement about where he stands on right-to-work.

“The governor has been playing hide the ball on this issue for years now,” Greimel said. “If he does support it and will sign it into law, people deserve to know.”

Late Tuesday, the Michigan AFL-CIO issued a statement urging Snyder and the Legislature to focus on “family-sustaining jobs rather than partisan politics.”