Gov. Rick Snyder’s state budget proposal contained some ideas worth considering and several that should sound alarm bells for those concerned about Michigan’s future: a $222 million cut to colleges and universities; a $100 million cut to revenue sharing, which funds essential services provided by communities; and a $470 per-pupil cut to K-12 education.
There is no doubt Michigan cannot afford business as usual any longer, but how we choose to put our fiscal house in order will say a great deal about our values and priorities as a state.
One of the most disturbing proposals in the governor’s budget is his plan to raise taxes on working families by $340 million through elimination of the Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC. At the same time, he proposes slashing taxes by $1.8 billion for businesses.
I must confess I am having great difficulty seeing the “shared sacrifice” in that trade off. Moreover, if the buzzwords du jour at the state Capitol are “value for money,” then the facts clearly show the EITC should be emulated, not eliminated.
The EITC helps move families from welfare to work. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan called the EITC “the best anti-poverty, the best pro-family, the best job creation measure to come out of Congress.”
Contrary to what some in the Legislature would have you believe, the EITC is not a “welfare handout.” This should go without saying, but you can’t be eligible for the EITC unless you have a job and are earning income.
The EITC also helps support local businesses. Families spend the money from EITC on essentials at grocery stores, auto repair shops, doctors offices and for utility bills. According to a study by the Anderson Economic Group, $1.67 in economic activity is generated in local economies for every $1 in EITC.
About 800,000 Michiganders benefit from the EITC, including more than 1,500 right here in East Lansing. They are our friends and neighbors who are struggling to make ends meet in a down economy. Eliminating the EITC will devastate scores of these hardworking families.
According to the Michigan League for Human Services, it will push 25,000 Michiganders below the poverty line, including 14,000 children. “Children in poverty” is one of the metrics on Gov. Snyder’s dashboard for measuring Michigan’s performance.
Surely shoving 14,000 more children into poverty right off the bat will move that metric in the wrong direction.
These are difficult economic and budgetary times for Michigan. We will all need to sacrifice to put our state back on the road to prosperity.
But as the governor himself has pointed out time and time again, that sacrifice should be shared. It shouldn’t be born disproportionately by the least among us.
We shouldn’t balance our state’s budget on the backs of working families who can least afford it.
Nathan Triplett, East Lansing city councilmember
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