LANSING ? Michigan Lawmakers were told Friday to prepare to meet on Tuesday in anticipation of action on a proposal to replace the expanded sales tax on services, but action on that day is not guaranteed.
Discussions continue, and are expected to continue during the weekend over a possible change to the Michigan Business Tax to take the place of the services tax. But what that final version of the MBT would look like was not revealed.
However, one top lawmaker indicated the proposed solution would only involve making changes to the MBT.
Friday afternoon Senate members, at least, were notified they should be prepared to meet in session at 10 a.m., Tuesday. That could change depending on how successful discussions are as lawmakers meet over the weekend.
Earlier Friday officials said they doubted the Legislature would meet on Tuesday, but that top leaders from both chambers would meet and finalize the MBT proposal. The Legislature would then meet on Monday, November 26.
But later in the day, Senate Majority Floor Leader Alan Cropsey (R-DeWitt) sent an email to legislative offices tell them to be prepared to be in session Tuesday.
Whether members of the House are officially in on Tuesday was still uncertain late Friday, a spokesperson for Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Twp.) said.
House Tax Policy Chair Rep. Steve Bieda (D-Warren) said he had been meeting with all sorts of groups throughout the day and that while no formal meetings were scheduled over the weekend, “everybody has my cell phone number.”
Mr. Bieda said he believes a framework for an agreement has been reached in that to replace the service tax will have something to do with altering the MBT and nothing else.
Some groups had been pushing for more cuts and reforms to government, and if the Legislature did go for another tax, some supported increasing the income tax again, but that idea seems to be completely off the table, said Greg Bird, Mr. Dillon’s spokesperson.
“We are focused on seeing that the Senate follows through with the action the House took on repealing the service tax and fully replacing the revenue,” he said.
This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com
Discussions continue, and are expected to continue during the weekend over a possible change to the Michigan Business Tax to take the place of the services tax. But what that final version of the MBT would look like was not revealed.
However, one top lawmaker indicated the proposed solution would only involve making changes to the MBT.
Friday afternoon Senate members, at least, were notified they should be prepared to meet in session at 10 a.m., Tuesday. That could change depending on how successful discussions are as lawmakers meet over the weekend.
Earlier Friday officials said they doubted the Legislature would meet on Tuesday, but that top leaders from both chambers would meet and finalize the MBT proposal. The Legislature would then meet on Monday, November 26.
But later in the day, Senate Majority Floor Leader Alan Cropsey (R-DeWitt) sent an email to legislative offices tell them to be prepared to be in session Tuesday.
Whether members of the House are officially in on Tuesday was still uncertain late Friday, a spokesperson for Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Twp.) said.
House Tax Policy Chair Rep. Steve Bieda (D-Warren) said he had been meeting with all sorts of groups throughout the day and that while no formal meetings were scheduled over the weekend, “everybody has my cell phone number.”
Mr. Bieda said he believes a framework for an agreement has been reached in that to replace the service tax will have something to do with altering the MBT and nothing else.
Some groups had been pushing for more cuts and reforms to government, and if the Legislature did go for another tax, some supported increasing the income tax again, but that idea seems to be completely off the table, said Greg Bird, Mr. Dillon’s spokesperson.
“We are focused on seeing that the Senate follows through with the action the House took on repealing the service tax and fully replacing the revenue,” he said.
This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com
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