LANSING – Most of the seven candidates running for governor agree that the state should go to two-year budgets, that public employees should not be paid more than the average private sector pay, and that binding arbitration for police and firefighters should not be dropped. And four of the candidates indicated they could support a proposal to extend the sales tax to services, except they really don’t support that.

The answers to questions from the Business Leaders for Michigan also indicated that most could support “rationalizing” the number of state universities, though the Business Leaders group did not indicate what “rationalizing” the number of colleges and universities meant. House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Twp.) said specifically in an addendum to his answer that he would not support closing any universities.

Only Democratic Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero and Republican business executive Rick Snyder did not respond to the survey of questions from the organization.

And Attorney General Mike Cox was the only one of the five who responded who said no to a question asking if they would support eliminating the Michigan Business Tax surcharge, cutting the gross receipts tax on the MBT from 0.8 percent to 0.45 percent, cutting the sales tax to 5.5 percent and spreading it to most services and being revenue-neutral.

While the rest of those responding to the questionnaire said yes to that tax question, Oakland Sheriff Mike Bouchard was the only one to do so without qualification.

Dillon said there were some interesting aspects to the tax plan.

Sen. Tom George (R-Kalamazoo) said while he supported eliminating the MBT surcharge, he did not think the proposal outlined would be budget neutral. Enacting a consumption tax might take a constitutional amendment, he said.

And U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Holland) said ultimately he would support eliminating the entire MBT and taking a thorough look at the state’s property, consumption and income taxes to reduce the burden on both businesses and individuals.

Cox said the state had to undergo drastic cuts in spending before undertaking any kind of major changes to its tax proposal.

Aside from the tax question, it was surprising in some respects how much the candidates indicated they agreed with each other.

They all said they would be willing to adopt changes to how the state forecasts revenue to take into account quarterly estimates from public and private officials on revenues, along with surveying state businesses on hiring forecasts, as well as supporting a two-year budget plan (Governor Jennifer Granholm, as did former Governor John Engler, called for a two-year budget cycle but the Legislature has so far refused to move the issue).

They also all said they thought state workers should be paid on the same basis as the average private worker, though Dillon said the state should use the average public worker pay in other states and use that as the state’s guide.

The five also backed reducing the state workforce by 5 percent to 10 percent as well consolidating school districts and local government functions.

But all said they would not support ending binding arbitration for police and firefighters, which has been one issue businesses have backed for decades as one way to help control local government costs.

The five also said they would support eliminating duplicative regulations with the federal government, requiring annual benchmarking of department performances and requiring a check on well the state deals with regulatory issues.

They also said they would not support changing the state’s high school graduation standards, though Dillon said he would be willing to look at options for the state’s Algebra II requirement.

This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com

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