LANSING – Tuesday is tax cut day, Michigan legislative Republicans are saying, as both the House and Senate are scheduled to vote on the Single Business Tax proposal they unveiled to help manufacturing in the state.

The Senate part of the plan that would boost personal property tax credits in the tax is already on the floor, while the House Tax Policy Committee plans to act on its part of the proposal Tuesday morning and the full House is expected to vote that afternoon.

It will still be another week, however, before the package can go to Governor Jennifer Granholm (because of the constitutional requirement that all legislation sit five days in each house before action).

So, officials still have time to wait to see if Granholm will sign the proposal. Her spokesperson, Liz Boyd, said the proposal is still being evaluated. Granholm wants to help make Michigan’s business environment more competitive, which includes business tax cuts, but the administration will not support measures that will either shift the cost of government to individuals or force them to endure more budget cuts.

Those comments in no way prejudge the proposal, Boyd said, as the administration is still reviewing it closely.

But while the administration is studying the proposal and Republicans are promoting it, one thing has not happened since the proposal was outlined earlier this week: neither Granholm nor legislative leaders have met to discuss the proposal.

House Speaker Craig DeRoche (R-Novi) did have a brief telephone conversation with Granholm on Friday, though officials did not know what they discussed. No meetings have been held between the officials and Granholm, nor are any scheduled at this point, said Ari Adler, spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema (R-Wyoming).

The proposal focused on manufacturing by creating a 15 percent credit on personal property tax paid and by creating a two-year 100 percent credit on personal property tax paid to move jobs into the state. That second proposal is seen as an effort to entice Delphi Corporation to consolidate its operations into Michigan. The bills on the Senate side are SB 909 and SB 910.

Delphi entered into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October and is expected next month to unveil its plan for coming out of bankruptcy. The proposal also calls for extension of current tax credits afforded Delphi and fellow auto-parts manufacturer, Visteon, SB 203.

There are four House bills as part of the Republican proposal. One of the bills (HB 4982) has been laid over in committee since June, while the others were introduced this week.

The difference between the House and Senate packages is that the House calls for a 10 percent tax credit on tangible personal property (HB 4982) and a one-year 100 percent credit on personal property for jobs moved to the state (HB 5459).

The House does have bills dealing with a 15 percent tax credit on personal and industrial property (HB 5460 and HB 5461), but those deal with only tax years after 2008.

Along with Granholm, legislative Democrats have not said what they would do with the proposal. Senate Minority Leader Bob Emerson (D-Flint) criticized it as a “unilateral move” when it was first introduced. And Sen. Buzz Thomas (D-Detroit) did not vote on the bills in the Senate Finance Committee.

Since two parts of the proposal were part of the jobs and tax cut proposal Granholm and the leadership announced almost exactly one month ago (and which fell apart in large measure over disagreements over whether a 2009 sunset on the SBT would be repealed), Republicans have argued that she should have no trouble signing the package.

But Boyd said when the package was announced it included loophole-closing measures, which so far have not been suggested by Republicans. The administration will not support proposals that create or add to a structural deficit, she said.

And whenever and however the proposal is resolved, Republicans have also promised that in January they will come back with more SBT cut proposals.

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