Governor Gretchen Whitmer sent a letter to legislative leaders proposing MI Tax Rebate Right Now, a plan to return $500 to working families from the state’s budget surplus as they face rising costs on food, gas, and other everyday expenses.
“From Macomb to Marquette, Michiganders are facing rising prices on food, gas, and other everyday expenses,” wrote Governor Whitmer. “While the causes are varied, from the invasion of Ukraine by Russia to ongoing supply chain challenges caused by the pandemic, the pain being felt by people is tangible.”
“Today, I am proposing MI Tax Rebate Right Now, a plan to send a $500 tax rebate to Michigan’s working families right away. Let’s take advantage of our additional revenue to put money in people’s pockets and deliver real relief right now… Michiganders are counting on us to work together to provide real relief right now, so they can pay the bills and put food on the table. Let’s draw on the grit and determination our working families show every day and let’s get it done.”
The full letter can be found here.
“This proposal is relief for Michiganders right now,” said House Democratic Leader Donna Lasinski (D-Scio Township). “The rising costs facing us today, at the gas pump, at the grocery store, on our household bills — those bills won’t wait. Proposals targeting tax refunds a year or more from now do nothing to provide relief to our people today, and that’s our responsibility. That is what this proposal from the governor accomplishes: money into the pockets of Michiganders right now.”
The proposal is a one-time relief package that spends surplus revenues from the state. As such, there is no resulting long-term injury to the state’s budget or revenue forecast in utilizing a one-time surplus for a one-time expense.
“We have an opportunity to put this one-time surplus into the hands of hardworking Michiganders, and that’s exactly what we’re calling for in support of the governor’s ‘MI Tax Rebate Right Now’ proposal,” said state Rep. Joe Tate (D-Detroit), Democratic vice chair of the House Appropriations Committee. “People in Michigan want relief right now and we’re answering that call — putting Michiganders’ dollars to work for them by putting those dollars directly in their pockets. Direct relief checks in mailboxes right now, that’s the plan.”
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