LANSING – Governor Rick Snyder will call on the Legislature to end Michigan’s item pricing law as a way of helping cut costs to business, and will say the state needs a new bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit. Snyder will also call for eliminating the Michigan Business Tax as part of his budget proposal.
Snyder also announced the creation of the “Michigan Dashboard” to measure the state’s success and progress, as well as a roadmap for addressing major issues during the year. During his address, Snyder is expected to say he issue a special message in March on government reform and a special message in April on education.
Ending the item pricing law, which was enacted in the 1970s, could save the state’s economy more than $2 billion. The law is now a burden on retailers, he said.
While an early outline of his address does not have Mr. Snyder supporting the Detroit River International Crossing, Snyder is expected to say he has won agreement with the U.S. government to use $550 million Canada has pledged to cover the state’s cost of a DRIC project for matching funds for federal road projects across the state. And he will say he will present a “totally revamps and highly attractive” economic development proposal based on that federal agreement.
The owners of the Ambassador Bridge have also proposed building a second span next to that bridge, but have not gotten clearance from Canada for the project.
As he had earlier promised Snyder will say he will call for ending the MBT and replacing it with a 6 percent business income tax, though in an early outline of the address he does not suggest by when the tax should be eliminated.
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