Repeal the Service tax!

The new tax on services, which is scheduled to go into effect on December 1st, would generate about $670 million in new tax revenue, while running many businesses into bankruptcy.

House Republicans have announced a list of specific cuts that can be made immediately to negate the need for the service tax. Here is the list:

1. Five percent legislator pay cut - $600,000
2. Michigan Business tax transition windfall* - $219,400,000
3. Reexamine state employee benefits - $100,000,000
4. Department of Information Technology Reduction - $10,000,000
5. Competitively bid corrections services - $50,000,000
6. Eliminate tax exemption benefiting prisoners - $3,000,000
7. Streamline the Department of Community Health - $92,833,331
   1. Reduction to Healthy Michigan Fund programming
   2. Restructure Wayne County Community Mental Health
   3. Reform 19-and 20-year olds non-mandatory coverage
   4. Reform non-mandatory Medicaid caretaker coverage
   5. Invest more money into Medicaid fraud investigations
8. Department of Human Services reforms - $109,499,998
   1. Four year limit for able bodied welfare recipients
   2. Privatize daycare eligibility
   3. Daycare rate uniformity
9. Stop news appropriation to 21^st Century Jobs program - $75,000,000
10. Eliminate the Community Service Commission Grant to train volunteers - $3,190,000
11. Remove the increase to the Treasury Department to implement the new taxes - $8,900,000
12. Continued reduction of public transit funding - $5,000,000

GRAND TOTAL in savings from the House Republican plan: $677 million

Republicans in the House have the will to do this, do the Democrats?