The following is a summary of some of the bills the Michigan House and Senate Democrats have introduced in the 2009-2010 current session of the Legislature. 

 -Senate Bill 798 (Raise state income tax)  --  Introduced by Sen. Gleason (D) 
      Increase the state income tax from 4.35 percent to 4.8 percent, a 10.3 percent income tax hike.
 - House Bill 5604 (Impose 2 percent entertainment ticket tax ) -- Introduced by Rep. Cushingberry (D) 
      Impose a 2 percent “ticket tax” 
 - House Bill 5810 (Expand sales tax to services )  --  Introduced by Rep. Alma Smith (D) 
      Expand the sales tax to include consumer services 
 - House Bill 5593 (Increase licensure fees on nurses )  --  Introduced by Rep. Alma Smith (D) 
 - House Bill 5597 (Impose dairy farm inspection fee )  --  Introduced by Rep. Cushingberry (D) 
      Impose on dairy farms a dairy inspection assessment fee of 1-cent per hundred pounds of milk 
 - House Bill 5355 (Raise tax on “little cigars” )  --  Introduced by Rep. Cushingberry (D)
      Impose a tax of 32 percent of the wholesale price on “little cigars.” 
 - House Bill 5490 (Tax water softeners and coolers )  -- Introduced by Rep. Mark Meadows (D)
      Repeal a property tax exemption on leased residential water softeners, and office and home water coolers. 
 - Senate Bill 839 (Impose tax on bottled water )  --  Introduced by Sen. Deborah Cherry (D)
      Impose an excise tax of 1-cent per bottle on bottled water.
 - Senate Bill 844 (Levy sales tax on some currently exempt products)  --  Introduced by Sen.  Switalski (D)
      Impose the 6 percent sales tax on food and ingredients sold from vending machines. . .
 - House Bill 5300 (Increase income tax to provide free college)  --  Introduced by Rep. Alma Smith (D)
      Increase the state income tax by 26 percent (from 4.35 percent to 5.5 percent)

If you think more taxes and fees are the solution to solving Michigan’s financial morass, vote for the democrats this fall. Oh, by the way did you notice that Democrat Gubernatorial candidate Rep. Alma Smith’s name appears several times on these tax laden bills as the sponsor? If you are looking for fiscal responsibility and the right sizing of government from your elected officials vote for the fiscally conservative candidate this fall.

(Submitted for publication to the Owosso Independent, Lainsgburg Independent, Perry Independent, St. Johns/DeWitt Independent on March 16, 2010)
(Publication results pending . . .)

