Last night during her State of the State address, Governor Whitmer renewed her call for the Republican-controlled legislature to repeal a retirement tax that has been imposed on seniors since Rick Snyder was governor – a huge move for retirees that “can save half a million households in Michigan an average of $1,000 a year.”
Despite being a common-sense solution that has already found support across the aisle from legislators like Sen. Tom Barrett (R), who praised the proposal as something that “can make an enormous difference for our seniors,” not a single gubernatorial candidate in his party acknowledged this win in their responses to the State of the State:
- Tudor Dixon wrongly anticipated in her prebuttal address that repealing this tax would not be a priority for Governor Whitmer, incorrectly claiming that she “pretended like it never happened” despite having supported the repeal of the retirement tax since 2019.
- Kevin Rinke released a rambling video on YouTube in which he misfired with obstruction buzzwords to accuse the governor of pushing “tax and spend policies,” the exact opposite of what her retirement tax repeal proposal is.
- James Craig put even less effort in with a last-minute statement thrown up on Twitter that ends with a promise to “solve problems and provide transparency for everyone” that falls especially flat as he continues to dodge questions on issues that matter to Michigan families. It was also fact-checked in real time by Michigan press.
- Garrett Soldano issued a one-sentence statement on Facebook that did not speak to any policy proposals.
MDP spokesperson Rodericka Applewhaite issued the following statement:
“Repealing the retirement tax lets Michigan seniors keep more of what they earned through a lifetime of hard work, but not one of the Republicans running for governor will answer if they support the proposal. Meanwhile, Governor Whitmer is once again reaching across the aisle to legislators that are willing to repeal this tax and save $1,000 a year for half a million Michigan families. Gubernatorial Republicans like Tudor Dixon, Kevin Rinke, James Craig, and Garrett Soldano owe an answer to Michiganders on why they can’t support this proposal to put Michigan seniors first.”
