In last month's Policy Sneak Peek, we provided an outline of Governor Whitmer's "Lowering MI Taxes" proposal. Part of that proposal was a $180 one-time check to all Michigan's tax filers. That would have spent down the dollars remaining in the FY '22 budget, thus avoiding the trigger for an income tax cut, from 4.25% to 4.05%. 

 Following the Governor’s announcement of her proposal, Lansing spent a few weeks getting it all hammered out. When all was said and done in early March, the result was an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and tax relief for seniors. Also included is an annual funding stream of $500 million for the state's Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve Fund (SOAR), which helps shore up Michigan's economic development efforts. That funding stream is guaranteed at least through 2025. Governor Whitmer signed the legislation into law on March 7th, sans the $180 checks for tax filers. 

 It is still unclear whether the trigger is now pulled for the aforementioned income tax cut. House and Senate fiscal agencies should be able to answer that question later on this month, when the FY '22 numbers are finalized.  

 The MBA led the charge among state Chambers of Commerce to support the expansion of EITC, from 6% to 30% of the federal credit. However, the bill as approved, and written into law by the Governor, would not take effect until 2024 for the 2023 tax year. A retroactive provision was included, though, that would provide refund checks to all EITC tax filers for their 2022 taxes; however, those checks would not go out until 2024 because the bill was not granted immediate effect. Senator Kristen McDonald Rivet has introduced legislation (SB 144) that would essentially "speed up" these refund checks for those families qualifying for EITC.