Sen. Bellino supports tax relief for working families, opposes bill limited to public retirees

Sen. Bellino supports tax relief for working families, opposes bill limited to public retirees

LANSING, Mich. — Sen. Joseph Bellino on Thursday supported legislation to increase the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) while opposing a bill that would inequitably cut taxes for people receiving public retirement benefits.

Senate Bill 3 would increase the state’s EITC from 6% to 30% of the federal EITC beginning with the 2022 tax year. Taxpayers would not actually claim the extra 24% for the 2022 tax year on their tax returns. Instead, for the 2022 tax year, the state would figure the amount owed to the taxpayer that is above the current 6% and provide that credit as a tax refund.

“This would provide the average working-class household with an additional $600 a year at a time when inflation continues to impact family budgets across our state,” said Bellino, R-Monroe. “Thankfully, the bill was amended before being passed to provide this relief immediately, instead of forcing people to wait four years to get the full benefit. It is a huge step forward to using some of our historic budget surplus to help Michigan families keep more of their hard-earned wages.”

Bellino voted against SB 1, which would unfairly exempt certain retirement income from the state income tax, such as public retirement or pension benefits.

“I have long supported ending the retirement tax, but all our seniors should get this relief — not just those who worked for the government. Since Senate Bill 1 doesn’t provide relief to all our seniors, I could not support it,” Bellino said. “Whether a Michigan senior worked for the state, owned a small business, built cars on the line, or is still working, they should be treated equally. Working for state government for 30 years shouldn’t entitle a retiree to lower taxes than someone who repaired cars for the same amount of time.”

SBs 1 and 3 now head to the House of Representatives for consideration.

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