A division of the Michigan Education Association's political action committee, which is funded in part by teachers, is urging its members to cast votes in Michigan's 47th House District Republican primary even if they consider themselves to be Democrats.

In a letter labeled: "IMPORTANT!," the MEA/Livingston County PAC Screening and Recommending Committee pressed union members to cast votes for Handy Township Supervisor Henry Vaupel, a Fowlerville veterinarian who is one of five candidates on the GOP primary ballot. A designation at the top of the letter reads in bold print: "To: All MEA members residing in House District 47," then goes on to emphasize the Aug. 5 date of the primary and describe the district's geographical location.

The letter continues with bold print: "Please give the highest consideration to voting for our recommended candidate: Dr. Hank Vaupel," with the candidate's name appearing in larger print at the center of the page.

Part of the explanation given in the letter is as follows:

If you traditionally consider yourself a Democrat and wish to vote for Dr. Vaupel, you must do what is called a 'cross-over' and vote on the Republican side of the ballot. Voters who cross-over don't have to permanently declare as a Republican. (Michigan has an open primary system. Voters can vote either Republican or Democrat in this primary.) A vote in this primary does not determine which candidate receives your vote in the November general election.

The Democrat primary ballot happens to be meaningless in this primary, as one Democrat is running unopposed. He will automatically make it through to the general election when you can choose the Democrat if you wish. As a result, we did not make a recommendation for the August 5^th Democrat primary in this House district.

Vaupel said he was aware he had received the MEA endorsement.

"I told them (the MEA) I would have open doors and we would communicate," Vaupel said. "I told them I was interested in making education better, and though I'm a conservative, I would at least have an open door and we may be arguing or working together to make education better."

Vaupel did not say whether he had made any specific policy agreements with the MEA.

"It was general," Vaupel said. "I said I’d have open doors and I am interested in making education better. I am proud that the teachers themselves know that we can communicate and I'm very pleased with the endorsement."

Vaupel said he wasn't sure whether the endorsement would carry over to the general election, but said he hoped it would.

The 47^th House District covers the lion's share of Livingston County. It includes part of the cities of Fenton and Howell and the townships of Cohoctah, Conway, Deerfield, Handy, Hartland, Howell, Iosco, Marion, Oceola, Tyrone and Unadilla.

The district has a 64.1 percent Republican base. However, with five GOP candidates dividing up the primary votes, the MEA would appear to have good chance of seeing its candidate, Vaupel, win, particularly with Democrats crossing over.

The other Republicans in the field are all from Howell. They are: Wendy Day, president of Common Sense in Government; Howell Mayor Phillip Campbell; Harold Melton, an NRA certified firearms instructor who has retired from a career that included a variety of positions; and Theodore Ring, who has pledged not to spend more than $1,000 on the race.

The MEA did not respond to a request for comment.

The MEA political action committee council is comprised in part by the MEA president and "at least two (2) other members of the MEA Board of Directors," as well as other MEA members and officials, according to MEA documents, which also say contributions are voluntary.

See the full MEA letter by clicking the image nearby.

Proposal 1 on the Aug. 5 ballot would cut personal property taxes by about $500 million a year once fully phased in, according to a Mackinac Center for Public Policy analysis.

However, some voters may think it raises taxes due to its complicated ballot language, said James Hohman, assistant director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center.

Prop 1 cuts the taxes levied on businesses for equipment and machinery and guarantees that local governments will have that money replaced.

Hohman, who researched the proposal and wrote a policy brief on it, said his concerns are with the ballot language. Specifically, he said he's concerned with two passages that he thinks may confuse voters into thinking the proposal will raise taxes.

The ballot reads: "Approval or disapproval of amendatory act to reduce state use tax and replace with a local community stabilization share to modernize the tax system to help small businesses grow and create jobs."

Hohman said the phrase, "modernizing the tax system," could give voters the impression that means a tax increase. He said a second point that references providing a dedicated revenue stream to local governments also is misleading and could lead people to believe that will require a tax increase.

It reads: "2. Require Local Community Stabilization Authority to provide revenue to local governments dedicated for local purposes, including police safety, fire protection and ambulance emergency services."

Tricia Kinley, senior director of tax and regulatory reform at the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, said it is a challenge to do ballot language on such a complicated proposal.

"Let me put it this way, there is no doubt that is a complicated reform, period," Kinley said. "There are a lot of pieces and parts to it. Due to that, you always run the risk of giving voters too much information or not enough information. This one is a little more complicated. The ballot language was chosen very carefully to give a big picture of what this is trying to do. We know it was a challenge of how to try to persuade voters in a 100 words or less, if they haven't properly educated themselves that this is a positive measure."

Here is the full ballot language:

PROPOSAL 14-1

APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF AMENDATORY ACT TO REDUCE STATE USE TAX AND REPLACE WITH A LOCAL COMMUNITY STABILIZATION SHARE TO MODERNIZE THE TAX SYSTEM TO HELP SMALL BUSINESSES GROW AND CREATE JOBS

The amendatory act adopted by the Legislature would:

1. Reduce the state use tax and replace with a local community stabilization share of the tax for the purpose of modernizing the tax system to help small businesses grow and create jobs in Michigan.

2. Require Local Community Stabilization Authority to provide revenue to local governments dedicated for local purposes, including police safety, fire protection, and ambulance emergency services.

3. Increase portion of state use tax dedicated for aid to local school districts.

4. Prohibit Authority from increasing taxes.

5. Prohibit total use tax rate from exceeding existing constitutional 6% limitation.

Should this law be approved?