In 2007 Michigan's Legislature increased the state income tax rate from 3.9 percent to 4.35 percent. The law that did this included a promise to gradually return the rate back to 3.9 percent by 2015. Instead, in 2012, the Legislature voted to put the rate at 4.25 percent, where it remains today.
By not following through on reducing the income tax rate, lawmakers have given themselves over time an additional $6.3 billion in revenue to spend.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.