Snyder Signs Budget
Governor Rick Snyder has signed the new state budget for the fiscal year that begins October 1st. “It’s a spending plan he says leaves room for an election year tax rollback. The tax cut would be a small-but-welcome pivot from last year when Governor Snyder and the Republican-led Legislature shook up the state’s tax structure. The Michigan Business Tax disappeared, along with a dozen tax breaks for seniors, homeowners, and low-income households. Governor Snyder says the revenue picture is better this year, and a tax rollback offers unspecified benefits to the state’s economy.The governor is expected to sign bills to reduce the tax rate and increase the personal exemption in the next few days,” Rick Pluta reports.
Casino Expansion?
The push to allow more casinos in Michigan moved a step closer to the November ballot yesterday. Steve Carmody reports:
The group ’Citizens for More Michigan Jobs’ turned in more than a half-million signatures to the Secretary of State’s office. That’s about 200,000 more petition signatures than it needs to put the issue on the ballot. Emily Gerkin Palsrok, the group’s spokeswoman, says eight more casinos will generate thousands of jobs and boost state tax revenues. The operators of Michigan’s two dozen existing casinos oppose adding more gaming venues. They say Michigan’s gambling industry is already at a saturation point.
Ford Market Share
Ford Motor Company is hitting, or exceeding, most of its financial and sales targets. But the company will not meet one of its goals this year, Tracy Samilton reports:
Ford said last year it would increase its market share in the U.S. in 2012. Market share is a car company's percentage of total U.S. car sales. Now the company thinks it will actually lose market share. Ford's Mark Fields says the company was unable to meet the higher than expected demand in the first quarter of this year in part because some factories didn't have enough workers. Fields says he thinks Ford will be able to fully meet demand for its cars by the fourth quarter of this year.
