Reasons to be proud
I recently attended the apprentice conference. I was very proud to hear the presentation at the opening of the conference about the great job our members are doing in Lansing at our Grand River plant, winning the “Car of the Year Award.” This is only possible because of the job our members do each day in producing a quality product.
The Lansing area has two GM production facilities to be proud of—UAW Local 602’s Delta Plant and Local 652’s Grand River Plant. Congratulations to both plants for the job they do!
I hope you don’t get tired of hearing me say what a great job you do, because I never get tired of saying it!
V-CAP
Region 1-C Director Norwood Jewell announced the car to be given away in our annual V-CAP ticket sale: our own ATS Cadillac! That’s another good reason to buy the V-CAP tickets. Thanks to Norwood for picking our car this year for the grand prize!
The $38 million dollar investment in our Grand River facility is moving ahead for the production of the Camaro.
April Fools
You may well have gotten a shock when you prepared your taxes before the April 15th deadline this year. A lot of the deductions that you used to get are gone, thanks to Governor Snyder and Republican legislators who supported his tax plan (HB 4361/Roll Call 126 2011). And senior citizens will have to pay tax on their pensions for the first time.
Snyder’s tax hike was a huge tax shift that raised individual taxes by $1.2 billion to pay for a $1.4 billion tax cut for business owners.
Here are some of the tax hikes and deductions you can no longer claim:
Your Children — You used to be able to deduct $600 for each of your children under 18. Not any more. That will cost Michigan taxpayers $57 million.
Senior Citizens and Unemployed — A $2,300 exemption for persons 65 and older and workers whose unemployment compensation exceeds half of their adjusted gross income is eliminated. That’s a $41 million tax hike for seniors and the unemployed.
Homestead Property Taxes — The Homestead Property Tax Credit will be cut for about 400,000 families, costing taxpayers $270 million.
Earned Income Tax Credit — The EITC will be lowered from 20% to 6%, a $261 million tax hike for low income working families–an average tax hike of $307 for those who can least afford it.
Charitable Contributions — A number of tax credits have been eliminated, including credits for charitable contributions, city income taxes, college tuition, adoption expenses and stillborn children. This tax hike will cost Michigan taxpayers $104 million.
Pension Taxes — Retirees will pay more than $340 million in new pension taxes. Don’t get fooled again!
The Lansing Labor News website (lansinglabornews.org) has the complete list of bills over the last two years passed by the Governor’s office and the
Republican-controlled legislature.
Thanks again to each and every member for the job you do each day!