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Janelle Coolich
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Janelle Coolich's Blog
Cleaner, Greener, Faster
It was my intention to explore Step 2: Going Green at Home, but during this morning’s run I was consumed by thoughts of our nation awaiting the outcome of the Chief Auto Executives plea for a bail out from Washington. As I splashed past driveways and cars driving too close splashed past me the mantra I couldn’t help repeating was that we are all Detroiters. Today as we anticipate the possible loss of approximately 3 million auto related jobs, we are all Detroiters. Whether we are Southern Republ… Continue
Posted on December 11th, 2008 at 10:30am — 2 Comments
Going Green at Home: Step I
I am excited by the notion that we may be entering an era where we truly regard our fellow Americans as brothers and sisters, one in which we are willing to unite to address issues that affect all of us, one that looks and behaves like a national village. It goes without saying that we are concerned as a nation about the economy. If you’re like me you are ready to act and you guess that there are others out there who are also ready to start acting locally towards making a difference. If the ans… Continue
Posted on December 3rd, 2008 at 11:00pm — 4 Comments
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The proposed Michigan FairTax would REPLACE the income tax and current sales tax, with a consumption tax (sales tax at point of retail sale). Under this plan, no more state tax will be withheld from Michigan wage-earners' paychecks. What's more, every Michigan resident-family will receive a monthly "prebate" check, in amount based on family size. This will ensure that NO Michigan family will EVEN BEGIN paying the MI FairTax on goods / services unless, or until, they exceed poverty-level spending.
Under the MI FairTax plan, points of collection are substantially reduced to just retailers, many of whom are already collecting sales tax. Because service providers must account for income tax withholding and compliance costs, their prices carry a hidden tax which a FairTax will make visible. (Business-to-business purchases would not carry the tax, as this would, again, hide the cost of taxation in prices.)
Because of the "prebate" (advance rebate calculated as .0975 x $ [poverty level spending per family size]) to ALL Michigan-resident households, the MI FairTax rate would effectively be 0% on all monthly family spending to the poverty level; thereafter it's 9.75%. A reasonably inferred average effective rate would be ~5.5% (see p.2 of pdf brochure, also review an economic analysis [pdf] on MI FairTax effects prepared by the Hillsdale Policy Group).
Please, join our email list to be kept informed!
Why the FairTax idea is right for America's working families.
Dr. Laurence Kotlikoff believes that it will take the FairTax to reverse unfunded obligations, now above $53 trillion and counting!
Call your legislators today!
Thursday, Dec. 18 is the day - the last day of debate for this legislative session and the day that Michigan legislators will vote on whether to provide critically needed increases in transportation funding.
If you’re interested in new rapid transit, money-saving buses, timely trains, snow-plowed roads, safe bridges or any other part of Michigan’s transportation network, this vote matters to you. The Transportation Funding Task Force (TF2) said we need to double transportation funding in Michigan for a good transportation system and to create jobs and boost our economy. Policymakers are currently considering ways to increase transportation funding in Michigan, including switching to a wholesale gas tax, increasing registration fees, and getting rid of loopholes – options that would cost you just a dollar or two a week.
We need your help. Please call your state legislators today to ask their support for critical transportation funding.
(If you’ve already called or emailed, thanks!! You helped extend the debate and get this vote scheduled. Now call again!)
Call your legislators - Use the Michigan Municipal League’s action site at GetMichiganMoving.org to find your state legislators’ names and phone numbers, plus talking points and a place to report their response.
Don’t assume that your legislator is already on board - call them to make sure! (If they definitely support it, thank them! Then urge them to lobby their colleagues.) An awful lot of legislators are on the fence about this. Even Detroit legislators are wavering, not realizing that this could provide millions more to DDOT specifically, plus other benefits. So please call them.
This summer, 56% of randomly surveyed people and 90% of transit supporters said they would be willing to pay moderately higher taxes for new and better transit. If this includes you, please, please tell your legislator!! They don't believe it and need to hear it.
You can also send emails to your legislators from www.FundMiTransit.com. But caution- emails can get missed in the rush of the lame duck session. Phone calls are sure to be heard, at least by a staff person.
Also call the legislative leaders. Urge them to support the transportation funding bills and to work to make sure they pass on Thursday.
Contact Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop at (517) 373-2417.
Contact House Speaker Andy Dillon at 517-373-0857 or toll-free 888-737-2455.
Here are additional things you can do to make sure Michigan gets the transit funding we need:
Ask everyone you know to call too - your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, carpool partners, bus buddies, old classmates, your mayor, and anyone else you know (in Michigan). Forward this message to your neighborhood association, your church group, your baseball team, and anyone else you can think of.
Calls from Brighton, Howell, Canton, Plymouth, Redford, Rochester, Westland, Monroe, Milan, Midland, Alpena, and Traverse City are of particular importance, if you know anyone who lives in those areas. But remember, all legislators need to hear from their constituents on this.
Call the legislators from the city where you work (if different) and urge them to support it. You spend a lot of time in their district and probably support a lot of businesses in their district. You could even call legislators from cities where you shop or otherwise spend lots of time and money.
Visit www.DetroitTransit.org to learn more about top transit issues and to join our weekly e-newsletter list – the best way to stay up-to-date on key transit issues and opportunities.
Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. Legislators pay special attention when their name is mentioned in letters to the editor of their local paper!
For more information about these proposals and their benefits, take a look at TRU’s factsheet: Transit Advocates Support Transportation Funding Proposal. Also see these supportive (although mostly road-focused) editorials and articles:
Oakland Press editorial: We need to bite bullet and approve road tax
Detroit Free Press: Save roads with a modest gas tax hike
Detroit News: Patterson backs new investment in state's transportation infrastructure
Grand Rapids Press editorial: A new route to transportation funding in Michigan
Grand Rapids Press: Gas tax plan, higher registration fees have support of local transit advocates
Forbes: Better if Michigan taxes gas wholesale price
Note – there’s been a lot of talk about help from the federal government. And while we might get some federal economic stimulus investment, that would only be for one-time investments, like new buses, bike racks or trains. Similarly, the private investment in Woodward light rail would only build the system. In both cases, we still need to come up with the money to operate our systems, current and new, which comes from the state or locally.
On Friday, we’ll know if transit will have new investment for better bus service and new rapid transit, or if we’ll have yet another year of bus agencies cutting back on much-needed service and another year of waiting for new rapid transit and wondering how we’ll pay for it. Don’t ask yourself Friday if you could have done more.
Thanks!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Megan Owens
Executive Director, Transportation Riders United (TRU)
www.DetroitTransit.org
TRU is a Detroit non-profit group dedicated to improving and promoting public transit in greater Detroit.
500 Griswold, Suite 1650 MOwens@DetroitTransit.org
Detroit, Michigan 48226 313-963-8872 .
Receive regular updates about top transit issues - join TRU's email list at http://www.detroittransit.org/lists.php.
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