No new taxes. Not for schools, not for foster kids, not to fix our roads and bridges, balance the budget, nor for any reason whatsoever. No new taxes. Period.
They have trumpeted that theme over and over again. Until the last couple days, when the Republican majority in the Michigan State Senate did something that completely startled me.
State Senator Buzz Thomas, a Democrat, proposed a bill to allow Wayne, Oakland, Washtenaw and Macomb counties to ask their citizens to approve extra taxes to support the Detroit Institute of Arts. A companion bill, sponsored by Democrat Gilda Jacobs, would do the same for the Detroit Zoo.
Knowing the Republican attitude toward taxes, I figured these bills had about as much chance as a bill to collectivize agriculture. But to my surprise, the same Republicans who wouldn’t spend a time to save the Michigan Promise Scholarships looked at these bills that would make new taxes possible and said ….
“Hey! Good idea!”
And then they voted to pass them, overwhelmingly. The House has yet to act on these bills, but is expected to ratify them this month as well. Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop was quoted as saying: “I think all of us agree that our cultural entities have got to be supported or they’re going to go away. The DIA and the zoo are cultural gems that I think speak volumes to the quality of life in our state.“
If I were a religious man, I might have concluded that the rapture had arrived. Well, not completely. The Republicans still profess their anti-tax ideology, but found this face-saving way to get around it: They said they support these bills because they don’t raise taxes directly. They leave that up to the people.
All the legislature is doing is creating an authority which would put two small requests for one fifth of a mill each for the Zoo and the DIA before the voters two years from now.
This isn’t a tax imposed from Lansing, in other words. This allows the voters to decide if these institutions are something they want to pay for. There is no doubt both need money.
The DIA has a huge structural deficit and is hemorrhaging money even after big staff reductions. The Detroit Zoo, already partly supported by a regional tax, is getting less than expected because of the collapse of property values.
They are also both important cultural institutions, as a spokesman for the majority leader said. True enough. But aren’t our schools and parks and children’s futures important too?
I suspect one reason the mostly male Republican delegation supported this taxing authority is because their kids love the zoo, and, as one of them indicated, their wives like the DIA.
Don’t get me wrong -- I approve of this too. And I wonder if this might set a precedent for passing the revenue increases the state is going to need next year. Put them on the ballot, and let the people decide. It might just be worth a try, before Michigan goes down the drain.
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