By By ANDY HAMILTON / Dowagiac Daily News
Neal Nitz said he wants to move Michigan in a new direction.
The Republican lawmaker for the 78th District announced a plan Thursday he said would spark the economy. Nitz, R-Baroda, unveiled the initiatives during the noon meeting of the Dowagiac Rotary Club.
"We have the opportunity to reduce taxes and bring jobs to the state," Nitz said, referring to the recent repeal of the Single Business Tax.
Lawmakers voted earlier this month to end the tax on Dec. 31, 2007, two years earlier than it was scheduled to expire.
Many Republicans, including Nitz, have referred to the Single Business Tax as a "job killing tax." Nitz said Thursday, the Single Business Tax is the only tax in the nation that punishes businesses for creating jobs and providing health insurance and retirement plans without added costs.
Nitz said, the Single Business Tax is keeping employers out of the state and therefore sending young professionals educated and trained in Michigan to jobs thousands of miles away.
"We continue to lose a job every 10 to 20 minutes," Nitz said. "It's for these people why Michigan needs to go in a different direction."
A member of the audience asked Nitz why the Single Business Tax, which accounts for about $1.9 billion of the state's annual budget, was eliminated and not phased out, and, how the revenue would be replaced.
"I don't believe we need to replace the entire amount," Nitz said.
He added, a bipartisan committee of senators and representatives in Lansing has been assigned to create a tax plan to replace the lost revenue. And, Nitz said legislators would benefit from having as much time as they need to create the new plan.
"We will use up as much time as we have to come up with an alternative," Nitz said.
In the end, Nitz said he feels it will be a "seamless transition" to the new tax format.
The Single Business Tax was not the sole contributor to Michigan's failing economy, Nitz said. He said for the state to attract more employers, it needs to "change the perception and image of Michigan's business climate."
The automotive capitol of the world needs to surge ahead in producing and providing renewable fuels, Nitz said. Nitz, the chair of the House Agriculture Committee, announced in July a bill to push the development of alternative energy.
House Bill 5033 would provide farmers with tax exemptions on equipment purchased to develop alternative energy from agriculture crops, residue and waste. One example Nitz has referred to has been methane digesters, which take methane emitted from the decomposing manure and turn it into electricity.
"Michigan can be a leader in renewable fuels, but our Midwest competitors are already a step ahead of us," Nitz said.
Nitz also addressed funding for public education. He said he was "strongly opposed" to the K-16 initiative.
The proposed legislation would annually increase funding for grades kindergarten through 12 and for public universities by 5 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less.
He said money for schools should not be locked in by a constitutional amendment. Nitz added public education funding has annually increased without legislation and he would work to continue the trend.
"With extra funding comes expectations that our children will learn more and be better prepared," Nitz said.
Other items Nitz said he would address if elected to a third term included banning Canadian trash from Michigan landfills, stopping the diversion of Great Lakes water, keeping government spending down and avoiding the increase of taxes and fees.
Nitz is running for re-election Nov. 7 against Niles Democrat Judy Truesdell.