By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
LANSING, MI – Attorney General Mike Cox says he would cut the state's primary business tax in half in his first year if elected governor. That would cost the state $2 billion in lost revenue. And Cox says he would eventually phase out the Michigan Business Tax altogether. He says he'd also ask the Legislature to reduce the state income tax.
Cox is seeking the Republican nomination to replace Governor Granholm when she retires from office at the end of next year. He says big ideas are needed to fix the state's economy.
"It's like the death of a thousand cuts over a long period of time or it's standing up and fighting and creating a model that people will gravitate to and businesses will gravitate to, instead of being repelled from," Cox says.
Cox says he would also increase spending on higher education by finding cuts in other places. Cox released a campaign document of 92 ideas for fixing Michigan.
Cox is facing a GOP field that also includes Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder, state Senator Tom George, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, and Congressman Pete Hoekstra.