It looks like Michigan will not face a billion-dollar budget hole due to a recent state Supreme Court ruling after all.
As The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Jake Neher reports, state lawmakers approved a bill Wednesday in response to the ruling.
The Supreme Court decision dealt with changes the Legislature made years ago to the Michigan Business Tax. It allowed many out-of-state businesses to dramatically reduce their tax bills. This new bill fixed the issue and applied it retroactively, so the state can avoid having to pay out up to about $1 billion in tax refunds.
Republican state Senator Mark Jansen said the Supreme Court ruling created a major tax loophole.
“We never intended them to be able to do this,” he says.
But a handful of lawmakers – including Republican Senator Jack Brandenburg – aren’t so happy about the bill.
“At the end of the day, it is a tax increase,” he says. “I’m not about tax increases.”
The bill now goes to Governor Rick Snyder. He’s expected to sign it into law.