Government Relations Update

March 17, 2008

Chamber and Alliance Want to Hear About “Your MBT Experience”

Michigan businesses have just calculated and submitted their first quarter Michigan Business Tax payment and are finding in many cases that their liability has increased, sometimes significantly.The Chamber and the Northwest Regional Chamber Alliance want to hear more about these cases.

Reports are coming in from across the state that some businesses are seeing increases in their MBT liability as high as 200-300% over last year. The Chamber and the Alliance have launched an information drive to see how the new tax is impacting northwest Michigan. We want to hear about the experience your firm or your accountant has encountered in preparation for this first MBT payment.

What obstacles did you meet during your preparation? Were there areas of the reporting requirements that were unclear or incomplete? Was preparation more complicated than before? Do you anticipate increased tax preparation fees due to the MBT? Did you see an increase in your liability? If you did see an increase, what type of impact could it have on your business? If you saw a decrease in your taxes or thought that preparation was less complicated, we would like to hear about that as well.

The Chamber and the Alliance will compile the responses and work with other chamber and business organizations across the state to show legislators the problems the new tax has created for businesses in northwest Michigan, and to collaborate for possible alternatives.

Please send your MBT experience comments to Jamie Callahan at jamie@tcchamber.org. Any information disclosed as proprietary or confidential will be kept confidential.

Film Incentive Bills Pass House and Senate with Chamber and Alliance Support

The Chamber and the Northwest Regional Chamber Alliance last week supported legislation in committee that would make Michigan the top state in the country for film and commercial incentives. The House and Senate passed their respective packages, which will now be considered by the opposite chamber. The bills are on the fast track towards enactment and could be to on their way to the governor’s desk by the time the legislature breaks for their spring recess, or else right when they return.

The House bills are HB 5841 – 5856, while the Senate bills are SB 1168-1183.Highlights of the bill package include tax credits for companies involved in the production of motion pictures, television programs, music videos, and similar productions in Michigan. This would apply to production costs and job training, tax credits and deductions for private investment in certain media productions and in media production facilities, and state-financed loans.

Chamber and Alliance Support Ballast Water Resolution

The Northwest Michigan Regional Chamber Alliance supported a resolution in the House Great Lakes and the Environment Committee calling on other Great Lakes states and the Province of Ontario to adopt legislation requiring oceangoing freighters to treat their ballast water to help prevent the introduction of additional invasive species into the waters of the Great Lakes. In 2005, Michigan passed the first state law requiring oceangoing ships to treat their ballast water or refrain from discharging ballast water in Michigan's Great Lakes.

Michigan’s ballast water law can be effective only if similar legislation is adopted by the other states and provinces which border the Great Lakes. The United States District Court recently dismissed a challenge to Michigan's law by the shipping industry, confirming the power of states to protect their waters. Invasive species have cost the business community and government agencies significant resources to combat the proliferation and damage created by these creatures.

The resolution was passed by the committee and awaits action by the House of Representatives.HR 255 can be found at www.mileg.org.