Legislative Update
Advocacy Victories:
Advocacy Victories:
Advocacy Victories:
Chamber Membership and Staff push Legislators to Repeal Service Tax in 2007
One of the most significant issues that the Lansing Chamber battled in 2007 was the repeal of the percent service tax that state legislators foolishly passed in the wee hours of September 30, 2008, in an effort to avoid a government shutdown.
Chamber staff immediately went to work to repeal the tax by joining the Ax the Tax Coalition, a group of over 60 business organizations representing consumers, taxpayers and job providers both large and small. The coalition kicked off a petition drive to repeal the tax on services that would have put the issue on the November 2008 ballot. As pressure mounted in the Legislature from the petition drive, legislators began working with the business community to find an alternative to implementing the tax.
Hours of negotiations between the Governor, the Senate and the House, produced a replacement that included a 21.9 percent Michigan Business Tax (MBT) surcharge capped at $6 million with a January 1, 2017, sunset. It also included economic triggers that would reduce or eliminate the surcharge early if
Chamber Leads Fight against Prevailing Wage
In 2007 the Government Relations department led the opposition against a prevailing wage ordinance proposed to the Lansing City Council in October. The Chamber worked to inform members on the facts associated with prevailing wage laws and the potentially devastating impact prevailing wage could have on business development in the city. The ordinance would require any construction project by a private company that receives an incentive from the city to pay its workers prevailing wage rates. The table below illustrates the inflated wage rates required by prevailing wage laws, compared to the average wage rate paid to construction workers in the greater
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The difference between average wages and Michigan-mandated prevailing wages for construction occupations in Lansing/Ingham County: | ||||
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Occupation Title |
B.L.S. Avg. (1) |
B.L.S. Avg. plus benefits (2) |
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Percent difference |
|
Brickmasons/bricklayer |
$24.12 |
$31.36 |
$39.94 |
27.36% |
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Carpenters |
$20.24 |
$26.31 |
$31.02-$35.47 |
17.9%-34.82% |
|
Cement masons |
$25.17 |
$32.72 |
$33.82 |
3.36% |
|
Construction laborers |
$17.86 |
$23.22 |
$30.19 |
30.02% |
|
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators |
$21.04 |
$27.35 |
$30.19-$45.80 |
16.64%-67.46% |
|
Electricians |
$22.89 |
$29.76 |
$31.53-$51.29 |
5.95%-72.35% |
|
Painters |
$15.85 |
$20.61 |
$30.09 |
46.00% |
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Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters |
$22.76 |
$29.59 |
$44.17 |
49.27% |
|
Roofers |
$15.56 |
$20.23 |
$33.45 |
65.35% |
|
Sheet-metal workers |
$24.57 |
$31.94 |
$41.87 |
31.09% |
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1. The Bureau of Labor Statistics mean hourly wage for workers of this category in the Lansing-East Lansing metropolitan statistical area | ||||
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2. the BLS number from the first column plus an additional 20 percent, to represent the cost of benefits | ||||
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3. The prevailing wage the state of | ||||
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Sources: | ||||
The Lansing Regional Chamber does not support the mandating of wage rates for private construction projects, and warns that such mandates will ultimately drive down development due to an increase in overall construction costs.
The Lansing Regional Chamber engaged our members in this fight by educating them on the negative effects of prevailing wage and encouraging them to contact City officials to express their opposition to mandated wage rates. Our members were instrumental in getting this issue off the agenda and into committee, where it sits today.
In 2008 the Chamber will continue to fight for business and free competition by opposing new prevailing wage laws in
