(MPRN-Lansing) A state elections board has given the OK to three more petition drives to start collecting signatures. The bipartisan Board of State Canvassers ruled the campaigns’ petition forms met the technical requirements to start gathering signatures.
The approval is not required, but it can inoculate campaigns from challenges after they’ve gone to the trouble of gathering petition signatures. All the drives are aimed to force the Legislature to adopt the laws or put questions on the 2016 ballot.
One of the drives is a union-led effort to increase Michigan’s Corporate Income Tax and use the additional revenue to fix roads. Tom Lutz says the campaign wants to shift more of the tax burden back to corporations,
“…keeping that burden off the middle class, off of working families, while finding a solution for the roads.”
Tricia Kinley with the Michigan Chamber of Commerce says her organization is asking people to refuse to sign the petition.
“This would catapult Michigan into having the second-highest corporate income tax across the country, the highest in the Midwest and this would have huge consequences,”
she said. Another petition drive would require companies to offer family and medical leave. Danielle Atkinson says she wants to solve
“the problem of people having to make the choice between the jobs they need and the families they love. Right now, 1.5 million Michiganders don’t have access to one hour of sick time.”
The board also OK’d a petition to amend the state constitution to make Michigan a vote-by-mail state. There are also drives already collecting signatures to legalize marijuana, ban fracking, and outlaw the prevailing wage.
They have to collect at least 252,523 signatures of registered voters to initiate a law. The group seeking to amend the state constitution needs at least 315,564 signatures to put the question on the 2016 ballot.
