"Business" must be pretty nervous right now.
Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson's petition drive aimed at accelerating the repeal of Michigan's main business tax appears to have succeeded.
A review of petitions by the state Bureau of Elections, which was released Monday, estimates the drive collected nearly 292,000 signatures, well above the 254,206 needed to send the issue to the Legislature.
If certified as expected by the Board of State Canvassers on Friday, lawmakers will then have 40 days to approve the measure that would move up the expiration date for the state's Single Business Tax by two years to Dec. 31, 2007.
If the Legislature fails to act, the measure would go before voters in November.
But representatives for House Speaker Craig DeRoche, R-Novi, and Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema, R-Wyoming, said Monday they expect to quickly win approval at the Capitol.
Will they act just as quickly to present a plan to replace it? Uncertainty is costing us at this point. From James Epolito, head of MEDC-
We do have issues to address. Uncertainty over a replacement for the Single Business Tax is now a greater concern than the SBT itself. I hear regularly that this is causing delays by businesses that wish to expand here. Gov. Granholm's leadership on this needs to be met with legislative action; the stalemate is costing us time, if not jobs and investment.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the campaign. Will Republicans gloat that they did an end-run around the Guv? Will Granholm hit them over the head with their irresponsible actions that are now creating this chaos? Will I make it through the next three months without going batshit insane watching these guys duke it out?
Stay tuned....