Opposition to House Bills 4058-4059

Summary

A memorandum dated March 20, 2025 to members of the Michigan House Committee on Economic Competitiveness from organizations representing public education, including the Michigan Association of School Boards, the Michigan Education Association and AFT Michigan. It states the groups' opposition to House Bills 4058-4059, which would exempt many baby and toddler items from sales and use taxes. The memo states that the School Aid Fund receives approximately 73% of sales and use tax revenue and that 65 tax policy changes enacted from 2013-2019 reduced revenue by more than $276 million annually, or $191 per pupil. It notes that more than $1.5 billion of General Fund money still funds universities and expresses concern that more of that money will be shifted to the School Aid Fund, and it asks the committee for a broader discussion of tax policy.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

is

MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION
OF SCHOOL BOARDS

MASA

Michigan Association of
Superintendents & Administrators

i MEA

eg MAISA

MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF INTERMEDIATE
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS

SUPPORTING REGIONAL EDUCATION SERVICE AGENCIES

Givi Michigan

(jj!

massp , \

Leadership Lives Here. 4

Michigan Assocation of Secondary School Principals
)) student .
opportunity

SCHOOL PRINCIPALS ASSOCIATION

MEMORANDUM

To: Members of the House Committee on Economic Competitiveness

From: Michigan Association of School Boards
Michigan Association of Superintendents & Administrators
Michigan Education Association
Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators
AFT Michigan
Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals
Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity
Michigan Association of Elementary and Secondary School Principals

RE: Opposition to House Bills 4058-4059
Date: March 20, 2025

As organizations representing public education, we are writing today to oppose House
Bills 4058-4059 which would exempt many baby and toddler items from sales and use
taxes. The School Aid Fund receives approximately 73% of sales and use tax revenue and
is the biggest revenue source for the fund. We continue to oppose policies that cut
funding for our schools.

While this is just one policy change, it adds up when combined with all the other changes
that have been made through the years. For example, from 2013-2019, 65 tax policies
changes were enacted in our state that led to a reduction of more than $276 million
annually, or $191 per pupil. This continued erosion of revenue streams for our local
schools harms our students.

While revenue reductions to the School Aid Fund are our primary concern, reductions
to the General Fund also hurt public education. As we have seen over the last 15 years,
the state has eased stresses on the General Fund by moving more budget items into the
School Aid Fund. The School Aid Fund now fully covers the community colleges budget
and about 20% of the public universities budget. With more than $1.5 billion of General
Fund still funding universities, we remain concerned that more of that money will be
shifted to School Aid Fund as the General Fund struggles. This further erodes funding
and resources for our classrooms.

We urge you to consider protecting your local schools and the School Aid Fund as you
consider tax policies. While the intent of the policy change may be a good idea, we need
to have a more comprehensive conversation about what and how we tax in Michigan to
create stable funding systems for our schools and communities.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact any of the organizations listed.

File and source

File

2025-03-20_testimony_hb-4058-hb-4059-letter-of-opposition-michigan-association-of_49357.pdf

Size

942,011 bytes

SHA-256

d9cc5a0aefe9e2744af140d40922e10acbc04323a498286348fc0584fecf7724

Our copy

2025-03-20_testimony_hb-4058-hb-4059-letter-of-opposition-michigan-association-of_49357.pdf

Original

www.house.mi.gov