Michigan Votes Forum

Senator Switalski asked and was granted unanimous consent to make a statement and moved that the statement be printed in the Journal.

The motion prevailed.

Senator Switalski’s statement is as follows:

I voted “no” against this bill when it was before us earlier in another version, and it was 37-1, so it just slipped through. I raised some objections at the time that it was retroactive, so that people who had already installed these pumps would be getting a tax credit for doing something that they had already done. It was about $3 million a year, and ethanol was already 22 cents less than gasoline at the station, so there was already incentive to do it.

I have to say that some significant changes have been made to the bill, such as there is no retroactivity now; there is a three-year phase-out; there is a $20,000 cap per year per taxpayer; and there is also a $1 million cap per year for all the credits. I now enthusiastically support this bill.

The bill is now on its way to the governor, having been overwhelmingly approved by all but four lawmakers (3 in senate, 1 in house.)

More discussions of past ethanol votes from Michigan Capitol Confidential here and here.

Is this a wise energy policy?

Is using tax incentives to encourage turning food into fuel such a decidedly great idea that almost the entire legislature should be marching behind it?

Who benefits from this?

 this bill is wrong on so many levels.

1. turning food into fuel is STUPID when the ethanol we can make from GARBAGE is just as good.

2. why are we subsidizing this? can't this leftist utopian idea float on it's own merit? obviously not.

3. why is the government even getting involved in the business of making fuel? it has no place there, no expertise, and no business being involved in the first place.