Michigan Votes Forum

Introduced in the House on March 1, 2007, to repeal the exemption from merchandise purchased by prison inmates in prison stores. This is one of a number of “tax expenditure repeal” proposals proposed to pay for higher spending in the Fiscal Year 2007-2008 budget, and would increase the amount prisoners pay by approximately $700,000 each year

The vote was 107 in favor, 0 opposed and 3 not voting

(House Roll Call 100 at House Journal 35)

Click here to view bill details.

I would agree to repeal the tax on prisoner store items if those items were priced comparable to what the general public has to pay. When a person who makes less than $0.39 per day has to pay over 200% the amount for an item that is just ridiculous. When is the bill going to be proposed that would limit the excessive overcharging of items??? Don't deceive yourselves. This is will be an increase for the families who are supporting this system already through our tax dollars.

Just who was responsible for inmates NOT paying taxes in the first place? This seems like yet another "no-brainer".

you pay taxes. why shouldn't inmates pay taxes??? oh, it's because you liberals LOVE those criminals SO MUCH....

Are you kidding me? Who has to pay the tax? Families of the inmates who ALREADY pay enough taxes.Think about it.They make .29-.50 a day. They pay double, sometimes tripple the price for thing's on the store list then we do out here in the world. Now the families that are already paying for phone calls, and paying our taxes will be paying for this too.Not the inmates. The families that send them money. Half of us are takeing care of their children ALONE.NO HELP. But add to our problems insted of resolveing them. THANKS.

YOUR poor decision making. you choose to support an inmate. you choose to pay his bills. you KNOW that he is in jail. you KNOW that he has been CAST OUT BY SOCIETY FOR HIS CRIMES. yet you exhibit the poor decision making skills to stay with him. and what's worse, you ask US to feel sorry for YOU and HIM. i DON'T feel sorry for YOU OR HIM. i AM amazed at your unmitigated gaul in asking us, the victims of your 'loved one's' crimes to give a flying rat's ass about his continued phone calls to you, or his well being in general. he is in jail to be PUNISHED, not CODDLED.

Let God be Judge and Jury on convicted Souls not some Lame person that does'nt give a Rats As-! I Pray to God that no loved one of yours ever gets incarcerated...If they do would you feel the same? Would you not except a collect phone call? Maybe you would'nt care at all, But I do. There are alot of Prisoners that have been wrongfully accused, But they rot behind our system that was their for them, Shame on our system that wrongfully accuse people and put them away and never take a second look again...I have seen the people and they trully need to have a second LOOK.

a relative who is incarcerated. i put him there. he lost his mother her house when he brought three and a half kilograms of cocaine into it to 'HIDE' it there. his mother is now living in a trailer that i helped buy for her because she has no more money. he took it. he bought dope with it. he sold some of it to kids, the rest he sold to an undercover cop. he knows that he has an ass whipping when he gets out. his mother is dying of lupis and can't afford medicine, nor can she afford to have him call her collect, as he took all her money and spent it on drugs, which he hid in HER house, and got it taken from her as the 'proceeds of a drug operation'. she still loves the boy, no matter what, i can't WAIT till he gets out... i get to be FIRST IN LINE among the cousins to administer the ass whipping. i'm sure that he wishes we weren't going to be waiting for him on the day he gets released. if his mother dies, then we have no real reason to be 'merciful'. tell ME about deserving second chances.

I would have no problem with inmates paying taxes on merchandise if they were able to have representation. Its written that there shall be no taxation without representation. If you want them to pay tax then they should be allowed to vote about things such as taxes just like the rest of us. Seems to me that is one of our systems founding principles. "No taxation without representation!!!!" I'm sure those in power are afraid of the outcomes if all 51,000 inmates were allowed to vote.