Some republicans in the Michigan legislature are beginning their push for a repeal of the state's Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).
It's a credit that bell-weather conservatives, like Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, have supported on the federal level.
As Lester Graham reported in his piece this morning, Reagan called the federal EITC "the best anti-poverty bill, the best pro-family measure, and the best job creation program ever to come out of the Congress of the United States."
So how will Governor Snyder react? Will he support the elimination of the credit, or will he push back? People are curious.
In today's Dome Magazine, John Lindstom (editor of the Gongwer News Service) has a piece about the potential difficulties Mr. Snyder may face with the Republican controlled legislature.
Lindstrom writes that Snyder's first test may come with the debate around the EITC. He writes:
How Mr. Snyder decides on the question could be an early indication of which party he actually will have more trouble with as he leads the state. Stand with the supporters of the EITC, who are uniformly Democrats, and his Republican cred will be questioned even more ferociously. Conservative legislators may start testing him more aggressively. Stand with the Republicans and Mr. Snyder’s support among Democrats and social liberals will fall dramatically. Getting their support for proposals will be more difficult.
Lindstrom writes that Snyder may decide to finesse the issue by simply pushing the idea of cutting back on the EITC , but not eliminating it, and that, he writes "would simply delay the confrontation issue Mr. Snyder will one day have to face."
