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New reporting from Heartland Signal exposes out-of-touch extremist Tom Barrett for his embarrassing hypocrisy in an attempt to downplay his own history of raising taxes on Michigan’s working families.
After voting to raise the gas tax with an automatic increase based on inflation and attempting to repeal the state’s earned income tax credit that “would have negatively impacted millions of Michiganders,” Barrett is now campaigning on a phony “pledge” to cover up his history of working against Mid-Michiganders.
DCCC Spokesperson Aidan Johnson:
“While Mid-Michiganders are struggling with higher costs, Tom Barrett is hiding his history of raising taxes on working families. Voters rejected Tom Barrett’s perpetual deception and out-of-touch extremism last cycle, and will do so again in November.”
Heartland Signal: Tom Barrett accuses opponent of raising taxes, despite voting to raise Michigan gas tax in 2015
Richard Eberwein | May 17, 2024
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GOP congressional candidate Tom Barrett’s campaign has falsely criticized his opponent, Democrat Curtis Hertel, of supporting tax increases in Michigan, despite Barrett himself voting to increase the state’s gas tax in 2015.
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On April 15, Barrett signed what he refers to as the “Taxpayer Protection Pledge” and urged Hertel to join him in to “give taxpayers a break.”
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Barrett himself voted to raise Michigan’s gas tax nearly a decade ago. Barrett and 53 other Republican state representatives passed House Bill 4738 in 2015, which increased the gas tax from 19 cents per gallon to 26.3 cents in 2017. The bill also set an automatic increase to the gas tax based in inflation starting in 2022.
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This bill, along with another that raised vehicle registration fees by 20%, passed in both of the Republican-controlled state legislative chambers and were signed into law by then-Gov. Rick Snyder (R). Hertel, who was serving in the Michigan state Senate at the time, voted no for both bills along with most other Democrats. Before the inflation increases went into effect, Michigan had the 10th-highest tax rate on fuel, according to data from the American Petroleum Institute.
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Also in 2015, Barrett joined his Republican colleagues in an effort to repeal Michigan’s earned income tax credit by voting for House Bill 4609. Although this effort was unsuccessful, it would have negatively impacted millions of Michiganders. According to the Michigan League for Public Policy, 738,380 families received economic benefits from the earned income tax credit in 2019 alone.
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Barrett is seeking Michigan’s Seventh Congressional District seat for the second cycle in a row. Barrett and Hertel are currently running unopposed in Michigan’s Aug. 6 primary elections, so they are almost guaranteed to face each other in the November general election.
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