The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
2 — Wednesday, February 16, 2022
Whitmer grants $76.3
million for Michigan
colleges and universities
GOVERNMENT
Coronavirus funding allows state to boost
contributions to higher education
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GRACE BEAL/Daily
Whitmer removes sales tax on all feminine hygiene products in the state
‘Tampon tax’ officially ends
The State of Michigan’s 6%
sales tax on tampons and other
menstrual
goods
officially
ended Thursday. A bipartisan
bill removing the tax, which
is applied to “luxury goods,”
went into effect 90 days after
Governor Gretchen Whitmer,
D-Mich., signed it into law. The
bill is applicable to tampons,
panty liners, menstrual cups,
sanitary napkins and other
products connected with the
menstrual cycle.
This bill comes after other
states
including
California,
New York and Connecticut
passed bills eliminating the
tax on menstrual products.
Currently, 27 states continue
to levy a sales tax on feminine
hygiene products.
The average menstruating
Michigander uses about 17,000
pads or tampons, which can
add up to $4,800 in just sales
tax, according to Whitmer’s
press release.
In an interview with The
Michigan Daily, Whitmer said
this bill has been in the works
for 10 years.
“I’m thrilled because we
know that the purchase of
these essential items is not
discretionary,” Whitmer said.
“It’s
an
absolute
essential
need, and when we tax it,
we
disproportionately
hurt
women and girls in Michigan,
and that’s why it’s so important
that we eliminate this tax: so
anyone who menstruates in
the state of Michigan now will
not have to pay this additional
burden.”
Period Equity, a nonprofit
founded by women, has led
a nationwide movement in
repealing the “tampon tax.”
In 2016, the organization filed
a lawsuit against the State of
Michigan, alleging the state’s
tax
was
unconstitutional
because it discriminated on
the basis of sex.
This bill is part of a greater
effort
to
make
menstrual
products
more
accessible.
In
November,
Ann
Arbor
became the first city in the
country to require free sanitary
products in public restrooms for
menstruating individuals.
Whitmer said this bill will
improve the quality of life for
menstruating individuals across
the state.
“People
spend
thousands
of
dollars
(on
menstrual
products) over the course of a
lifetime,” Whitmer said. “This
is a meaningful improvement
in terms of the bottom line for
people like my daughters and
me, all of us who menstruate.”
Daily
News
Editor
Kate
Weiland can be reached at
kmwblue@umich.edu
KATE WEILAND
Daily News Editor
GOVERNMENT
Governor Gretchen Whitmer
(D) presented a $74.1 billion
election-year
budget
plan
Wednesday to support Michigan
and “invest in the success of our
future”
In the bill, Whitmer suggested
one-time
funding
increases
of 5% for all public Michigan
universities
and
community
colleges,
totaling
to
$76.3
million. The bill also includes
a 5% ongoing funding increase,
which is another $76.3 million of
continued funding for operations.
This money, plus $200 million
more, will be used for everyday
campus use such as technology,
infrastructure, maintenance and
equipment.
For other community colleges
in Michigan, the budget will
award a $16.2 million one-
time increase and $16.2 million
ongoing
funding.
This
is
a
significant increase from the
stagnant budget that has not
changed in the past few years.
The plan will also provide $1
billion for K-12 funding. This
funding will be used for the
creation of infrastructure and
modernization of buildings. Each
district will be awarded $170
million annually for other future
projects.
“It
would
make
game-
changing investments in every
student, in every district, fund
school construction and mental
health at a historic scale, and
retain hundreds of thousands of
school staff,” Whitmer said in
a press release obtained by the
Michigan Daily. “The budget
makes schools safer, helps every
student be a better student, helps
every teacher be a great teacher,
and helps our kids be kids.”
Whitmer also said she is
putting an emphasis on mental
health with this bill and plans to
support teachers more financially
by providing bonuses of $11,000
for school employees who stay in
their jobs through 2025.
In
addition
to
students,
Whitmer’s budget is set-up
to offer tax relief for senior
citizens and low-wage workers.
According to her plan, the
government would start with a
25% tax reduction for citizens
65 years of age and higher.
As time goes on, she hopes to
increase the reductions and
decrease the age requirement,
overall saving taxpayers about
$1,000 a year.
Whitmer
has
set
aside
$88
million
towards
the
Unemployment
Insurance
System, following suggestions
from her predecessor, Governor
Rick Snyder (R).
According
to
her
press
release,
Whitmer’s
budget
recommendation
“puts
Michiganders first and delivers
on the issues that matter most to
Michigan families.”
Whitmer’s
entire
budget
is a 10.4% increase from her
previously-proposed plan early
last year. According to the U.S.
News, the extra money has come
from federal payments to state
governments
in
response
to
COVID-19, and high tax revenue.
The extra money will go to a
variety of different funds, from
dental services to psychiatric
facilities to water quality.
Daily Staff Reporter Ashna
Mehra
can
be
reached
at
ashmehra@umich.edu
ASHNA MEHRA
Daily Staff Reporter
Ann Arbor City Council met
Tuesday
night
to
approve
an
amendment to a resolution proposing
changes to East Medical Center
Drive Bridge near the University of
Michigan Medical Center.
The council previously approved
a resolution in October 2021 to
establish a services agreement with
DLZ Michigan, an architectural and
engineering consulting firm, to widen
the bridge, a four-lane road over the
Amtrak Michigan line and the main
route to the University of Michigan
Medical Center.
University officials have previously
told City Council they are interested
in adding another lane for automobile
traffic, which would reduce the west
sidewalk from 10 1/2 feet to eight feet
wide. According to Michael Rein, the
University’s director of community
relations, the reduction in width of
the west sidewalk was designed to
promote safer bicycle traffic.
“That reduction from 10 1/2 to eight
feet was by design to promote traffic
on the east side — safer bicycle traffic,
safer non-motorized traffic,” Rein said.
Rackham
student
Bethany
Beekly told the council during public
commentary
that
the
proposed
design would make the bridge more
dangerous for bicycle and pedestrian
traffic, as well as threaten Ann Arbor’s
goals to decrease carbon emissions
and cut vehicle miles traveled in half.
“As it currently stands … the bridge
widening proposal is inadequate on
pedestrian and cyclist safety and also
counterproductive for our climate
goals,” Beekly said. “Trying to solve
congestion issues by increasing car
capacity is a strategy that we’ve known
for decades to be counterproductive.”
Councilmember
Erica
Briggs,
D-Ward 5, proposed an amendment
asking the council to encourage the
city administrator to proceed with
efforts to rehabilitate the bridge
without widening it if an agreement
cannot be made with the University
to expand sidewalks on either side of
the road.
Briggs expressed that if this
amendment
was
not
passed,
she would be in favor of simply
rehabilitating the bridge rather than
widening it.
“It’s important to note that the
city’s plans do not call for widening
this bridge,” Briggs said. “Our
(Capital Improvement Plan) called
for rehabilitation. City staff has
expressed no concerns with simply
rehabilitating the bridge and not
widening. The desire to widen this
infrastructure has come from the
University of Michigan.”
Councilmember Jen Eyer, D-Ward 4,
expressed her support for the amendment,
emphasizing the safety concerns.
“A vote against this amendment
is a vote to make this situation more
dangerous,” Eyer said.
Ultimately,
Briggs’
proposed
amendment
failed
5-6
with
councilmembers Eyer, Briggs, Jeff
Hayner, D-Ward 1, Linh Song,
D-Ward 2, and Julie Grand, D-Ward
3, voting in favor.
Briggs noted that the proposed
changes would make the sidewalk
on the west side narrower, noting the
dangers this would cause to cyclists
and pedestrians.
“There are more cyclists on the
western side of that intersection
than on the eastern side, and that’s
for a reason,” Briggs said. “(Cyclists
are) trying to avoid the dangerous
conditions that are along Fuller and
Glen and regardless of what the
University suggests, people are taking
West Medical Center Drive because
it’s safer. They could reroute in the
future … we could ask that of them. Or
we could ask the University to pay to
do this project properly.”
City Council approves bridge
widening near U-M hospital
Project greenlit despite protests over
pedestrian safety, environmental impact
AUDREY CLAYTON
Daily Staff Reporter
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
NEWS