- A group aiming to raise income taxes on the wealthy to pay for schools is ending its campaign
- The effort aimed to raise income taxes for people making more than $500,000 a year or couples making more than $1 million
- Invest In MI Kids says it is eyeing the 2028 ballot now
Michigan voters will not decide this fall if the state should raise taxes on the wealthy to pay for schools.
The Invest in MI Kids group announced Thursday that it was suspending its campaign.
Advocates had hoped the state would add a 5% tax on individuals making over $500,000 a year and couples making over $1 million a year.
Rachelle Crow-Hercher, president of the Invest in MI Kids steering committee, said in a statement that ending the campaign “was not an easy decision” and praised volunteers’ efforts.
“However, we owe it to our volunteers to be realistic about what is achievable to qualify for the ballot this year, and we unfortunately do not see a path forward to getting the signatures we need to make the ballot in 2026.”
Michigan allows groups to circulate a petition. If the petition gets enough qualified signatures, the issue is then brought to the voters for a vote.
Crow-Hercher said the group had received “nearly 250,000 signatures.”
It would have needed 446,198 signatures within 180 days to make the 2026 general election ballot, Bridge previously reported.
The group had aimed to get more funding for lowering class sizes, recruiting and retaining educators and support for career and technical education.
The tax would have applied to a tiny fraction of taxpayers — fewer than 60,000 of the state’s 4.9 million filers in 2021 made more than $500,000 — and would have raised about $1.7 billion. That’s less than a 10% increase of the state’s $20.6 billion K-12 budget.
Invest in MI Kids plans to campaign again in 2027 and aim for the 2028 ballot. That is a presidential year but Michigan will not have a gubernatorial race then.
“Our work is far from over. We know that our schools and our communities are going to be facing serious cuts in the next couple of years,” said Crow-Hercher. “But there are brave and committed people in every county across this state who are ready to stand up and fight for a better future. We built this campaign to create a lasting movement beyond any one election year. We’re just getting started.”
