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The poll, conducted in March, found that Michiganders––across party lines; across media markets; across those who are raising children and those who are not; and across those who meet income eligibility requirements and those who don’t––overwhelmingly believe that putting more money in the pockets of working parents would do more to help them keep up with the cost of living than increased funding for state programs like child care and housing.

“A working parents tax cut unites Michiganders” said Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future, Inc. “They agree that there is no program that the state can administer that has the scale or impact that a working parents tax cut has. Michiganders agree that families know best how to spend their money and by providing them with this tax cut, we would empower parents to make the best decisions they can for themselves and their children.”

The proposal is a fully refundable tax credit of $5,000 for children under age three, and $2,500 for children from age three up to six years old. To qualify, a household needs earnings of at least $10,000 per year from work and must meet Earned Income Tax Credit income thresholds, roughly up to $64,000 per year depending on family size. There is a limit of three children per family for the tax cut. More than 250,000 Michigan children under the age of six live in WPTC eligible households.

“The Working Parents Tax Cut is an A+ policy proposal when it comes to voter support,” said Kevin Akins, a partner at Impact Research. “A large majority of Michigan voters from both sides of the aisle are united around this tax cut proposal, voicing levels of bipartisan support that are rarely found in the current political environment.”

“Young children need a lot of love, lots of spaces to learn and plenty of resources to ensure they thrive,” said Angelique Power, a member of the Michigan Future, Inc. Board of Directors. “Money for hard working families to invest more in their kids will have a multiplier effect on their educational outcomes and subsequently on the future prosperity of our state. It is gratifying to see that so many Michiganders from all backgrounds agree that this is what is needed now.”

The poll of 500 likely Michigan general election voters was conducted from March 5-10, 2024 on an online and text-to-web survey. The margin of error for the full sample is +/- 4.4% at the 95% level of confidence and higher for subgroups. Click here to view a memo from Impact Research for more information about the poll.

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“Donald and Kirk are terrific additions to the Michigan Future Inc. board of directors. Their combined experience and wealth of knowledge will be a great resource to our team,” said Michigan Future Inc. President Lou Glazer. “We are excited to have Donald and Kirk join the board.”

Profit is as an attorney at Profit Legal Services, PLLC, a law firm he opened to pursue his passion of helping the Washtenaw County community. Prior to opening Profit Legal Services, PLLC, Profit spent 25 years as the co-owner of Michigan lobbying firm Governmental Consultant Services Inc. (GSCI), and served in the Michigan House of Representatives for ten years, where he chaired the Tax Policy and Higher Education committees and passed prominent bipartisan legislation like increasing education funding and environmental protections.

Rencher serves as the president and CEO of the Hudson-Webber Foundation, a private, independent grantmaking organization working to improve the quality of life in Detroit by supporting organizations and institutions that move the city forward, having contributed more than $200 million to various Detroit nonprofit organizations. Prior to joining the foundation, Rencher was the group executive for housing, planning and development and the director of housing and revitalization for the City of Detroit, where he developed policy and investment strategies that resulted an investment of more than $1 billion in the preservation and creation of affordable housing units.

“Donald and Kirk bring invaluable expertise and insight to the Michigan Future Inc. board of directors. We eagerly welcome Donald and Kirk to our board,” said Nick Khouri, chair of the Michigan Future Inc. board of directors.

Profit and Rencher join the Michigan Future Inc. board of directors alongside Sandy Baruah, president and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber; Paul Hillegonds, former president of the Michigan Health Endowment Fund; Nick Khouri, retired state treasurer; Peter MacGregor, Kent County treasurer; Angelique Power, president and CEO of the Skillman Foundation; and Dale Robertson, president and CEO of the Grand Rapids Public Museum.

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“We’re devastated at the passing of our friend and colleague Kathy Wilbur. Her decades of being an advocate for higher education and making Michigan a better place for all have been felt far and wide. While we are grieving the loss of Kathy, we will be forever grateful for the incomparable leadership she provided our organization to develop and fight for big change that would improve the well-being of all Michiganders. Our thoughts are with her family at this difficult time and we hope that as we move forward we can honor her legacy by continuing to work on the issues she so fully believed in.”

The Michigan Future, Inc. board of directors include: Sandy Baruah, Lou Glazer, Paul Hillegonds, Nick Khouri, Peter MacGregor, Angelique Power, and Dale Robertson. Staff includes Patrick Cooney and Donna Lasinski.

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Two years ago, the Michigan Future, Inc. Board proposed that the state expand its Earned Income Tax Credit tenfold. Going from a six percent match of the federal credit to sixty. This was at a time, when despite unprecedented federal funding and a multi-billion-dollar state budget surplus, expanding the EITC was on no one’s agenda.

The rationale for this transformational recommendation was our belief that Michigan needed a completely new approach to improving the economic well-being of working families. That far too many struggling working families was an ongoing reality of the Michigan economy.

Nearly six-in-ten Michigan jobs pay less than what is required for a family of three to be middle class. The pandemic made clear that these low-wage workers live paycheck to paycheck not because they are irresponsibly buying “unnecessary” luxuries, but because they are in low-wage jobs that leave them struggling to pay for the necessities. The reality is that most of those struggling economically, in good times and bad, are hard-working Michiganders who like us get up every day and work hard to earn a living.

What these low-wage workers need most is income, not programs.

The EITC benefits workers, employers, and local communities:

• First and foremost, it allows families to make their own decisions about what the tax cuts will be used to pay for. Research has shown that families use the EITC for basic necessities- repairing homes, maintaining vehicles, food, and rent.
• The EITC encourages work: It is explicitly designed to encourage greater participation in the workforce because it is only available to families that work. In a time when many employers are having difficulty filling available jobs, the EITC has a proven track record of pulling people into the workforce.
• The EITC increases local purchasing power. EITC recipients spend most of the credit locally, so the bigger the credit, the more money spent in the local economy.

“But all jobs should be treated with respect. Jobs and living wages bring dignity, lead to more opportunity — in housing, education, childcare, health and overall well-being — and also help rebuild communities as that income is used to improve how people live. A major step would be to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which many Democrats and Republicans already agree upon.”– Jamie Dimon, chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase
2022 Chairman & CEO Letter to Shareholders

The Michigan Working Families Tax Credit

2023 saw a historic expansion of the state’s match of the federal credit with the enactment of the Working Families Tax Credit which increased the state’s match from six percent to thirty. For the 2022 tax year 626,000 Michigan households will receive an average state credit of $775. Totaling $485 million in payments to Michigan working families.

The Working Families Tax Credit is a huge first step in moving to an income-based support system for Michigan’s working ALICE households. But there is more that needs to be done. The data are clear: you cannot have an economy that benefits all without increasing the income of low-wage workers––particularly those raising children––in their current jobs.

The next step: A Working Parents Tax Credit

The Michigan Future Board did not recommend a 60 percent state match as a negotiating gambit. Hoping to achieve something less but still more than the 20 percent which had been the previous high for Michigan’s credit. We put 60 percent on the table because of a belief that the best way to help low-wage workers is with income, not programs.

As a next step, we recommend enactment of a Working Parents Tax Credit. To provide Working Families Tax Credit recipient households with earnings of at least $10,000 from work with a refundable tax credit of $5,000 per child under the age of three and a refundable tax credit of $2,500 per child over the age of three and under the age of six. No household can receive a tax credit for more than three children. If possible, the payments will be made monthly.

It is estimated roughly 270,000 Michigan children under the age of six live in Working Families Tax Credit households. The estimated cost of the Working Parents Tax Credit is one billion dollars annually.

The per child credit is an essential feature of the proposal. Although the federal EITC has a long phase out––a two parent household with three or more children remains eligible for the credit in 2023 with income up to $63,694––it too contributes to the so-called benefit cliff. Where benefits decline as one earns more income.

Our detailed analysis of the benefit cliff found that households with children realized very little income gain as declining benefits and increasing taxes steeply offset increased earnings. This is particularly true for households with income between $20,000 and $40,000. Where households net as little as 14¢ from each additional dollar earned.

The best antidote for this high tax rate cliff is a flat per child credit that does not decline as you earn more money. The Working Parent Tax Credit is designed so that recipients will be able to keep a substantial proportion of increases in work earnings.

Focusing on households raising young children is also an essential component of the proposal. The Michigan Association of United Ways estimates the cost of paying for basic necessities for a two-adult household with no children is $38,508; for a household of two adults and two school age children it is $62,928; and for a household of two adults with two preschool children it is $72,792. The cost of childcare is the main driver of the increased cost of raising preschool children.

For households raising young children, the Working Parents Tax Credit both encourages work and provides a life-changing boost in income which can help families defray the cost of childcare.

We fully understand the implications of a new billion-dollar tax credit. At its core, the state budget is a statement of our values. At Michigan Future, Inc. we believe that the state’s core economic value should be rising income for all: an economy that as it grows benefits all. We value work and we value work where anyone who works hard earns enough to pay for the basics and to save for emergencies, retirement, and the kids’ education.

Expanded state tax credits for recipients of the federal EITC should be the cornerstone of a transformation in how the state supports working families. Moving away from a program-based support system to a cash-based safety net that benefits far more working families than any program can and that provides working families with increased income to pay the bills and save for emergencies, retirement, and the kids’ education.

The Working Parents Tax Credit is a win for Michigan families raising young children, employers, and the overall State economy. It meets all the criteria of good tax policy. It is fair (targeting relief to those most in need), efficient (tied directly as an incentive to work), and simple (no new bureaucracy).

Now is the time to enact a Working Parents Tax Credit.

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Michigan Future, Inc., a non-profit think tank focused on rising income for all Michigan households, today called for enactment of the Working Parents Tax Credit that would provide households receiving the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) with a significant tax cut to help Michigan working families make ends meet.

“Michigan needs a new approach to improving the economic well-being of working families,” said Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future, Inc. “It’s an unfortunate reality that in Michigan’s economy, far too many hard-working families are struggling. What these families, particularly those raising young children, need most is income, not programs.”

The Working Parents Tax Credit would provide EITC recipient households with children under six years of age and work earnings of at least $10,000 with a refundable tax credit of $5,000 per-child under the age of three, and a refundable tax credit of $2,500 per-child over the age of three and under the age of six. No household would receive a tax credit for more than three children. The proposal intends for payments to be made monthly and would cost an estimated one billion dollars annually.

The Working Parents Tax Credit would provide life-changing income for families raising an estimated 270,000 Michigan children under the age of six.

“Young children need a lot of love, lots of spaces to learn and plenty of resources to ensure they thrive,” said Angelique Power, a member of the Michigan Future, Inc. Board of Directors. “Money for hard working families to invest more in their kids will have a multiplier effect on their educational outcomes and subsequently on the future prosperity of our state.”

Detailed analysis of the benefit cliff by Michigan Future, Inc. found that lower-wage households with children realized very little income gain as benefits decline and taxes increase. This is particularly true for households with income between $20,000 and $40,000, where households net as little as $0.14 from each additional dollar earned.

For households raising young children, the Working Parents Tax Credit encourages work and provides a significant boost in income which can help families defray the cost of childcare and other necessities. The Michigan Association of United Ways estimates the cost of paying for necessities for a two-adult household with no children is $38,508; for a household of two adults and two school age children it is $62,928; and for a household of two adults with two preschool children it is $72,792. The cost of childcare is the main driver of the increased cost of raising preschool children.

“The Working Parents Tax Credit is a win for Michigan families raising young children, employers, and the Michigan economy,” said Glazer. “This tax credit is fair, targeting relief to those most in need, efficient, by being tied directly as an incentive to work, and simple, resulting in no new bureaucracy. At Michigan Future we believe that the state’s core economic value should be rising income for all, an economy that as it grows benefits all. Now is the time for Michigan to enact a Working Parents Tax Credit.”

More details of the proposal can be found by clicking here.

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Transformative placemaking should be the driving force for successful economic development.The key to growing high-wage jobs in Michigan is attracting college-educated and skilled members of Generation Z after they finish their education. Michigan cannot get prosperous again until and unless we become a talent magnet for these young people. Focusing on traditional economic development priorities while failing to concentrate young talent in the state will ensure Michigan remains a permanently low-prosperity state.

Because young talent is the most mobile, economic development policies should be squarely focused on creating the kinds of places where highly-educated young people want to live and work. Attracting and retaining highly-educated young people is the state’s primary economic imperative – both keeping the young talent that grows up here and attracting young talent from any place on the planet.

The data show that highly-educated young people are increasingly concentrating in regions with vibrant communities, central cities, dynamic neighborhoods, and ex-urban small towns that:

• Offer an attractive, attainable, safe, and welcoming landscape.
• Incorporate a mix of walkability, good transit, and density.
• Are amenity-rich with artistic, cultural, and outdoor activities.
• Concentrate professional and social networks in diverse, open communities.

Michigan’s current economic development playbook focused largely on business attraction is endangering the long-term health of our economy and the economic well-being of households because it does not incorporate the value of place. To recreate a Michigan with lots of good-paying career opportunities – we need to strengthen and create more vibrant neighborhoods in our central cities and small towns that can attract and retain young talent. These neighborhoods – our country’s best talent magnets – vary in many ways, but all share common characteristics: they are dense, walkable, high-amenity neighborhoods, with parks, outdoor recreation, retail, and public arts woven into residents’ daily lives. And they offer plentiful alternatives to driving.

There are 14 percent fewer recent college graduates living in Michigan than graduated from Michigan institutions. Other states, including Illinois and Minnesota in the Great Lakes, are able to retain and attract more recent college graduates than recently graduated from a college within its borders. What do they all have in common? All have talent-magnet central cities filled with vibrant, dense neighborhoods.

Tami Door, CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership, writing in 2012 got it exactly right. Today, of course, the future workforce is Generation Z. She wrote:

“Employers will follow the workforce. For a city to remain economically competitive in the future, it must attract the millennial generation, the future workforce. Nationally, employers recognize that the millennial generation is more likely to choose to live and work in or near an urban center. Mountains and oceans have become secondary to downtown amenities.”

Tami Door, CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership

For Michigan’s population to get younger and more talented will require significant public investment. Those public investments must be designed explicitly to provide the infrastructure and amenities that Generation Z demands. This is not a set of recommendations that can be done on the cheap or by tinkering at the edges. The states that have won in the transition to the high-wage knowledge economy are those that have invested deeply and sustainably in the infrastructure and amenities of their central cities.

If we make the tough decisions and the big investments, we can see a Michigan with a growing population, prosperous citizens from all backgrounds, and neighborhoods that rival the best in our nation.

But that future only happens with decisive action to successfully transition to the high-wage knowledge economy by investing in our young people and creating vibrant cities that attract talent from across the globe.

– Warren Call, president and CEO, Traverse Connect

– Lou Glazer, president, Michigan Future Inc.

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“It’s terrific to have the experience and expertise that former Rep. Donna Lasinski brings to the table in developing high-impact public policy initiatives for Michigan,” said Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future Inc. “With her extensive and incredible background in both business, local, and state government, Donna Lasinski will help Michigan Future Inc. lead a big change agenda designed to reverse decades of economic decline and create a Michigan that benefits all.”

Lasinski joins the Michigan Future Inc. team after having served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2017 through 2023. During her service in the House, Lasinski was elected to serve as House Democratic Leader from 2021 until 2023. Prior to her time in the Michigan legislature, Lasinski served on the Ann Arbor school board and ran a small business, ThinkStretch, which served schools in 38 states with summer learning programs.

“I’m excited to be taking on this new role with Michigan Future Inc.,” said Donna Lasinski. “Michigan is facing tough challenges, and I look forward to being part of the solution with the Michigan Future team by helping advocate for growing our state while working towards rising incomes for all.”

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Cooney joins the Michigan Future Inc. team after having served as the assistant director of policy impact at Poverty Solutions, overseeing the Partnership on Economic Mobility between the University of Michigan and the City of Detroit.

Prior to his time at Poverty Solutions, Cooney previously worked as a policy associate at Michigan Future Inc. until 2018, where he contributed research, policy analysis, and writing to projects focused on influencing state economic and education policies.

“It’s terrific to have Pat rejoin the Michigan Future team where his experience and expertise in developing high-impact economic and education policy for Michigan will contribute greatly to our efforts,” said Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future Inc. “Pat will help put in place a big change agenda designed to reverse decades of economic decline and create a Michigan that, as it grows, benefits all.”

Cooney taught middle school math at Uncommon Schools in Brooklyn, New York; served as Teach for America corps member in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas; and was an Education Pioneers fellow at Chicago Public Schools. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics and history from Boston College and a master’s in public policy from the University of Michigan.

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We asked Lucie to author a post to help readers understand how different teaching and learning looks like when it is designed to prepare students to be career rock climbers rather than climbing a career ladder.

These past few weeks, I have been reminded of just how much young people inspire me. The clarity of their voices, their ideas, their thoughts, their enthusiasm and their commitment are incredible and infectious. I find my heart uplifted by their belief that together we can make transformational change that can build to a better future for all. I need that because working with others to make meaningful change in the learning experiences of young people and adults alike is a marathon not a sprint. I get asked all the time by my non-education friends; ‘Why do you bother? What is the point? Nothing changes.’

Well, let me tell you why I do this work. It is for those amazing young people, who inspire me. They deserve my time, energy, and commitment because previous generations ensured I had more opportunities to discover my potential than they did. And I take it as my responsibility to pass that gift forward to the next generation. As one of my mentors puts it, “To whom much is given, much is expected.” Recently, I heard a metaphor from Michigan Future’s Lou Glazer that nailed what my work in education has been all about. He said that the education systems we are working with now were designed to prepare people for the career ladders of the past and not the career rock faces of today and the future. What he meant was that with the increased rate of change in our work, society and lives that has derived from technological advancement, we need to develop talented people who are prepared to be flexible and adaptable both in the work they are doing and in their expectations of how and where that work will come from. In short, we need to provide learning experiences that arm our young people with the tools to move forward without always having a specific and clear end-point or ‘correct’ outcome in mind. So, what does that look, sound and feel like?

A few weeks ago I found myself at a student-led high school conference focused on the changing face of Detroit and Michigan, surrounded by those inspiring young people sharing what we at The Henry Ford (THF) think that looks, sounds and feels like. These young people were eager to understand and make a difference in the communities in which they live, and as the Director of Learning & Engagement at THF, I was asked to provide a historical context to the current changes and revitalization of the city and the state. Focusing the presentation on how stories of American innovation, resourcefulness and ingenuity from our 300 years of archives can be used to inspire and unleash our human potential today, I shared how the innovators and innovations of the past transformed our society over the years, and how THF has leaned into the responsibility of sharing our amazing stories as a way of inspiring people to recognize the power of human potential and unleash their own. Through our work in innovation education, we developed a learning framework (shared below) that can describe our historical stories in today’s language of innovation so that people can activate their own potential. Our work in this area makes me a firm believer that we are all able to innovate; in our schools, in our communities, in our workplaces and in our lives, and when we unleash that ability together we create opportunities to transform the future. That’s what history teaches us.

As you can tell, I think about learning a lot. As an engineer by head and an educator by heart, I care about us all losing out on our collective human potential because our society has set up systems that without meaning to, limit how our innovative potential is recognized and encouraged. Over the past few weeks though, I’ve become hopeful again. I’ve remembered what I already knew after 20 years in education. Lean into young people. They want us to make changes for the better. They need us to make changes for the better. They are demanding that we work with them to ensure they are prepared for the world and the future we will all share together.

The Henry Ford Model I Learning Framework

This framework powered by 90 years of curation of our stories of American ingenuity, resourcefulness and innovation, and 8 years focused on Innovation Education. It is made up of two frames; (1) Habits of Innovator and (2) Actions of Innovation that can be used together to describe the innovation journeys within our collection, and activate learners of today through their own innovation journeys.

Lucie Howell has been the director of learning and engagement at The Henry Ford since 2016. Howell is responsible for leading the strategic growth of the institution’s educational initiatives and implementation and further development of unique learning tools, materials, processes and experiences for educators, students, parents and life-long learners.

Howell brings nineteen years of experience in STEM educational outreach to The Henry Ford. Her focus for the organization has been to grow and deepen its impact on students and life-long learners through the use of collections, museums, digital resources and programs to increase innovation literacy. She also leads the development and creation of tools, materials and strategies for the organization’s field trip and learning experience programs, along with ensuring the continual integration with Henry Ford Academy and Henry Ford Learning Institute’s network of schools.

Prior to joining The Henry Ford, Howell served as STEM Director at Teach for America Connecticut. Among her many responsibilities she led and managed a team consisting of STEM instructors and general discipline teacher coaches to design and develop blended learning products and programs in partnership with John Hopkins University School of Education. Her extensive expertise also includes serving as the director of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Center for STEM Teaching & Learning at Quinnipiac University and also as the academic program officer for Pipeline Development and Transfer Student Support Center for Engineering Diversity and Outreach at the University of Michigan.

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