UPDATE: LANSING - Proposal 5 on the November ballot is a proposal to amend the state constitution to limit the enactment of new taxes by the state government.

If you vote yes on Proposal 5, the state of Michigan would need a 2/3 majority vote of the house and senate or a statewide vote of the people to impose new or additional taxes on taxpayers. This is being referred to as a super majority. If Proposal 5 passes, it would take just 13 out of 148 senators to block tax legislation.

Scott Hagerstrom, the State Director of the Michigan chapter of Americans for Prosperity, supports the proposal. "In 1965 we were 9th in per capita personal income. Today we are 36th, we were a rich state, now we are a poor state. So we need the legislature to focus on policies that grow revenue, economic growth policies. They can't just resort to trying to raise taxes."

Opponents to Proposal 5 worry that the super majority needed to pass legislation would result in gridlocks and protect special interest groups and their tax breaks.

William Mayes, Executive Director of the Michigan Association of School Administrators opposes the proposal. "Every now and then, to be responsible, state government has to raise taxes, has to raise revenue to support the things it believes in. And if you have to have a 2/3 majority, that is next to impossible to do. I strongly support the governor's position on voting no on prop five."

Nine other states have a constitutional requirement for a super majority vote to pass tax increases including California and Nevada.



ORIGINAL STORY: LANSING - With so many campaign and election commercials sending different messages, how much do you really know about Proposal 5? Meridian Magazine has the story.