AGENTS MAKE CASE AGAINST TAX HIKE ON INSURERS

The Michigan Association of Insurance Agents said that Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s plan to revise the state’s Single Business Tax will penalize small businesses, diminish employment opportunities and raise insurance rates for Michigan consumers. According to the association, insurance companies and other job providers will likely see their SBT liability triple, causing negative consequences in the industry, including layoffs, reduced spending and investment, and an overall loss in employment.

Under the Democratic governor’s proposal, insurers would likely see their tax liability triple from $230 million to $660 million, according to industry estimates. Those increased costs to insurance companies will most certainly be passed on to consumers in the form of higher premiums. Carmel Roberts, MAIA’s vice president of government affairs, said the insurance industry employs more than 122,000 people in Michigan and claimed it was one of the few sectors to have increased its workforce in recent years. The industry’s payroll grew from 2000 to 2003 by 20 percent to more than $3 million.

Unlike the manufacturing sector, which Granholm’s plan aims to help and has outsourced and shipped jobs overseas, Michigan insurance agents work and live there, Roberts argued. More than 1,400 companies are licensed to do business in the state.