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U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12), 12th District State Legislators and local officials today held a town hall in Taylor to provide information about the newly enacted Republican tax plan and what it means for Michigan. The town hall, part of a national day of action, drew a standing room only crowd of more than 100 attendees to discuss the legislation’s impact on working families and seniors in the coming months and years.

Dingell was joined by Taylor Mayor Rick Sollars, State Representative Erika Geiss, and State Senator Hoon-Yung Hopgood, as well as State Representatives Darrin Camilleri, Cara Clemente, Abdullah Hammoud, Ronnie Peterson and Adam Zemke. The panel also included University of Michigan’s Stephanie Leiser, Maggie Rudolph from Center for Healthcare Research and Transformation and Tom Lutz of the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights.

“Today’s town hall was about giving people the opportunity to ask questions, share concerns, and hear from local officials and policy experts,” said Dingell. “Everyone knows where I stand – I voted against the Republican tax bill because it added trillions to our debt, promotes offshoring of jobs, kicks 13 million people off of their health care, and puts corporations over working families. Now that the bill is law, we must ensure that working men and women have an understanding of the tax bill so they can plan for the future. My top priority continues to be putting working families first and fighting to protect the programs the American people rely on.” 

“I am grateful for being able to work with the Congresswoman, my colleagues and Mayor Sollars on hosting today’s Tax Town Hall and for our policy experts Dr. Stephanie Leiser, Maggie Rudolph and Tom Lutz,” said State Representative Geiss. “It was wonderful to see so many of our constituents attend and ask excellent questions that we are all grappling with given the newness of the tax legislation and its wide and varied impact on people. I look forward to being able to have other programs such as today’s as the implications and impact of the tax changes become more clear so that we can best help taxpayers navigate through them.”

"I am glad that so many residents were able to attend the town hall, ask questions and engage their legislators on how the far reaching tax bill would impact them,” said Senator Hopgood. “It was a great opportunity to learn how it affects our schools, our healthcare and economy, not to mention, our wallets. It is clear that working families in Michigan are treated unfairly in this tax bill, and we should all work together to address this basic unfairness."

"Everything we do is about trying to provide an increased level of services to tax payers,” said Mayor Sollars. “From what I've heard today, this seems like it's not something that will be good for the people of Taylor. Government needs to be transparent so I'm happy to open City Hall on a Saturday for this.”

“I'm glad to see such a high level of interest in tax reform from the Congresswoman's constituents,” said Dr. Stephanie Leiser, lecturer at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. “The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will have broad impacts on families and businesses, but it was passed by Republicans with almost no public discussion. We all deserve an opportunity to understand and discuss these changes so that we can decide for ourselves whether they reflect our values and priorities.”    

“At minimum, this tax bill will cost us $1.5 trillion and it won’t create any jobs,” said Tom Lutz Financial Secretary, Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights Local 1045. “I don’t know about you but I look around and I can think of a few things we could do with $1.5 trillion. I see roads we could repair, bridges we could build, and good jobs we could create through investments in infrastructure and education rather than a handout to CEOs who have already admitted that this tax bill won’t create any new jobs.”