LANSING — Videos and postcards now posted at www.saveoureitc.com let working families tell their stories about how important the Michigan Earned Income Tax Credit is to their fight to provide for their children, and how the Michigan EITC helps small business in the state.

Their message: Gov. Rick Snyder is wrong when he says there will be no harm done to low-income working families and their children under his plan to raise taxes on the working poor by ending the Michigan Earned Income Tax Credit and use the money to eliminate state business taxes for thousands of companies.

• Rohnalda Hollon of Beaverton, who served two tours in the Iraq while in the Army, is a mother of three working full time for the Army National Guard, but her pay is sparse when it comes to meeting the needs of her three children.  “Some weeks, it’s enough. Some weeks, it just doesn’t feel like it’s enough because I have three kids and I’m basically doing it on my own,” she said. “The $400 from the Earned Income Tax Credit means could mean the difference between paying my Consumers Energy bill or not,” she said. “I would like legislators to know that there are people like me — from all walks of life — who depend on this.  We’ve earned it. I think we deserve it.” 
• Ramona Spencer takes care of two adult children with disabilities in Lansing. That means she can’t work full time, but she makes $13,000 annually by teaching nutrition to children using school gardens as her tools. “Life has caused me to not be able to work as many hours as I did before,” Ramona said. “Taking money away from me that I’ve earned – that I deserve – it makes me angry. I live here, I earn my money here and I spend my money here. ” And, she notes, if she had to work full time, one of her sons would have to be institutionalized.  “It would cost the state more to support him in a home that wasn’t his own.”
• Tiffany Blackman started working at 13, and she still does. But working full time at a food bank in Battle Creek doesn’t provide much income while her husband attends college and stays with their three young children. The Michigan Earned Income Tax Credit helps the Blackmans keep their old car repaired and buy clothes for their kids – purchases they make locally, helping Battle Creek businesses. “For our children, we want them to see us as hard workers, as people who have climbed out of poverty,” said Tiffany. “The EITC is just a way that we can have a little bit of extra money to insure that we’re not deeper in the hole in poverty. It helps us sustain ourselves while we’re climbing out of poverty.”
• Jeffrey Dittmer, owner of J and J Appliance and Furniture in Lansing, said the EITC boosts his business as customers visit his shop to buy used appliance or other items to replace those that have failed through the year. “For us, the Michigan Earned Income Tax Credit means that our customers come in and buy something – a bed, a washer and dryer, a fridge and stove,” Jeffrey said. “As those checks come in, people are coming in here.” He tells lawmakers eager to end the EITC, “They’d better think hard and fast about the fact that you want to keep the money here in Michigan. Keep it where it’s keeping the jobs going, keeping it where it’s keeping small business going, keep it where it’s staying in the community.”

“It’s difficult for these working families to get time off to come to Lansing and express their concern about the end of the Michigan EITC to lawmakers,” said Gilda Z. Jacobs of the Michigan League for Human Services, which is working in concert with many other organizations to support the EITC. “We hope lawmakers will take a moment to hear and read these real stories from real people, and recognize the damage that will happen to families and children if the Michigan EITC is eliminated.”

Other organizations supporting the Michigan Earned Income Tax Credit include:  Accounting Aid Society, Alternatives for Girls, AARP-Michigan, ACCESS, Center for Civil Justice, Community Economic Development Association of Michigan, Early Childhood Investment Corporation, Food Bank Council of Michigan, Jewish Community Relations Council, Michigan Association of United Ways, Michigan Catholic Conference, Michigan Association of Counties, Michigan Chapter, National Association of Social Workers, Michigan Community Action Agency Association, Michigan’s Children, Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency, Michigan Counseling Association, Michigan County Social Services Association, Michigan League for Human Services, Michigan Nonprofit Association, PHI Michigan, United Way of Southeastern Michigan and many more.