LANSING - If you think the pending elimination of the Michigan Single Business Tax (SBT) couldn't affect you - you've got another thing coming.

That other thing could take the form of elimination of the prevailing wage for construction workers on school-related projects, increased co-payments for Medicaid recipients, moving public school employees away from defined benefit retirement plans into 401k's, and adopting legislation to prevent local units of government from adopting living wage ordinances.

All those proposal are rolled into a plan recently released by the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, one of the first groups to come up with suggestions for how the state can cut costs in conjunction with the elimination of the Single Business Tax. They're also among the first groups to formally call for making up part of the business tax shortfall by imposing increased costs on individuals.

"Governor Granholm has been clear from the beginning that any replacement for the SBT needs to fill the hole in the state budget," said Michigan Treasury Dept. spokesman Terry Stanton. "And she has called on the legislature to make sure that any cut in tax should not fall on the shoulders of individual taxpayers."

But shifting the costs from businesses to individual taxpayers is exactly what organized labor feared would happen with the repeal of the SBT. And the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce's plan provides the first indication of how the state's businesses will lobby their Republican benefactors, although it was short on specific numbers. The tax funds a whopping 23 percent of the state's general fund budget.

For his part, Republican gubernatorial challenger Richard Devos hasn't provided specifics, but he has stated that he doesn't believe the entire $1.9 billion reduction in state tax income has to be made up through a business tax shift. "I'm not going to get pinned down on a number," he told the Detroit News. He added: "What I'm saying is that there will be no business tax increase to this state. And the goal is a reduction, and as much of a reduction as possible." He also pledged not to increase fees or taxes to make up for the revenue shortfall.

The Single Business Tax was enacted in 1976 to replace several business taxes. The problem isn't that it's an overall excessive tax - in fact, as we noted in our last issue, several studies have shown that Michigan's tax rate is about average compared with other states. The problem detractors have with the tax is that it's inequitable for some businesses.

During this election year, state Republicans are highlighting the tax as a major impediment to job growth in Michigan. They're taking this position even though the plan was originally signed off by a Republican governor, and was never repealed during half a decade of complete Republican rule in Lansing under the Engler Administration.

"Would people like (the SBT) to be simpler?" Granholm asked. "Yes. Would people like to have it more fair? Absolutely. But is that what's causing our manufacturers to leave? Absolutely not. It wasn't the Single Business Tax that caused Electrolux to leave for Mexico. It was that fact they could pay a buck fifty-seven an hour."

The SBT was set to expire at the end of 2009 - but in August, state Republicans moved the expiration date up to December 2007, with no plan for making up the tax shortfall.

"It's clear that the business and Republican agenda includes saving money for the business community by shifting it onto the backs of workers and their families," said Michigan AFL-CIO President Mark Gaffney. "This is nothing but a blatant tax shift from corporations to workers. And it's safe to say that this is the kind of agenda we can expect if Dick Devos and state Republicans are elected."