Many who wrote in spoke of personal sacrifices they thought a shut down might cost them. Nevertheless, they were willing to pay the price for better and more efficient government. Many who work for the state even wrote in and said, "I will be laid off, but I am willing to pay that price if it means making Michigan better in the long run." Others wrote to say that their business or family simply could not survive under another layer of taxation.

On the other hand, almost to a person, those who suggested I vote for a tax increase, did so out of purely selfish reasons. Virtually every respondent was a state employee who did not want to be laid of for a few days. I even had a state judge, who probably makes over $100,000 per year, tell me that! This jurist told me to just go ahead and raise taxes..."I can't go without a paycheck..."

It is a sad commentary that more than a few civil servants would rather see millions of tax payers take another hit just so they don't have to take a few days off without pay.AT
3:55 PM The board is stuck open
OK, quiz question. The board opened up for a vote on the MESSA reform package. The Dems all put up their "NO" votes (except for three brave souls who voted "YES") and then left the House floor. They haven't been seen much since. So the question is, Why? Where did they go?

Here is a hint. The board opened at 1 p.m. Hmmm, let's see. Oh, I know, I know! That was when the game started!

Figure on the folks in charge to start thinking about that silly little shutdown thing at oh, about 4 O'Clock.    
3:25 PM Standstill
The MESSA reform package has been on the board for about two hours. Only two Dems have voted for it. Most Republicans have voted for it, but the total is well under 56. The board remains open. The next move belongs to the Dems. They control the board.  
1:02 PM They gave up for now.
Cleared the board and delayed the vote until later. Now we are voting on SB418, MESSA reform. All you really need to know about this bill is it allows school districts to request bids on health insurance for their employees from competitors. It mandates MESSA, the third party carrier for insurance for most school districts to open their claims data so competitors can quote.

The MEA is dead set against this bill because it would mean a huge potential loss of revenue. The Dems almost all voted NO and then walked off the House floor. They are now hiding in their caucus room.    
12:56 PM This is hilarious!
You just won't believe what is happening now! The Democrats have only been able to find 52 of their members who will vote for this ridiculous service tax package (need 56 votes). So now, they have sent all of their members over to our side to personally lobby us to vote for it. This is so funny I can hardly contain myself!

My counterpart, the Democrat from Kalamazoo, came over to ask me to vote for this. Guess what he said? "This is a republican idea! This is the fair tax!" Yeah, right. My reply to him was, "OK, you're right, this is like the fair tax, now all we have to do to make it exactly like the fair tax is to repeal the personal income tax, and the personal property tax on businesses completely!" He walked away.
12:39 PM Service taxes...cha ching!
House bill 5198 is on the board for a vote. It has come out of "conference" which means the Senate and the House have agreed on the content. Now both houses have to vote the package up or down, with no changes allowed. Our lone Republican House conferee, David Palsrok voted against the bill in conference. Sadly, of the 6 conferees, he was the only NO vote. the content of the bill is too large to describe. Suffice to say, all of the items in it are NEW revenue, things that have never been taxed before. It is intended to bring about $750 million in revenue per year.

Here are some of the things enumerated in the bill:
If you clean your carpet, you pay a tax
Armored car services, pay a tax
Janitorial services, are taxed (clean your own toilets)
Personal Services are taxed...such as,
Baby shoe bronzing (give 'em to Goodwill)
Balloon-o-grams (send flowers)
Check room services (just wear your coat at the ball)
Comfort station (wait till you get home)
Concierge services (use Google)
Dating services (meet someone at church instead)
Social escort services (I'm not going there)
House sitting (you're kidding, right?)
Social introduction services (I don't even know what that is!)
Party planning services (after all this, who even wants to have a party?)
Personal trainers (buy a treadmill, Oh yeah, that's taxed, too)
Personal shopping services (use Google)
Psychic services (I think fortune cookies are exempt!)
Rest room operation services (like I said before, hold it until you get home)
Shoeshine services (wear tennis shoes)
Singing telegrams (use "land-shark" he doesn't sing)
Skiing services (snow, not water...I think)
Warehouse and storage (big hit on industry)
Mini-warehouse, and self-storage (I think your glove box is exempt)...
...there is much more, but I think you get the idea.
11:41 AM Off and running
We are now voting:
HB4862 - fee bills. They are cancelling the sunset on a number of agricultural fees. It will bring in $500,000 to be paid by pet shop owners, nursery owners, plant growers, riding stables, livestock auctions, etc.

OK, well, that was fun. The Dems are now going into caucus. That one vote, the first vote since 3 a.m., has exhausted the majority caucus, and/or confused them so much that they need to go back into a private huddle to figure out what to do next.