Midwest Leaders Push Pro-Growth Tax Policies: Jonathan Williams on WKZO Radio

On WKZO’s Kalamazoo Mornings with Ken Lanphear, ALEC President and Chief Economist Jonathan Williams reflected on the organization’s mission. ALEC, he said, remains “the nation’s largest nonpartisan individual membership organization of state lawmakers who really believe in the key American principles of free markets and limited government and federalism.” He added, “Not all good ideas come from Washington, D.C. In fact, most… come from the states.”

From there, the conversation turned to Michigan’s standing in the Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index. Williams didn’t sugarcoat it: “Michigan has fallen unsurprisingly.” Still, he noted the state holds the number 19 spot nationally, “partly to do because of [its] relatively low flat tax on personal income and small businesses.” But that advantage, he warned, could be jeopardized if proposals to replace the flat tax with a progressive one move forward. Such a change, Williams said, would follow “the fate of states like California and New York that are hemorrhaging people and jobs to other states.”

In contrast, Michigan’s neighbors are on the rise. Indiana is “number three now in the country for economic outlook,” while Ohio recently enacted a 2.75% flat tax, becoming “one of the lowest tax states in the Midwest.”

Although national issues such as tariffs sometimes enter the discussion, Williams stressed that ALEC focuses on what states can directly control. “States have a whole lot of power and destiny, thankfully, to our American experiment with federalism, to be able to change laws and things like right to work and tax cuts and regulatory reform for themselves,” he said.

Lanphear then asked whether Michigan should consider eliminating its income or property taxes. Williams pointed to a growing trend: “Just this year, we’ve seen several states begin to phase out their income taxes to try to become more like Texas and Florida and Tennessee and the big growth states.”

Property taxes, he added, are “a little bit more complicated” because they are driven by local spending. Still, reforms such as strengthening the Headlee Amendment could “empower taxpayers” to better understand and influence their bills.

As the interview closed, Williams highlighted the stakes. More than half of U.S. states have “dramatically cut their tax rates to become more competitive” in recent years, and the migration trends are clear. “Americans voting with their feet away from high tax states is only accelerating,” he said. “The states that get it right will be the ones that win the future.”