Whitmer Calls For End To 'Retirement Tax,' Rips Schuette

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Democrat Gretchen Whitmer is calling for the elimination of Michigan's "retirement tax" in a new TV ad airing in the governor's race.

The 30-second ad launched Wednesday is funded by a group affiliated with the Democratic Governors Association. In the ad, Whitmer criticizes her Republican opponent, Bill Schuette, for calling a 2011 overhaul that included a business tax cut and the taxation of retirement income "great news for Michigan taxpayers."

When Gov. Rick Snyder took office, he and the Republican-controlled Legislature slashed business taxes and began partially or fully taxing pensions and other retirement income. Schuette, who is pushing a broader income tax cut, says he also favors eliminating the "pension tax."

Schuette's campaign says his statement about the tax overhaul was clearly a reference to reducing business taxes.

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