LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The progressive “tax the rich” train has hit a red light. The group behind the proposal, Invest in MI Kids, officially pulled the plug on its 2026 ballot effort after falling well short of the roughly 446,000 signatures required. They managed about 250,000 – not nearly enough to make the cut by the deadline.

The pitch: tax a few to fund schools.

The proposal aimed to impose a 5% surtax on taxable income more than $500,000 for single filers and over $1 million for joint filers (married couples filing jointly), generating an estimated $1.7 billion annually for schools.

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Supporters framed it as a targeted hit just on the wealthy. Critics argued it would ripple into small businesses and job creators, since many operate as pass-through entities taxed at individual rates.

What does “for the schools” actually mean?

The language of the petition said that Michiganders would be voting to “support classrooms in local school districts, including funding for career and technical education, attracting and retaining high-quality educators, and reducing class sizes.”

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy had said that the initiative was just a “foot in the door to taxing everyone” eventually and that it would “leave some taxpayers in Detroit paying nearly half their income in taxes, the fourth-highest rate in the country once federal, state and local taxes are included. They went on to say, “The constitutional change envisioned by Invest in MI Kids would burden Michiganders with some of the highest rates in the country. It would drive people from the state, further exacerbating our population problem.”

Not dead, just delayed, say organizers.

Organizers of the petition drive insist this isn’t the end – just a timeout. The group is now eyeing a comeback attempt for the 2028 ballot. But for now, Michigan voters won’t be weighing in on a millionaire tax anytime soon.