The chair of the House Tax Policy committee is defending Republican Speaker Tom Leonard’s decision to allow a vote on a failed measure to cut the state income tax.
Leonard’s been criticized for the move after saying he knew the proposal didn’t have the votes to pass.
Representative Jim Tedder says it gave House members a chance to vote their conscience.
“I don’t feel that this was political," he says. "I feel that this was an opportunity for all of us to show our districts where we stood.”
Leonard removed the chair of the House Financial Services committee when he changed his mind and opposed the cut.
Still, Tedder denies the decision was a “gotcha” move by the speaker to call out the 12 Republicans who voted against it.
He made the remarks on Michigan Public Television’s ‘Off the Record.’
The program can be seen on WKAR-TV and at wkar.org.