The Michigan House of Representatives officially passed a bill, introduced earlier this year that will reduce a Canadian carrier’s Michigan Single Business Tax (MSBT) liability by at least two-thirds.

The Ontario Trucking Association proved to have been successful in its uphill lobby to have changes made to the MSBT. The bill passed by a vote of 88 to 14.

“Passage of the legislation, which will isolate strictly Michigan business revenues for tax purposes and give Canadian truckers a break on the amount of driver wages that must be included for tax purposes is a major victory for the Canadian industry and for Canada-US trade,” said OTA president David Bradley.

Passage in the House came the same day Bradley and OTA’s manager of policy development, Steve Laskowski were dispatched to the state capital to quell a last minute bid by the Teamsters to kill the bill.

The only remaining step in the process is for the Governor of Michigan to sign the bill into law. Under Michigan law, even if the Governor does not sign the bill, it has the force of law. While the Governor has the right of veto, his office has indicated his support for the bill. The signing is expected to occur over the next two weeks.

The “Michigan model” will now be employed to try and bring about constructive change in other states, such as Pennsylvania.