A group called invest in MI kids, along with its leaders and volunteers, worked on a “tax the rich” ballot effort in Michigan. The group wanted to increase taxes on wealthy people to help fund public schools. The campaign was led by people like Rachelle Crow- Hercher and supported by education advocates. They believed more funding would improve schools for students.
The group planned to put a tax proposal on the 2026 ballot, but later decided to stop the effort. The proposal would have added a 5% tax on individuals earning over $500,000 and couples earning over $1 million. The money was supposed to help schools by lowering class sizes and supporting teachers. However, the campaign ended before it could reach the ballot.
This effort took place across the state of Michigan and involved people from many different areas. In Michigan, groups must collect a large number of signatures to get proposals on the ballot. In March 2026, the group announced that it was stopping the campaign after months of collecting signatures. They needed over 446,000 signatures but only gathered around 250,000.
The main reason the campaign stopped was because there was no realistic way to reach the required number of signatures before the deadline. Leaders decided it was better to pause the effort instead of continuing without success. Even though they made progress, they still fell short of what was needed. The group now plans to reorganize and possibly try again in a future election.
