Fewer than one percent of registered businesses will pay the tax. Only corporations with sales above $25 million will be affected. (Hardly mom and pop operations.) The tax revenues go--by law--to schools, healthcare, and senior care. So children, the sick who are poor, and the elderly poor do benefit from M97. In fact, without M97, their lives will take a sharp turn for the worse.  That's why it's on the ballot. 

The elegance and intelligence of M97 is that, while a sales tax would hit everyone, and prices would effectively move higher for everyone, M97 leverages some contributions from the larger corporations, many out-of-state, who themselves will get tax relief from the federal government (for paying the state tax), thus a second leverage. That will make it a little easier for the larger corporations to sustain profits without raising prices as much as they would have. Taxpayers win twice.