Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference:
The month started out, as per usual, with the two fiscal agencies and the Michigan Department of Treasury coming together to sign an agreement on the amount of tax dollars the state will have to spend in the coming fiscal year and how the economy in Michigan is looking and will look in the future. All parties agreed that Michigan is continuing its financial recovery at a slow up strong pace. Current new starts of homes are continuing to rise in Michigan and are projected to continue on that upswing. Good news for those working and those looking for jobs with the personal wealth of people continues to rise and unemployment is projected to fall leaving people with work and more money in their pockets.
As for the state's coffers those continue to rise as well. Tax reforms done by the legislature with the cutting of the Earned Income Tax Credit, modifying the homestead tax credit, and the elimination of the child deduction, Michigan will decrease it's tax expenditures by $2.5 Billion for FY 13-14 (courtesy of the Senate Fiscal Agency). This for the coming fiscal year law makers found out that they will have an additional $474 Million to appropriate. Some are calling for a tax refund, some would like to see road work, some would like to see the tax deductions put back into place, but it will be a wait and see until the Governor releases his budget recommendation to see where the money ends up going. Click on the link to see the final estimates.
State of the State Address:
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| Governor Snyder delivering fourth State of the State Address. Courtesy of MLIVE. |
The Governor presented his annual State
of the State address Thursday evening in Lansing in front of a packed House
chambers on a snowy night in Lansing. Many of the pundits in Lansing concluded
the speech lacked many specifics, but below is excerpts from the speech
released by the Governor’s press office.
- Snyder will create the Michigan Office for New Americans, which will drive strategies for attracting immigrants to Michigan. Snyder also is urging Congress to approve Michigan’s application to become only the second state with a state sponsored EB-5 visa regional center. The EB-5 is a tool for attracting investment and creating jobs for U.S. workers.
- Stepping up efforts to connect job providers and talent. The governor this year again will host economic and education summits to foster greater collaboration between the private sector and education community.
- Expanding the Michigan Advanced Technician Training (MAT2) program, an employer-driven initiative that helps employers bridge the “skills gap” through a statewide system for training and educating skilled technicians to fill high-paying jobs. Henry Ford Community College and Oakland Community College will serve as pilot locations for the program, which is a unique model that also includes best practices from Germany.
- Continuing the successful Community Ventures program, a public/private/nonprofit partnership created to hire at least 1,000 structurally unemployed residents from distressed neighborhoods, initially in the cities of Flint, Detroit, Pontiac and Saginaw. First-year goals have been met, resulting in jobs for over 1,400 structurally unemployed residents.
- Supporting small businesses through creative partnerships. Under the Pure Michigan Micro Lending Initiative, Huntington Bank has committed $5 million for a pilot program in Detroit to help small businesses grow. Upon its successful completion, Huntington will commit $20 million more to be distributed through lines of credit to community micro lenders. Under another initiative, the 10,000 Small Businesses program, Goldman Sachs announced a $20 million partnership to help entrepreneurs in Detroit by providing access to education, financial and business support services.
21st Century Education
Ensuring that
Michigan’s education system is indeed a 21st century system that reflects the
needs of this technology age. This includes:
- Encouraging schools to consider a voluntary program in which they would extend classes year-round, rather than interrupting student learning with a three-month summer break. It can take weeks for many children to recover the information they learned prior to leaving for the traditional summer vacation, which delays the learning of new material. Under this concept, students still would get shorter breaks throughout the summer. Snyder applauded the Legislature’s bipartisan effort to explore this concept and urged further action.
- Providing a uniform definition of “truancy” to schools across the state. Doing so will result in greater consistency and will provide educators, human service providers, judges and police with ample opportunities to customize assistance to families so that the number of truants can be reduced.
- Implementing recommendations of the Michigan Council for Educator Effectiveness. The council recommended a fair and rigorous means to evaluate the skills of teachers using a combination of observed classroom practice and measured student growth.
- Making Michigan a leader in promoting STEM programs in schools and colleges. Jobs are robust in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. Michigan must do a better job of aligning education with economic trends and inevitability.
Quality of Life
Improving the quality of life in our
communities, as well as for seniors, and residents with special needs. The
governor said:
- Michigan should become a “no wait state” for seniors who qualify for home delivered meals and in-home services. Nearly 4,500 seniors are not receiving the in-home services – including home-delivered meals – that they need. In Southeastern Michigan, half of the people qualifying for services must wait six months or more to receive services. The governor will propose additional funding in his recommended budget to eliminate this waiting list. The governor also announced that he will prepare a special message outlining opportunities to reinvent the way in which Michigan provides services to seniors.
- Lawmakers should pass pending bills that provide consumer protections for seniors.
- Adopting recommendations of the Mental Health and Wellness Report will help people with mental illness, substance abuse disorders or developmental disabilities to lead more independent lives. Recommendations include developing a Pure Michigan marketing strategy to highlight opportunities for families living with disabilities, and having Michigan join the “Spread the Word to End the Word” movement, which seeks to rid our vocabulary of derogatory terms regarding people dealing with mental illness.
- Michigan should enact laws that provide school safety drill recommendations, and encourage schools to report on completion of the drills to the state. Snyder will propose funding in the upcoming budget for school safety initiatives.
- The quality of life for nearly half-a-million Michiganders will be enhanced now that the federal government has approved the Healthy Michigan Plan. By improving access to affordable health care coverage, Healthy Michigan also will reduce uncompensated care that shifts costs onto businesses and taxpayers.
- Significant progress is being made in reducing the crime rates in Pontiac, Detroit, Saginaw and Flint. While the rates remain unacceptably high, it’s clear that the state and local partnership under the Secure Cities Initiative is having an impact. In the first 10 months of 2013, violent crimes declined by 30 percent in Flint; 16 percent in Saginaw; 7 percent in Detroit and 6.5 percent in Pontiac.
Protecting Our Environment and Natural
Resources
Ensuring the protection of Michigan’s natural resources while allowing for their wise use, the governor called
for:
- Increasing the state’s effort to combat invasive species, which cause environmental damage, as well as economic harm in excess of $4 billion annually across the Great Lakes region. The governor will recommend funding in the new fiscal year to implement a program aimed at preventing the introduction and spread of both aquatic and terrestrial invasive species. The program was developed through a partnership with the DNR, Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
- Using the information gathered last year through numerous public forums to develop a framework for the comprehensive energy policy that Michigan needs. In December 2013, Snyder used that information to set the stage for critical discussions on Michigan’s energy needs as they relate to adaptability, affordability and reliability.
Good Government
Continuing with the reinvention of state
government so that it is customer-focused and delivers the best possible
service. The governor proposed that:
- Michigan should join other states in passing a resolution that supports a Federal Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Unlike Michigan, Washington still lacks the fiscal discipline to balance its budget, which hampers the nation’s economic turnaround. Passing this amendment sends a strong signal to Washington that fiscal responsibility is needed for the good of working families and all taxpayers, as well as future generations of Americans.
- The state enhance its “early warning system” to assist communities and schools facing financial instability. Creating strong financial intervention teams, housed within the departments of Treasury and Education, will allow for earlier intervention strategies. This is in the best interests of children and taxpayers.
- While continuing to be fiscally responsible in the short and long term, it is appropriate to provide some tax relief to hard-working families. Michigan has come a long way in three years. The state’s fiscal health has improved due to the tough but necessary decisions that have been made. The governor will make an FY 15 budget recommendation that eases the burden on low- and middle-income families so that they can continue to share in Michigan’s comeback.
The state now looks ahead with the Governor's budget message on the horizon to start working to get the budget done before their self imposed deadline of June 1.
MSMS will continue to follow the activities of the budget and other areas. Find all of that information at http://www.msms.org/advocacy. Your support helps us get the policies you want passed by the legislature. Go to http://www.mdpac.org to see how you can help!
