The following is from State Representative Ken Horn's newsletter. For more on what Ken is doing in the legislature, please check his website:
http://www.gophouse.com/welcome.asp?District=094"Having
lived through the 2007 budget debacle, I noticed something dramatically different
as we dealt with the budget this year and as we prepare for the next. This
battle is less about partisan politics than it was two years ago. This isn't
a fight over taxes verses cuts; for the most part there is a common understanding
that the state cannot spend what it used to.
Lansing
leaders are at a new point where all the games and gimmicks are thoroughly
used up. This budget is coming down, very simply, to what Michigan wants versus what Michigan absolutely needs to survive. The governor stated very succinctly, in her State of the State Address, that we cannot be all things to all people.
Two years ago, area educators were asked to attend a special meeting at SaginawValleyStateUniversity.
They walked right into a sales pitch for higher income taxes and higher business
taxes to pay for K-12 education. Supporters got exactly what they wished
for; higher income taxes, business taxes and, by the way, a 22-percent surcharge
on our small family businesses
.
The
pitch was that it would solve all our state funding problems. So...here we
are two years after the nearly $2 billion in tax increases. It doesn't seem
to be working out well for our schools, townships and highway departments,
so far.
The
administration's tax pitch is revving up again for the 2011 budget cycle.
And again, people that benefit the most from tax increases are being asked
to come forward and give lawmakers the same words as 2007, "It's okay to
raise taxes. I would still vote for someone who voted to raise taxes."
The language from Lansing
leaders has changed somewhat, though. Two years ago taxes were referred to
as "investments". Today, new taxes are now "targeted revenues". How could
anyone be against investments or targeted revenues? I, for one, refuse to
believe that we are in this annual budget predicament because we just haven't
found that "perfect" silver bullet of a tax on Michigan residents.
Plain and simple, Michigan
is in this budget mess because it refuses to address the need to attract
and retain productive working people. This state's problems can be summed
up fairly easy through the loss of one hard-working, taxpaying family every
12 minutes to jobs in other states. Our number one export today is our college
educated children, and that's a shame.
Michigan's economy is a vastly different animal than Lansing's
budget, and lawmakers need to get back to their rightful jobs; determining
what the People's priorities for our state government really are... really!
I believe priorities in the 94th
District of Michigan include public safety, education, and roads and bridges.
When we come to agree on what is most important, in terms of government spending,
many of the solutions we have searched for over the past decade will come
to us very easily.
Many
surrounding states limit cash payments for welfare and require a person to
live there for at least 90 days to enroll for assistance; Michigan has no limits. If we can limit only cash assistance to four years, we can hire 500 local police officers.
Under
the terrible budget crisis we've faced for years now, no new spending should
have taken place, but a new program was implemented and the Michigan earned income tax credit (EITC) is now scheduled for an increase. If we simply freeze the EITC, 96, 000 Michigan college students could receive some scholarship help this year.
Should we eliminate the newly created EUITC completely, recently lost revenue sharing to townships and cities could be restored.
Cutting state payroll (including mine) through freezes, attrition, early outs, etc. equals $450 million (according to the Center for Michigan). The savings would go a long way towards fixing potholes and bridges in Michigan.
And,
while I may not precisely support a plan by the Democrat Speaker of the House
to force all municipal and school employees into one government health plan,
some type of reform needs to take place in Michigan. Saving
almost a billion dollars should be an attractive idea to most parents and
tax payers, as it is pored back into our children's classrooms.
Now, these are just a few ideas. And though none of these ideas will please everyone in Michigan, lawmakers should begin the task of reining in Michigan's $44 billion budget.
Above all else, remember that life in Michigan could be a hassle-free if Michigan lawmakers focus on the job of simply spending no more money than Michigan residents can afford, while allowing enterprising Michiganders to focus on the job of growing jobs.
As Michigan's
innovators and young entrepreneurs are allowed to flourish; jobs will grow,
our college kids will return, and state and local coffers will fill up again.
It is my intent to see to it that our children have a better life in Michigan than we did growing up. To me, giving them this hope is the most important part of the American dream."
There is a lot of political information on the Internet, however it is often hard to find the information you are looking for. For example, sometimes great searchable databases are hidden deep within other larger websites. Member Greg Ostrom found these direct links to four great searchable sites that are crammed with good legislative and candidate information.
