"Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm remains optimistic that some Senate Republicans will support more money for schools, but GOP Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop said Tuesday he won't alter the Senate's only proposal for raising some extra cash.
"We sent revenues over to the House that we believe are far more palatable and far more sustainable than what she's proposed," Bishop told reporters. "If this governor wants revenue, she's going to have to take what she gets."
And just what is that proposal for raising cash? Delay tax credit increases for the poor.
The GOP-led Senate has passed a bill that would eliminate a scheduled increase in a tax credit for low-income workers and use the money saved to begin rolling back a business tax surcharge and add $100 million to the school aid budget.
Another wonderful example of compassionate conservatism: kick the working poor. That's Mike Bishop's way or no way.
EAST LANSING - Michigan State University College Democrats President Mitchell Rivard issued the following statement today responding to budget negotiations between Speaker of the House Andy Dillon and Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop:
"It is despicable that Speaker Dillon and Senate Majority Leader Bishop have agreed to balance the budget on the backs of Michigan's students and future generations," said Rivard. "These cuts to higher education, including the elimination of the Michigan Promise Scholarship, will kill the hope of a college degree for students across the state. These cuts are delusional and will have disastrous effects on Michigan's future. We did not vote for the Democratic Party in a landslide in 2008 so they could turn around and cave in to the Republicans."
Round of applause for our legiscritters - here is one very good thing they have managed to accomplish this year. MSHDA now has some new tools in the "Save the Dream" program to help people facing foreclosure - for the first time they will be able to refinance homes with an ARM, and also start a rescue program for refinancing people who have had trouble making payments.
The bills signed today create two new refinancing options to protect home ownership - an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) refinancing option that will help citizens get into fixed-rate mortgages and a "rescue" program that helps those who have been behind in their payments in the past, but are current now. The new tools are part of the "Save the Dream" initiative that makes housing counselors available to homeowners and raises awareness about avoiding foreclosure. The Save the Dream products and programs are operated and funded entirely by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA).
You still have to meet MSHDA requirements.
Both initiatives are targeted at existing homeowners. To qualify for one of the new loan programs, homeowners must meet the same income and sales price limits that other MSHDA loan products require. Household income must be under $108,000, and the purchase price of the home cannot exceed $224,500. The initiatives will be funded by taxable bonds, and homeowners will be responsible for the full value of their refinanced mortgages. The original mortgage does not have to be a MSHDA loan; however, the homeowner must meet MSHDA requirements for the refinance product. This qualifying information is available from approved lenders and directly from MSHDA.
Call this toll free number for assistance- 1-866-946-7432, or visit the MSHDA "Save the Dream" web page.
There are three different ceremonies with sponsoring legislators and the governor being held across the state today to celebrate the signing of these bills - one this morning in GR, one in Jackson (with Mark Schauer) this afternoon, and one later in Detroit.
For 1.2 million anglers in the state, 800,000 hunters and millions of state park and state forest users, these are truly troubling times. On matters of natural resource management, the Michigan legislature seems to have lost its bearings.
Rather than an august body that articulates its understanding and support for natural resource stewardship and its value to citizens and the economy, it is mired in partisan muscle flexing with no clear vision.
In part, the problem lies with hiring a bunch of rookies. Their objectives are short term. They have no sense of Michigan's conservation history. They barely grasp that Michigan's landscape and waterscape make the state unique and special.
But what's worse is that senior leadership appears willing to sacrifice Michigan's conservation heritage. Nothing illustrates that more clearly than the legislature's foot-dragging on the DNR license fee package.
The bills have been sitting since March. But legislators seem unable to muster the courage to do what is right.
As a result, the DNR is moving ahead with deep cuts to its programs. Its conservation officers, managed waterfowl areas, creel surveys, hiking trails, campgrounds, wildlife research programs and more are all on the chopping block.
When misbehaving children don't do as they are told, they get in trouble with their parents....now I believe that same logic needs to be applied to our state's legislature.
As most of you know the Michigan Constitution mandates that the legislature pass a balanced budget, or it forces a state shutdown. As of the time I am writing this, neither the House or the Senate has passed their own budget, much less passed a budget both bodies agree can be sent to the Governor for her signature, a fact I am at a total loss for words to explain.
The punishment to state citizens, state visitors, and state employees is pretty obvious, but there is disproportionately little punishment to the people most responsible for the shutdown, the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority leader.
... and then record your thoughts and post them to YouTube. Go to this page for instructions on how to upload your videos!
If you don't have a video camera, be sure and join The Conversation over on their site. Let's send a message to those lawmakers!
One word of caution- be nice. The legislators ARE watching this stuff, and sometimes they swing back. I should know.
I have yelled so much about this all year that I have been reduced to writing "Bite Me" in crayon and sending it to Lansing. They don't like that. They write "Bite Yourself" and send it back. So, be thoughtful in your message, but be sure and tell them how you feel!
I'm tapped out here- now it's YOUR turn to pitch in! And while you are there, check out the campaign to lower Michigan tuition rates- it's very important to the future of our state that people be able to afford college. JG.com has ideas on how you can help.
What are you waiting for? Grab those cameras and go!
According to our logs, they were still in Lansing. Hits in the middle of the night. 2:31 am. 3:33 am. And just now 4:57 am.
No MIRS, no Gongwer yesterday. Dave Eggert at the AP checked in 12:20, and the story was updated this morning to include the news that they were still there at 4:30 am.
Both the Democratic-led House and Republican-controlled Senate began swapping a slew of bills with spending guidelines for individual state departments for the budget year that starts Oct. 1. But bipartisan support was lacking as debate over bills rolled into early Thursday morning.
Senate Republicans approved 10 bills at spending levels about $163 million below Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm's recommendations. House Democrats, meanwhile, prepared separate bills that would spend more than the governor proposed, including doubling parts of her original 2.5 percent funding increase for public universities.
House providing funding, Senate shooting low (but not as low as they claim they need to shoot) and not a lot of details as of this morning. One interesting tidbit from the Detroit News-
Senate bills generally will call for spending less than Granholm has recommended for such departments as the State Police. House bills call for added spending on higher education.
Weren't the Republicans the ones running around with their hair on fire over prison reforms? And now they vote to cut the budget for the State Police? Very curious.
Craig DeRoche was obviously up way past his bedtime. There, there, Craig. It will be OK. Andy says so over the flip...
Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who leaves Saturday for a week-long European trade mission, slammed the Legislature today for failing to pass a state budget, adding that the time for talking about it is over.
Not only are they Absent in August, they haven't even set a calendar for September yet.
She noted that lawmakers are scheduled to meet only nine days in September. The current budget expires Sept. 30. The budget for next year is up to $1.8 billion out of whack. Granholm has proposed tax increases and all sides have introduced budget reforms.
"Nine days to do the budget and reforms and the Senate hasn't even passed a budget bill yet," the governor said, shaking her head.
The administration is ready to negotiate, but no one is home. Once again the train has to pull the caboose.
"Bob Emerson is over there every single day meeting with whoever is there, but nobody is there," Granholm said. "They need to do their job and they cannot do it if they are not in the chair."
Check out the details on the jobs mission to Sweden here. And as Tom Walsh pointed out this morning, the No Worker Left Behind program has already netted some new jobs.
Obvious to see who is working for the people, and who isn't.
Once upon a time, at long ago holiday meals, my relatives had this thing about making me eat food I didn't like. "Eat three bites, and then you can leave the table", they would say.
I would sit at the table long after everyone had retired to the living room, pushing the now-cold food around my plate, feeling hurt and resentful that they didn't understand that I couldn't eat certain foods. It triggered a gag reflex, and I literally couldn't swallow them. Stuffing was one of the main culprits. Brussels sprouts were the worst. Just couldn't do it.
So it apparently is with our lawmakers when it comes to working on this year's budget. Politically they can't swallow the food on their plate, so they push it around some more, making it seem as if they are eating something, when in fact they are not.
Oh, they will tell you that they are diligently working on those three bites, pointing to the empty spot where the sprouts used to be, when they had actually hidden them under the mashed potatoes, or fed them to the dog, or spit them out in a napkin, which they then threw away.
Those were my tricks. The difference between the lawmakers and myself?
I didn't campaign for the job of eating the food. I didn't run around telling everyone that I would eat those nasty Brussels sprouts for them, if only they would send me to that big table in Lansing. And I certainly wasn't being paid $90 g's a year with benefits, although sometimes the promise of dessert was dangled as an incentive.
The major difference was that I was seven years old, and the lawmakers are supposedly grown adults. But yet they are behaving like children who don't want to eat the Brussels sprouts when it comes to working on this year's budget. They will do anything to avoid it.
My relatives were wise to my tricks. The people of Michigan need to become wise to the tricks of the legislators before they set the table on fire in a last ditch attempt to avoid eating that yucky food.
The press is catching on, follow over the flip to see...
The bridge collapse last week in Minneapolis left a lot of us thinking about whether a similar tragedy could strike us here in Michigan. After all, our infrastructure is crumbling too. Funding for repairs and routine maintenance have been drastically cut back. And, all we're hearing from the republican members of the legislature is that the answer to everything is a tax cut.
There's a diary about the I-35 bridge collapse that was posted yesterday on DailyKos that I recommend you read. It's titled Economics and Falling Bridges. I normally don't quote other diaries. But, I'm making an exception because the subject matter is so important and timely.
In the last legislative session, my party, the DFL, passed two bills to address the huge hole in infrastructure maintenance that has accumulated over the past years. First they passed a bill with a $.10 tax on gasoline with $8 billion for repairs. The Republican Governor vetoed it. So the DFL went back and passed a $4 billion package and a $.05 tax.
This time the governor not only vetoed it, but asked of the DFL at the press conference "are you stupid?" Apparently, we are "stupid" because we cannot grasp just how wedded this poor fool is to his neoliberal / con ideals, that he is willing to stand in the way of road repairs to keep his "no new taxes" pledge.
In FY2007 (Oct. 1, 2006 - September 30, 2007) Michigan taxpayers will pay $3.7 billion toward the cost of the Iraq War. The National Priorities Project tells us what we could provide Americans with the same amount of money.
1,256,621 People with Health Care or
50,995 Elementary School Teachers or
548,143 Head Start Places for Children or
2,499,099 Children with Health Care or
29,474 Affordable Housing Units or
329 New Elementary Schools or
396,867 Scholarships for University Students or
50,493 Music and Arts Teachers or
79,056 Public Safety Officers or
5,138,793 Homes with Renewable Electricity or
55,315 Port Container Inspectors
Taxpayers in Michigan will pay $12.1 billion for the cost of the Iraq War through 2007. For the same amount of money the following could have been provided:
