Tag: House (page 2)

The same day we learned that Michigan's economy, in the third year of his "leadership" of the state House, has reached a devastating 15.2 percent unemployment rate and that 740,000 Michiganders are officially jobless, the ugliest number since they started keeping the statistic in 1976, Dillon strode to a podium in the Capitol City and told reporters that moms and dads across the state will be forced to endure yet another tax hike.  

Peter Luke reports:

Balancing the state budget in the next 10 weeks will require a combination of cuts as well as revenue, he said.

Never mind the fact that higher tax rates do more harm than good to total tax receipts as they force companies out of business, workers out of jobs and families out of Michigan (remember that "budget-balancing" $1.5 billion tax hike in 2007 and the precipitous fall revenue has taken each year since).  

Never mind the fact that a $10 million-plus property tax hike in Macomb County only three months ago, while aimed at wiping out county government deficits long term, has done nothing more than administer steroids to the problem, producing a projected $32.2 million deficit in 2010 and 2011.

Never mind the fact no one has ever squeezed blood from a stone.  Yesterday afternoon the House Democratic leader made his intentions pretty clear... grab your wallets (those of you who can still afford them) because Lansing's coming calling.  Again.

Not that that's why Dillon called his presser... like a magician distracting you with one hand and hiding an object with the other the man just snuck that one in there and hoped no one was paying attention.  Abra-kadabra.  Poof!  He's going to make our bank accounts disappear.  

And while it certainly won't be worth the price of admission, the distraction coooooould wind up being pretty interesting.

Read on...

The GOP House minority continues to sponsor and introduce legislation, to work behind the scenes and to try to figure out some sort of positive solution to this tax-hike / budget mess.

We rarely hear about that in the MSM.

Being a member of a legislative minority makes it tough to garner headlines. But they're working hard and they're trying to make a difference.

This week I spoke with freshman Representative Jim Stamas (R-Midland).

Interview after the break...

It was just yesterday that I praised the House GOP for having the stones and the urgency to recognize the severity of a $1.32 BILLION budget crisis and to try (at least) to take some immediate action to right-size the size of our state government.  Then twelve of them follow up that great move with this bone-head play?

No GOP legislator interview today.  I'm frustrated personally but I don't think I'm going to be alone.  This is the kind of nonsense that makes it tough for the GOP to build an effective brand.

Yesterday in the Michigan House of Representatives, twelve Republican members unnecessarily joined the overwhelming Democratic Majority in approving "No Reason Absentee Voting."

Representatives Justin Amash, Darwin Booher, Brian Calley, Bill Caul, Cindy Denby, Kevin Green, Goeff Hansen, Matt Lori, Pete Lund, Paul Opsommer, Tory Rocca and Sharon Tyler chose political expediency over the integrity of the ballot and secure elections.  

I, for one, couldn't be more disappointed.

Please read on...

Twenty-four hours ago we were reading startling and scary news about Michigan's state budget deficit.  $785 million, the experts told us, with a fresh $5 million added to the pool of red ink every morning and half of the fiscal year behind us.  

Those were the days.

By mid-afternoon the word had leaked in Lansing that things were much (much... MUCH) worse than anticipated.  $1.3 billion in red ink.  That's a rough six hours.

Listen, we have a good time here on RightMichigan.  Our tongue is often firmly planted in cheek, we razz, we encourage, we joke, we enjoy a good bit of sarcasm and cynicism.  This is not one of those times.  

$1.3 billion in red ink with a balanced budget requirement in the Constitution and only half the fiscal year remaining to make the cuts.  

Dear Lansing- the fun and games are over.

We could look back over the last few years and analyze how we got here and there's a time and a place for that, too, but this is not it.  It is time to look forward.

The Granholm-Cherry administration was expected early next week to make $200 million in budget cuts via an executive order while asking the legislature to plaster over the rest of the deficit with one-time cash via federal stimulus funds.  Not only would that move be insufficient in light of the drastically larger deficit, it would be just plain irresponsible.  Period.

The legislature should convene an emergency session TODAY to start making deep, drastic and yes, painful spending cuts.  If the Governor won't call an emergency session and the House won't play along then the Senate should be the adults in the Capitol City and do it themselves.

Lieutenant Governor John Cherry and Senator Hansen Clarke should cancel their mid-day open bar lobbyist meet-and-greet fundraiser, too.  We literally cannot afford one more day of inaction and status quo.

$1.3 billion in cuts from six months worth of a budget will not be easy and it is going to hurt like the dickens.  $1.3 billion in cuts from five months worth of a budget will hurt that much worse.  $1.3 billion from three months worth of a budget... you get the idea.

The time is now and urgency is required.  The House GOP, for their part, is ready to rock and roll.  Minority Leader Kevin Elsenheimer yesterday sent to budget negotiators a substantial list of proposed spending cuts while they continue to hunt and work for more.  

Representative Chuck Moss, the ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee said: "At the rate we're going, we may actually beat one of the auto companies into bankruptcy. We need drastic, immediate steps to put our state back in order. We tried the game of tax increases, look where that got us. It chased away business, foreclosed more homes, unemployment hit 12.6 percent. And we still didn't get the promised reforms. The day of reckoning is now. "

"Clearly the governor and Democrat's plan from 2007 has failed," said state Representative John Proos, R-St. Joseph. "We were promised that the largest tax increase in state history would solve the problem, but now we're left with a larger deficit and a much larger unemployment rate. History is repeating itself because nothing changed -- no reforms, no change in spending habits, and no change in budget deficits. We learned in 2007 that tax increases are not the answer. With the state of the economy and the national economy, we simply must spend less money."

Unfortunately, the House Minority seem to be about the only ones in Lansing taking this seriously, and that isn't just a knock on the Democratic Majority.  We could stand to see a little more leadership out of the Senate GOP, too.

Dear House Democrats- we tried your tax hike idea in 2007 and it has done nothing but made the problem (exponentially) worse.  Spending cuts will hurt.  Bad.  A real pain in the neck.  The alternative will hurt a lot more.  

Dear Senate Republicans- start acting like Republicans.  If the Left won't do the job (and every indication is that they won't) then it is up to you to save this state on your own even if that makes you "the bad guy."  Consider it the cost of character.

$1.3 billion in red ink.  And the legislature isn't in an emergency 24 hour marathon session to cut spending because...?

The sunshine and rainbows have gone away, ladies and gentlemen.  Time to get to work.

The GOP House minority continues to sponsor and introduce legislation, to work behind the scenes and to try to figure out some sort of positive solution to this tax-hike / budget mess.

We rarely hear about that in the MSM.

Being a member of a legislative minority makes it tough to garner headlines. But they're working hard and they're trying to make a difference.

This week I spoke with Livonia's freshman Republican Representative John Walsh.

Interview after the break...

Ruler.  Pencil.  Globe.  Peach schnapps.

Every once and a while (read: whenever you really want to look close enough) you can find a state law or loophole that makes so little sense you could spend the rest of the day scratching the top of your head.  No one ever said laws and their loopholes had to be logical and far too often they just plain aren't.

Big ups this morning, though, to Representative Marty Knollenberg (R-Troy), who just found a whopper and has introduced legislation to fix it.

Under Public Act 451 of 1976, MCL 380.1814 as added by PA 417 of 2004 (*deep breath*), Michigan school districts are permitted to spend tax dollars on booze, jewelry, gifts and to pay golf fees for teachers, administrators and anyone else under the sun.  

That sort of rubbed Knollenberg the wrong way.

"The use of public funds - your tax dollars - should not be taken lightly," he said. "Your hard-earned money should not be spent on items that don't improve education."

And then after he said it he did something about it.  The Representative yesterday announced the creation of House Bill 4666, a fix designed to preserve the right of schools to offer rewards like plaques and trophies but making sure nobody's passing out bottles of hard liquor.  

Intermediate school districts have been living by these common sense rules for years but other public districts were loop-holed out of mandatory compliance.  And while one would assume that the vast majority of districts have never even considered giving their teachers a Christmas gift of Jack and Coke, I've got a sneaking suspicion that these folks are just as human as every run-of-the-mill businessman and that there are a few educators running around out there with lower golf handicaps than they had in the past, courtesy of your tax dollars.  

"If we are serious about reforming government and improving education, every measure we take must center on getting more dollars into the classroom," Knollenberg said. "It's no wonder Michigan schools are failing when we allow them to spend our money on jewelry, golf or gifts."

House Bill 4666 has been referred to the House Education Committee for their consideration.  I've got a sneaking suspicion House Democrats are going to make sure it dies there.  But props, in the meantime, to Representative Knollenberg and his twenty cosponsors, each of them Republicans.

The GOP House minority continues to sponsor and introduce legislation, to work behind the scenes and to try to figure out some sort of positive solution to this tax-hike / budget mess.

We rarely hear about that in the MSM.

Being a member of a legislative minority makes it tough to garner headlines. But they're working hard and they're trying to make a difference.

This week I spoke with freshman Republican Representative Bill Rogers.

Interview after the break...