By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent LANSING, Mich. — In her State of the State address last week, Gov. Jennifer Granholm prescribed some bitter medicine to cure Michigan’s ailing economy, including the closure of the state fairs.
“As we gather this evening to take stock of our state, I will not sugarcoat the severity of the crisis we face,” she said on Feb. 3. “This past year has been brutal. Like few others in our history. The nation’s financial system teetered on the brink of collapse. Our auto companies fought for their very existence.
“And, as the bottom fell out of the national economy, the job situation in Michigan has gone from bad to worse.” She went on to say although things will get worse before they get better, at least now “Michigan has a friend in the White House that shares our agenda.”
Granholm also claimed since Michigan’s economy has been relatively worse than other states, it is more prepared than other states to use any federal monies to its best advantage.
“We, in Michigan, will use that recovery plan to accelerate our own,” Granholm said of President Obama’s proposed stimulus plan. “And we’ve already made tough choices in our budget … While other states will use this federal recovery funding simply to survive, Michigan will use it to move further and faster into a better future.”
She is planning to restructure the state government. Her plan is to reduce the number of state departments from 18 to eight, with specifics to be laid out this week. She said some of the restructuring will require legislation and may even require changes to the state’s constitution.
Granholm also said she would charge Lt. Gov. John Cherry with the task of helping restructure the departments. It’s widely believed that Cherry is planning to run next year to replace Granholm, who is term-limited.
She proposed in her speech to lower the pay of all elected officials in the state by 10 percent and laid out proposals to make several other cuts, including the state fair. She also proposed the elimination of the Department of History, Arts and Libraries this year.
“I will recommend eliminating funding for both state fairs, because while they are a wonderful tradition, the state fairs are not an essential purpose of government. I’m grateful that others are stepping forward to continue this tradition,” she said.
Liz Boyd, press secretary for Granholm, would not provide many details of who is stepping forward to help continue the fair, but she did say state officials have been talking to people about it. She also said the governor’s office would provide more details on her proposals for the fairs in Detroit and the Upper Peninsula, this week.
“There are many unanswered questions,” Boyd said. “Clearly, the fairs have supporters.” She also said Michigan State University’s Agriculture Expo could help fill the gap left by the closure of the state fair. MSU’s Agriculture Expo “is an event that has grown,” she said.
There will definitely be a state fair this year, however, starting on Aug. 28 and going to Labor Day, Sept. 7, with an admission of $10. Telephone and e-mail messages were left with Steven Jenkins, general manager of the state fairs, but they were not returned as of press time.
Much of the rest of Granholm’s speech dealt with her plans for bringing the state out of its economic doldrums, as she tried to sound more upbeat.
She spent much time emphasizing renewable energy, highlighting wind and solar in particular.
“The demand for wind and solar power in this country is about to explode. President Obama has announced ambitious plans to double our nation’s use of these renewable energy sources in just three years,” Granholm said.
She also said state mandates passed by the legislature and signed into law recently have lured several new wind energy companies to build plants in the state, including Mariah Power in Manistee, Global Wind Systems in Novi and Cascade Swift Turbine in Grand Rapids.
The text of Granholm’s speech is available in its entirety at www.michigan.gov |
