Local Leaders Await Governor's Budget Report
LANSING (WWJ) - Republican Governor Rick Snyder is scheduled to deliver his first-ever state budget proposal Thursday. He's already saying that cuts will be deep -- part of his plan to reinvent Michigan.
Snyder has been clear that public employee compensation needs to be trimmed, possibly by increasing the share that workers pay for health insurance coverage.
Democratic State Representative Jeff Irwin of Ann Arbor says he's sure Governor Snyder knows there will be differences and disagreements over the budget, but hopes bi-partisanship will win out.
"The governor has been out in front saying that he's going to make decisions based on information and data, and not based on the old partisan lines and I'm hopeful. I have a lot of respect for the new governor and I think he's dealing with a very hard situation in a very serious manner," says Irwin.
Local communities are also bracing for Governor Synder's budget proposal. They're worried about losing money for vital services. State revenue sharing is expected to take another hit. Cities like Detroit use the funding to help pay for police, fire, parks and other services.
State representative Alberta Tinsley-Talabi, a former member of the Detroit City Council, says there's lots of concern in the city as it relates to revenue sharing. "We've lost millions, hundreds of millions, in the past few years and we have to stop the bleeding. Revenue sharing is critical, we have to maintain it...There's no discussion, we've got to maintain it," says Tinsley-Talabi. State revenue sharing has been cut by about $3 billion over the past ten years.
Local business leaders are turning an anxious ear to hear about Governor Snyder's plan to replace the Michigan Business Tax with a corporate income tax. Detroit developer Michael Curris says at the top of his wish list for the governor's budget is the elimination of the Michigan Business Tax.
"The Michigan Business Tax has hurt everybody and its hurt development in the state. Its hurt businesses from coming into the state, so it has to be changed," says Curris.
Snyder's plan to replace the Michigan Business Tax with a corporate income tax would strip $1.5 billion more from revenues.
The governor's budget presentation will take place Thursday morning in front of a joint session of the House and Senate Appropriations committees, the Senate Finance and the House Tax Policy committees. In past years, it was given by the budget director, and the governor usually wasn't in the room.
