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Thursday, September 06, 2007 Milliken, Blanchard Urge Resolution Of Michigan 2007-08 Budget Impasse
LANSING - Former Governors William Milliken and James Blanchard on Wednesday renewed their pressure for state elected leaders to quickly address the 2007-08 budget problems with a five-part amalgamation of higher revenues and government restructuring. Separately, Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) insisted Gov. Jennifer Granholm is obligated to "throw her fists" down with majority House Democrats to get movement on higher taxes, promising he will act reasonably on any revenue proposal the Senate gets. Little was new in the positions outlined Wednesday as the stalemate continued over the problems facing the budget year that begins in 25 days with a projected deficit of at least $1.75 billion to support the current spending structure, although House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Township) said he sees little possibility any tax proposal will be advanced this week for the November ballot. Both houses acted Thursday on budget bills, with the Senate discharging from the Senate Appropriations Committee eight House-passed appropriations measures and the House Appropriations Committee sending the first four of its revised versions of Senate-passed bills to the full House on Wednesday (see related story). An array of other groups also urged lawmakers to move on new revenues to shore up the budget. In a statement, Milliken and Blanchard, who co-chaired Gov. Jennifer Granholm's Emergency Financial Advisory Panel, said state officials have fallen far short of adopting essential pieces of the group's report issued in February. While acknowledging progress by adopting a revenue-neutral replacement for the Single Business Tax, they said, "We remind policymakers of our strong plea that it is time for everyone in Michigan to stop blaming each other, face facts, and move this state forward together. We concluded in February and emphasize today that Michigan will not and cannot economically grow our way out of the state's financial crisis; that we cannot solely cut or tax our way out of it; and that no one will invest in a state that does not invest in itself." The five essential steps they said need to be taken by the state to achieve financial stability include higher revenues to avoid disinvestment in education and other services that can attract entrepreneurs and talented people, tax/spending reforms, sharing/consolidating government services, lower health insurance/retirement costs for schools and other governments, and reduced spending on corrections. "Policymakers must summon a sense of urgency, courage, pragmatism, and bipartisanship," the statement said. Bishop said he recognizes that House Democrats will not accept the proposals the Senate has put forward, but said it is past time for them and the governor to put a tax plan on the table, pointing to Thursday as the deadline for action to put something like his alternative for a sales tax increase on the November ballot. "At some point, they have got to bite the bullet on something and come out from under their desks," he said of House Democrats. "Ultimately, we have to consider a reasonable option. The governor has got to walk into that caucus now and throw her fists on the table and tell them to pass something. We need a strong, strong statement by the governor." While Republicans have objected to approaches they have criticized as "tax-first" options to address the budget problems, Bishop said he would react "responsibly and reasonably" to anything the House passes. Granholm spokesperson Liz Boyd, who said the governor agrees with the position taken by the former governors, declined to address the Bishop challenges. Saying she would elaborate no further, she said, "Discussions are ongoing." Granholm, Bishop and Dillon met for several hours Wednesday afternoon. Dillon said the tone of comments made by the Senate leader were "surprising" to him given how the two have been negotiating thus far on the budget. He said the meeting between him and the governor went "great," while the meeting between all three leaders was "good." "I don't see him moving revenues," Dillon charged, adding that the budgets sent over by the Senate do not contain enough cuts to balance out the budget thus far and the House sent reforms to the upper chamber weeks ago while the Senate moved its major reform just this week. Dillon says he doesn't believe the House will have a ballot proposal for the voters ready this week to get on the November ballot, but he still is open to that option in the future. He said the push for a ballot proposal to occur in November really has come from the Senate. But the Legislature must "finish" the issue of the budget itself, Dillon said. "There's a base problem we have to fix independent of (a ballot proposal) because the voters may reject that. We have to fix this on our own," he said. Dillon said compared to Ohio, Michigan could be doing more to collect taxes from some services, although he said an income tax increase would be easier and faster to do. Dillon prefaced those statements by saying he didn't like any tax increase, and that he believes the voters should have a right to supplant whatever the Legislature does come up with in terms of revenues. Earlier in the day, State Budget Director Bob Emerson said the governor likely would support a ballot proposal dealing with revenues but the Legislature will have to act first to fix the budget. The Republican resistance to higher taxes was also captured by Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, who said he is "not throwing in the towel" on the need for any new revenues - whether through higher sales taxes or higher income taxes - because not enough has been done to constrict state spending. He said the government health care pooling legislation the Senate narrowly passed Tuesday was an easy way to save a couple of hundred million dollars a year and that without more of that approach, the state will just be back again next year for more revenues. "We're not fixing it until we reform the system," he said in an interview on WJR radio. Bishop spokesperson Matt Marsden said the Senate Republicans agree with the former governors on reform issues, noting the action on the health care reform and proposals to cut spending in a number of areas. But reiterating Mr. Bishop's earlier statements, he said of House Democrats, "Until they send something over here for our consideration, the process will not move forward as quickly as Milliken and Blanchard hope." This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com
Author: Staff Writer Source: Gongwer News Service
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