Building on her State of the State address earlier this month, Governor Jennifer Granholm proposed a series of reforms and cuts in her 2010 fiscal budget. Granholm said the budget–unveiled yesterday–will address both the structural deficit and the recession.
In a news release, Granholm said:
“The budget I present today addresses the reality that Michigan’s economy is likely to get worse before it gets better… The cuts and reforms I propose will be painful, but they are critical to help us weather this current economic storm and to enable us to invest in the things that matter most to our citizens.”
Granholm is advocating reforms and cuts aimed at reducing the budget by $670 million. In addition, she hopes to increase revenue by $230 million by closing tax loopholes, increasing liquor license fees, lottery investments, and tax enforcement actions
Reforms and changes to the state government include:
- Closing several additional correctional facilities;
- Closing the Department of Community Health’s Mount Pleasant Center for Persons with Developmental Disabilities, transferring the patients to community- care settings, as appropriate;
- Closing the Department of Human Services’ Maxey Woodland Training Center, transferring youth offenders to a smaller, more cost-effective facility on the Maxey campus, to allow the Department of Corrections to use that facility to house male inmates;
- Closing the Michigan State Police crime lab in Marquette;
- Ending financial support for the state fairs in Detroit and Upper Peninsula;
- Eliminating supplemental financial support for the horse-racing industry;
- Returning responsibility for wetlands protection to the federal Environmental Protection Agency;
- Overhauling the state’s higher education scholarship programs to create a single merit-based scholarship – Michigan Promise Grants – and a single needs-based scholarship – Michigan College Access Grants – open to all students attending public or private institutions, Combining the Cooperative Extension Service and Agricultural Experiment Station;
- Consolidating energy programs in the Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth;
- Eliminating the Department of History, Arts, and Libraries and funding for state arts grants;
- Opening a one-stop-shop for business – a simple Web portal where hundreds of business transactions come together seamlessly on-line;
- Seeking employee concessions;
- Expanding investment in community-based monitoring for parolees;
- Accelerating transition of seniors and the disabled from nursing homes to community-care settings.
Cuts advocated by Granholm:
- Eliminating more than $50 million in earmarks, including pilot programs and programs which serve single school districts, communities or regions;
- $120 million in cuts in the Department of Corrections, including the closure of additional facilities;
- $106 million in cuts in the Department of Community Health, including reductions in the Office of Services to the Aging, elimination of the Office of Drug Control Policy and changes in prescription drug purchasing;
- $100 million in cuts in the Department of Human Services, including eliminating funding for before and after school programs and the state supplemental payment for Supplemental Security Income recipients;
- $164 million in cuts to K-12 spending, which includes a reduction in per-pupil foundation allowance of $59 per student;
- and $100 million in cuts to higher education funding, including a three-percent reduction to university operations.
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