Gov Candidate Talks Tourism, Taxes And Jobs On WWJ
The Republican candidate for governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder, stopped by the WWJ studios Friday, one week after his Democratic opponent Virg Bernero appeared.
With a lead in the latest Epic-MRA poll, Snyder says he thinks it's great that he's had a positive campaign with a focus on jobs. If elected, one thing he'd like to restore is the Pure Michigan tourism campaign.
"I feel like the economic benefit of Pure Michigan, that's a huge benefit. You're talking one of the largest industries in our state. You're talking hundreds of thousands of citizens in our state that would benefit from that investment," Snyder said.
As for the Michigan film incentives, Snyder said he wouldn't do away with them, but said he'd want to scale them back as the state faces a $1.5 billion deficit.
Snyder was asked about the possibility that he, elected governor, might have to deal with receivership in Detroit.
"Well, the key thing is to partner well with Mayor Bing. The way I view it is this is a great opportunity because the role of governor is not to be running cities," Snyder said.
"I mean that's not the default setting you want to have, but to have a partnership arrangement. I think Mayor Bing is the right person in the right place," he said.
On the topic of taxes, Snyder said he plans to eliminate the Michigan Business Tax if elected.
"Back in 2000 when they put it in place, its like Lansing went to the video store and rented the movie 'Dumb and Dumber.' They replaced the SBT with the MBT. It just doesn't make any sense," Snyder said.
Snyder said we have to have more of a balance to keep jobs in Michigan, saying the current administration has been too much in the hunting mode.
"Instead of having companies move to even Indiana, let's work on being successful here by having a competitive tax and regulatory system -- hopefully scaling back those incentives and being more successful, using incentives to bring out-of-state companies here," he said.
Hear the half-hour program:
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To read about what Virg Bernero had to say during his visit to WWJ, click here.
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