Gov. Snyder: Job One Is Jobs
(Lansing WWJ/AP) - Governor Rick Snyder delivered his first State of the State Address Wednesday evening.
Snyder was welcomed with a long applause from the audience, before laying out his ``road map'' for addressing Michigan's ills, saying every resident must help the state be better at attracting jobs, educating students and getting more from the dollars it spends. Click here to check out the Michigan dashboard Snyder mentioned.
"We have an economic climate that has left too many people unemployed, underemployed, or forced to leave the state, particularly young people. We will address these unaddressed issues and solve and not put them off as we have in the past," said Snyder.
"Simply put, job one is jobs."
In his speech, Snyder said he will recommend in his first budget that the Michigan Business Tax be replaced.
"We need to ensure the citizens are getting value for money. We need to show results for real people. Our budget will include the elimination of the job killing Michigan Business Tax in replacement with a six percent corporate income tax," said Snyder.
Snyder talked during the gubernatorial campaign about making the switch, but hadn't put a timetable on how soon he would implement it. He said that the change will be included in his mid-February budget proposal.
Governor Snyder also stressed the importance of improving the state's education system.
"We must do more to help students achieve academic success. We've been spending money without delivering results needed to give our young people a bright future. It's time we review our educational system that runs from pre-natal to lifelong learning," said Snyder.
On the topic of health, Snyder says Michigan residents deserve better health care.
"We will also task our executive group on people with vigorously pursuing improvements in our health care system, in terms of cost, quality and access. We must emphasize wellness and preventative care. All of our citizens need access to preventative care from primary care providers. It's critical to prevent routine ailments from becoming severe conditions requiring emergency room treatments," said Snyder.
Something we haven't heard before from Governor Snyder, support for a second Detroit-to-Windsor bridge over the Detroit River. In his State of the State speech, the Republican said a second span is needed for trade with Canada, something he hasn't said publicly before.
"Global demand for our ports of entry is expected to increase steadily with no signs of slowing. To satisfy growing demand, we must move forward towards building a bridge, a new bridge, connecting Detroit to Windsor, Ontario. The Detroit River International Crossing," said Snyder.
Snyder says he secured an agreement from the Federal Highway Administration to allow the state to count $550 million that Canada has offered for the project toward Michigan's federal match for road funds. He says Michigan will not take on any debt related to the project.
Governor Snyder spoke live on WWJ Thursday morning about his first State of the State speech and revisited the issue of education - especially in Detroit.
Governor Snyder says his administration will continue to work with emergency financial manager Robert Bobb on among other issues, his proposal for Lansing to forgive million of dollars in state money to help erase the district's red ink.
"We're going to have continuing discussions on the Detroit Public Schools because we need to work really hard to make sure we're giving those kids a brighter future," said Snyder.
Synder also tells WWJ that he has no plans to boost the community college budget at the expense of K-12 education.
"That's going to be the key focus, a constructive way to say lets have a dialogue on how we get better results for one of the most important things we could ever be involved with - our children," said Snyder.
The day after his first state of the state address, Governor Snyder also talked more with WWJ about his online "Michigan Dashboard", which measures progress made by the state in nearly two dozen different areas from health to education and economic development.
The Governor says we shouldn't be afraid to grade ourselves on the job we are doing. "If you really want to get better, by having these measures it gives you the things to shoot for. And it's about all of us working together to make these things happen. And by putting it out there, we can all see what we need to do," said Snyder.
As for those saying his state of the state speech lacked details, the governor takes issue with that saying he laid out what he wants to do with economic development and the role of education.
Copyright, 2011. WWJ Newsradio 950, All Rights Reserved. AP contributed to this report.
