“Our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed,” President Barack Obama proclaimed to the nation. “Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America… The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified? Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. Those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.”
In tiny township halls, and big city halls, and school districts large and small, those same questions are playing out across Michigan and will continue to play out for months and years to come.
What must the public sector do? What can it no longer afford to do? What will taxpayers fund? What will they refuse to fund?
These are not partisan questions. This week, they came from the mouth of a Democratic president. Last month, they came from the mouth of a conservative Republican governor – Mitch Daniels in our neighboring state of Indiana. Daniels asked teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public employees to forego planned raises in 2009. “Raises will be few and far between in the private economy for a while,” Daniels argued. “Those of us whose paychecks come from our fellow citizens and neighbors ought to look for chances to help those neighbors and show some solidarity.”
In Michigan, the same debate rages in places like Macomb County, where county employees average $75,000 in annual pay and benefits, elected leaders and union leaders continue to tussle with an $18 million budget deficit and the choices between layoffs, pay cuts, and benefits cuts.
Now, just a couple weeks from her annual state of the state message, Gov. Jennifer Granholm is rumored to be planning an overhaul of Michigan’s public sector, an overhaul rumored to last beyond the end next year of her final term.
How will she frame these questions? How will she frame the answers?
