The lack of 2008 budget rancor does not imply progress. That’s the conclusion of veteran Lansing observers Phil Power and Tom Watkins.
Says Power, the president of the Center for Michigan:
Perhaps the worst consequence of this “non-controversial” budget is that it puts off serious action on the kinds of far-reaching structural reforms that were proposed by the Emergency Financial Advisory Panel the governor convened more than a year ago. That panel included some of Michigan’s most distinguished citizens, including two previous governors. Their report… called for reforms in the tax system, but concluded that we should not just tax our way to responsible state spending. It urged structural reforms in the ways government is organized. That included changes in the fringe benefits of public employees, and suggested benchmarking what we spend — and what the state raises — against what happens in other states… Serious reforms usually require a crisis to concentrate political will. We didn‘t have that will last year; in ducking the crisis then, our political leaders in Lansing missed a once-in-a-generation opportunity for big-time reform.
Says Watkins, a former state schools superintendent under Granholm…
Michigan may well be going on a spend-and-pretend spree when it should be on a reform-and-transform campaign. Here are three reforms the Legislature should make now:• Consolidations and agreements to share services could save millions of dollars. Michigan has 83 counties, more than 1,200 townships, nearly 500 cities and villages with less than 10,000 residents, more than 550 public school districts, hundreds of charter schools and 57 intermediate school districts. Eliminate the duplicated bureaucracy. Tie future state aid to demonstrating significant savings at all levels of government.
• Michigan is one of four states that spends more on prisons than on higher education. It has the highest incarceration rate of the Great Lake states. While our crime rate has declined since 1981, our prison population has soared. Contract out portions of the correction system and find other efficiencies while addressing sentencing guidelines that are doing nothing to keep us safe.
• More action is needed in the pensions and health care of educators and other public employees. The fixes to date are anemic. Changes can be made without unfairly burdening employees. Proposed spending increases for K-12 education will not cover rising pension, health care and other legacy costs.
The only thing worse than not investing in things that will help make us stronger is continuing to pretend we are — only to pull the rug from under our schools, colleges, universities, cities and families when the economic fairy tale turns out to be make-believe.
