There is all kinds of pain and suffering in the $300 million in state budget cuts agreed to this week by the Granholm Administration and the Legislature.
Feel free to join the widespread gnashing of teeth by reviewing the Senate Fiscal Agency summary of what got cut and by how much.
But there’s no sense getting lost in these details because more cuts are coming. The state’s best bean counters will re-estimate tax revenues again in the middle of this month. The deficit is expected to grow again and additional cuts are likely in the fiscal year which ends in September.
And business groups have plenty of ammunition in vehemently arguing state leaders are using federal stimulus money as an irresponsible budget plug when more than $1 billion in possible reform choices have not been acted upon.
Amid the gloom, though, there is some good news.
In striking contrast to the near government shutdown two years ago, this week’s budget cuts came together after two weeks of intense, collaborative, bipartisan negotiations between several key senators and representatives, including public budget experts who were pretty much ignored by House and Senate leadership during the nasty process two years ago.
Some of the legislators involved in the negotiations declared the process among the most positive experiences they’d had inside the capitol, despite the ugly topic at hand. Gone were the partisan machinations of two years ago. Also absent were the Big Three leaders who so famously bickered in 2007: Governor Jennifer Granholm, House Speaker Andy Dillon, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop. Instead, they delegated the hard work to the following budget insiders who deserve thanks and credit for breaking new ground in problem solving under tough conditions.
Kudos go to State Budget Director and former state Democratic Senator Bob Emerson. Legislators from both parties told the Center that Emerson was a “fantastic” leader in the budget talks. One legislator declared: “Bob Emerson is the real governor right now.”
Kudos also go to Republican Senators Mark Jansen, Ron Jellinek, and John Pappageorge; Democratic Senator Mickey Switalski, Democratic Representatives George Cushingberry and Rick Hammel, and Republican Representative Chuck Moss.
The mutual respect, trust, and communication Emerson and these legislators are beginning to build on budget matters is certainly going to be in very high demand over the next couple of years.
3 Comments
Hear, Hear! Such progress deems retraction of term limits, as this is the way govt. needs to continue to operate through the upcoming difficult years…
There’s little solace in the fact Granholm and the legislature could stay amicable while sticking their heads in the sand. As you noted, more cuts are coming. Rather than start making hard choices, they’re bought their own credit default swap! By next fiscal year, Michigan’s budget bubble will burst. What then?
I realize the process is not easy. It’s simply a matter of reduced services or increased revenues, or both. Our politicians need to roll up their sleeves, set politics aside, and do what’s right. Prioritize services and cut the nice-to-haves like legislative lifetime health benefits, their bloated staffs, and their pay which is the second highest in the nation. I’ve got some cost-saving ideas as well.
So. let’s all hope these guys can get along just as well when it comes time to do the heavy lifting they’ve pushed just outside of their peripheral vision. Let’s hope they take their blinders off then, too, so they make the best choices for Michigan and its citizens.
Make no mistake about it, Emerson works for the Governor.