Budget Plan Protects Michigan's Priorities - (MP3- 3MB)

Granholm Says Budget Plan Protects Michigan's Priorities Healthy Kids, Healthy Michigan Mini-Grants Awarded to Three School Districts

Last week I delivered a proposed budget to state lawmakers for their consideration and approval. The budget I’ve outlined builds on the difficult work of the last five years to get Michigan’s fiscal house in order and continues to invest in the things that Michigan needs to be competitive.

The proposed budget continues our efforts to reform government and provides an economic stimulus package to help create jobs, and increases our investment in education, strengthens our health care, and puts additional police on our streets – all with no new taxes and no new fees.

As I noted in my recent State of the State address, we’re focused on four priorities, and those priorities are reflected in the budget recommendation: a job for every worker, a quality education for every person, health care for every family, and safe places to live and work. Our proposal includes a $100 million deposit in the state’s “rainy day” fund, $235 million in additional reductions and reforms, and a two-year economic stimulus package of more than $1.8 billion which will accelerate infrastructure projects and create 28,000 jobs. That stimulus package will also enhance the marketing of Michigan for tourism and for businesses, and it provides tax cuts for high-growth businesses that create jobs in Michigan.

We’ve worked hard to craft a budget that increases per-pupil funding for K-12 schools. It increases our investment in higher education, and it expands early childhood education to allow 7,000 more needy children access to preschool and early learning.

In 2009, we want to provide a 4-percent increase in funding for police and fire protection. We’ll also fund a program to train more than 6,300 new nurses in five years, and this budget will implement common-sense policy reforms to our prison system to save taxpayers an additional $50 million next year while keeping our families safe.

Finally, we’re adding 100 new state troopers to restore our Michigan State Police strength to the highest level in five years. And this budget also funds mental health courts to reduce jail overcrowding and provide non-violent offenders the treatment they need at a much lower cost than incarceration.

I’m looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and working with our colleagues in the Legislature to put this budget in place by the Fourth of July so those who rely on the state budget – whether they’re teachers or students, firefighters or construction workers – will know what to expect well in advance of the fiscal year that begins October 1. My 2009 budget recommendation will help move Michigan forward by educating our children and our adults, by protecting our families by making health care more accessible and, yes, by creating jobs.

> more information