January 25, 2006

State of State Outlines Next Steps in Plan to Create Jobs, Protect Families

•  investing in our 21st century economy by going anywhere and doing anything to create jobs and fighting to protect the jobs we have;

•  investing in the health of our citizens by dramatically increasing the number of people who have access to affordable insurance;

•  investing in education and the quality of our schools to ensure all of Michigan’s children have an opportunity for a quality education, access to higher education, and that Michigan has the best-educated workforce in the nation;

•  investing in the safety and security of our families by calling for an increase in the minimum wage, giving every worker an opportunity to save for retirement, protecting our seniors in nursing, demanding new standards of corporate accountability and ethics laws for elected officials.

To expand on the initial successes of the Jobs Today, Jobs Tomorrow plan, Granholm pledged to continue traveling across the country and around the globe.  The Governor outlined her plan to make Michigan a national leader in the development of alternative energies attracting these growing businesses to Michigan.  She also pledged to continue her efforts to force Washington leaders to partner with us to help the state’s struggling manufacturers by crafting a national health care plan, promoting fair trade policies, and reforming pension laws.  In addition, the Governor said she would continue to make Michigan friendly to business by continuing to reduce permitting time.

Governor Granholm also proposed a revolutionary new health care plan to provide access to affordable health insurance to more than 500,000 uninsured citizens.  The Michigan First Health Care Plan will make affordable private health plans available to small business employees, the self-employed, and the working poor without access to traditional employer-based health insurance or government-run programs.  The Governor noted that cutting the state’s uninsured population by half will create significant savings for businesses and citizens who subsidize uninsured health care.   

To give every child an opportunity for a quality education and access to higher education and to ensure that Michigan has the nation’s best-educated workforce, the Governor proposed a series of measures to strengthen our schools.  The Governor called for quick action on her proposal for a tough core curriculum and her new $4,000 Merit Award scholarship to ensure that every student has the tools they need to succeed and the opportunity to continue their education beyond high school.  The Governor indicated she would call for significant new investments in education, after school programs, and early childhood education in her upcoming budget.  In addition, the Governor called for measures to protect children from bullying, engage parents in the education process, and ensure that teachers receive training in maintaining discipline in the classroom.

Continuing her efforts to protect Michigan’s families, the Governor outlined a series of new measures to protect their financial and personal security.  The Governor called on the Legislature to allocate the additional $25 million she called for to help provide home heating assistance, to raise the minimum wage, to cut insurance rates by 20 percent, to pass tough new ethics standards and demand corporate responsibility, to provide workers access to pension savings plans, and to require criminal background checks for employees in nursing homes and elder care settings.

In closing, the Governor asked all Michigan residents to believe in our collective future.