December 4, 2009
In radio address, governor urges citizens to ask their legislators to restore cuts
LANSING - In her weekly radio address, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today said revenue sharing cuts to local governments are jeopardizing police, fire and other essential services.
"Police officers and fire fighters are being laid off or open positions are left unfilled," Granholm said. "Other essential services are at risk as well. The reason why is that just like state government, cities, townships and villages are hurting financially and receiving fewer revenue sharing funds."
The governor will be in Grand Rapids today to attend a regional meeting with local government and public safety officials to talk about the impact that revenue sharing cuts have had on West Michigan communities and the need to restore funding. She will attend similar regional meetings next week in Flint and Southgate.
"To attract and retain residents, communities have to be able to provide police and fire protection, and good roads, water and sewer systems and other essential services," Granholm said. "This is an economic development issue as well. For Michigan communities to be attractive to businesses, local governments must be able to provide essential services."
"To keep police officers and fire fighters on the job protecting our communities, I ask that you contact your legislators in Lansing and urge them to support restoring revenue sharing funds," Granholm continued. "This week, I also went to Washington, D.C. to ask for federal funds to help keep the jobs of police officers, fire fighters and teachers. Times are tough, and cutbacks in government spending are necessary. But we can't afford further erosion in essential services like police and fire protection."
The governor's weekly radio address is released each Friday morning and may be heard on broadcast stations across the state. The address is available for download on the governor's Web site at
www.michigan.gov/gov
together with a clip of the quote above. The radio address also is available as a podcast on the Web site as well as on iTunes and via RSS feed for general distribution to personal MP3 players and home computers. Links to the audio files and text of today's address follow.
Governor Jennifer M. Granholm
Radio Address - Revenue Sharing
Hello, this is Governor Jennifer Granholm.
In our daily lives, we take many things for granted. For example, if we're involved in a traffic accident, we expect a police officer to respond.
At home, when we turn on the faucet, we expect water to come out. And should our house catch on fire, we expect the fire department to show up.
These and many other services that we take for granted, though, are in jeopardy. Police officers and fire fighters are being laid off or open positions are left unfilled. Other essential services are at risk as well. The reason why is that just like state government, cities, townships and villages are hurting financially and receiving fewer revenue sharing funds.
Revenue sharing funds come from a percentage of state sales tax collections. And local governments use their revenue sharing money for things like road maintenance, water and sewer projects and other essential services. But generally, local governments use a large portion of their revenue sharing funds for police and fire services.
So to help balance the last eight state budgets, revenue sharing payments to local governments have been cut by more than $3 billion. This doesn't include another $111 million in cuts for the current fiscal year. Revenue sharing cuts have contributed to now having 2,000 fewer police officers and 2,400 fewer career fire fighters than we had in 2001.
To attract and retain residents, communities have to be able to provide police and fire protection, and good roads, water and sewer systems and other essential services. This is an economic development issue as well. For Michigan communities to be attractive to businesses, local governments must be able to provide essential services.
Cuts in revenue sharing are making it difficult for many local governments to provide these services. And some communities already in a precarious financial condition are being pushed closer to insolvency by these revenue sharing cuts.
In the next several days I'll be attending regional meetings with local government and public safety officials in Grand Rapids and Flint and the Detroit area. We'll be talking about the impact that revenue sharing cuts have had on their communities and the need to restore funding. Your help is needed in this effort.
To keep police officers and fire fighters on the job protecting our communities, I ask that you contact your legislators in Lansing and urge them to support restoring revenue sharing funds. This week, I also went to Washington, D.C. to ask for federal funds to help keep the jobs of police officers, fire fighters and teachers. Times are tough and cutbacks in government spending are necessary. But we can't afford further erosion in essential services like police and fire protection.
Thank you for listening.
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