May 13, 2003
Governor Jennifer M. Granholm called today’s new revenue estimates a “wake-up call” for the state and said they underscore the need for lawmakers to “get serious about cutting spending without gutting the people’s priorities.”
“I submitted a balanced budget to the Legislature nine weeks ago,” said Granholm. “We made tough choices but presented a blueprint for using our scarce resources to do the things that matter most to the people of Michigan. Today’s revenue estimates mean we have to be even more serious about cutting our spending while preserving those priorities.”
Granholm made her comments this morning at a gathering of senior citizens and community leaders in Southfield.
“In February,” she said, “I went to the citizens of Michigan to ask them how they wanted us to spend their precious tax dollars. They were very clear: protect our senior citizens, protect health care, protect our children, and protect education.”
Granholm stressed that her budget proposal balanced the budget by trimming more than $1 billion in spending and eliminating more than $200 million in state administrative costs. Her budget restored the $6,700 education foundation allowance, tripled the number of senior citizens eligible for prescription drug coverage, restored health care to 40,000 citizens cut from Medicaid, and maintained mental health funding.
According to Granholm, today’s revenue estimates – which suggest the state will see less revenue than originally expected – will exacerbate the state’s budget problem and force leaders in Lansing to choose between important priorities.
“The problem was serious in March,” she stressed. “Today, it’s even more serious, and it means that we have to get serious about cutting our spending without gutting the priorities that matter to Michigan’s citizens. It means it’s time for all of us in state government to step up to the plate to make the tough choices.
“We have to choose between cutting health care for pregnant women and closing a tax loophole for insurance companies. We have to choose between health care for poor children and scholarships that are not based upon need. We have to choose to fix our current roads or build new ones and let the old potholes fester. We have to require polluters to pay for their pollution or gut environmental enforcement in the DEQ. In a perfect world, we could fund it all. But we are in deficit, our economy is broken, and we cannot – and I will not – spend money we do not have."
