February 06, 2009
February 6, 2009
Governor's radio address discusses state's priorities, economic stimulus, budget
LANSING - In her weekly radio address, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today said that Michigan will continue to focus on the things that are most important in a time of serious economic challenge: creating jobs, training and educating citizens for those jobs, and protecting families.
"We will weather this economic storm, because we will continue to focus relentlessly on the things that matter most in a time of crisis…creating jobs, training and educating our citizens for those jobs, and protecting our families," Granholm said. "And, fortunately, we now have a partner in the White House who shares our agenda."
The governor said that President Obama has proposed a sweeping economic recovery plan for the nation and that Michigan will use this opportunity to more aggressively implement its plan to create jobs and diversify the economy.
"I urge Congress to act quickly to pass the economic recovery plan that will provide direct help to Michigan families who have been hardest hit by the nation's economic crisis," Granholm said. "We need our lawmakers in Washington to pass a bill that helps to create jobs now by investing in infrastructure and road projects and investing in our economy and the future."
Granholm cautioned that the recovery plan is a one-time opportunity and that Michigan will not allow it to weaken the state's long-term resolve to keep its fiscal house in order.
"We have to continue to reform our government so that we can meet the needs of our new economic realities long after these stimulus funds are gone," Granholm said
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 on the governor's Web site at (www.michigan.gov/gov) for download, together with a clip of the quote above. The radio address is also available as a podcast on the Web site, as well as on iTunes and vi2a 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 - 2009 SOS and Stimulus
Full: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/Gov183_Full_266336_7.mp3
Edited: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/Gov183_Edit_266337_7.mp3
Quote: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/Gov183_Quote_266340_7.mp3
Hello, this is Governor Jennifer Granholm.
Earlier this week, I gave my annual State of the State speech to outline Michigan's priorities for the year ahead. I did not sugarcoat the realities we face. Michigan, like every state, faces serious economic challenges this year.
We will weather this economic storm, because we will continue to focus relentlessly on the things that matter most in a time of crisis…creating jobs, training and educating our citizens for those jobs, and protecting our families.
And, fortunately, we now have a partner in the White House who shares our agenda. And I say that as a pragmatist, not as a partisan.
President Obama has made creating jobs his top priority. He, too, is focused on growing the renewable energy sector, on education, on protecting people. And he has proposed a sweeping economic recovery plan for the nation.
We will use this opportunity to more aggressively implement our plan to create jobs and diversify the economy.
We are already seeing the positive results of our efforts in new industries like advanced battery development or the film industry, which has brought more than 70 projects to Michigan pumping more than $430 million in to local economies, including the announcement of three new movie and production studios this week that will create thousands of jobs for Michigan workers.
And our goal to make Michigan the renewable energy hub of North America has already created more than 11,000 new Michigan jobs in just the last four years.
I urge Congress to act quickly to pass the economic recovery plan that provides direct help to Michigan families who are hardest hit by the nation's economic crisis. We need our lawmakers in Washington to pass a bill that helps to create jobs now by investing in infrastructure and road projects and investing in our economy and the future.
But the recovery plan is a one-time opportunity. And we can't allow it to weaken our long-term resolve to keep our fiscal house in order. We have to continue to reform our government so that we can meet the needs of our new economic realities long after these stimulus funds are gone.
Next week, I will present my 2010 budget recommendation, and it will include a number of measures to help address the on-going economic challenges we face.
The cuts I will recommend may not be popular, but they are all necessary. We have to live within our means so that we can continue to focus on the things that matter most in a time of economic crisis…creating jobs, training and educating our citizens for those jobs, and protecting our families.
Thank you for listening.
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