What Michigan accomplished in 2014

January 20, 2015

When Governor Snyder delivered his 2014 State of the State address last year, he described an ambitious vision that would continue the reinvention of Michigan.

In the past year, the governor and the state legislature worked together to keep Michigan moving forward on a path to a brighter future, but our work is not yet done.  Watch tonight as Governor Snyder delivers his 2015 State of the State speech at 7 PM.  You can watch live at www.michigan.gov/stateofthestate.

As the governor prepares for his 2015 speech, let’s review what we accomplished in 2014:

Making Michigan #1 in Skilled Trades

• The creation of the Community College Skilled Trades Equipment Program helps community colleges purchase new training equipment for high-skilled, in-demand occupations.
• We expanded career apprenticeships with the MAT2 apprenticeships program, more than doubling the number of students and participating companies.
• Because of a $2 million investment into Michigan’s FIRST Robotics program, Michigan is now the national leader in FIRST Robotics with more teams than any other state.
• We expanded preschool education for low-income children with $65 million in additional funding in the FY2015 budget.

Helping Michigan Business Grow

• Personal Property Tax reform will help create more and better jobs and ensure more stable funding for Michigan’s communities.
• A fourth consecutive state budget, balanced and completed months ahead of schedule.

Helping Michiganders

• Implementation of Healthy Michigan, Michigan’s innovative healthcare reform, which allowed more than 500,000 hard-working, low-income Michiganders to sign up for affordable and quality healthcare.
• Signed a package of bills to preserve the dignity of Michigan residents with developmental disabilities.
• Signed legislation to help our military veterans, including a partnership with the Hiring Our Heroes program to help active-duty military members find jobs after leaving the military, and a tuition assistance program.
• Increased funding for our senior programs, making Michigan a “no-wait” state for in-home services.

Improving Public Safety

• Improved public safety by updating the state’s public safety communications system, and increased the number of state troopers from 957 in 2011 to 1,184 in 2015.
• Between 2011 and 2014, the Secure Cities Partnership has decreased violent crime by 20.2% in Detroit, 28.1% in Flint, 28.3% in Pontiac, and by 26.7% in Saginaw.

Conserving our Environment

• Increased access to residential recycling statewide.

Preparedness and Disaster Response

• Eased the burden on Michigan families and businesses during last winter’s propane shortage by providing fuel heating assistant for low-income families.
• Worked with all levels of government to respond to the Southeast Michigan flood in August.

Restoring our Cities

• We passed bipartisan legislation for a Detroit ‘Grand Bargain,’ allowing the city to exit bankruptcy in a timely manner and ensuring a better quality of life for city residents.
• Resolved the financial emergencies in Benton Harbor and Allen Park.

Under the governor’s leadership, we’ve addressed problems that most thought were too difficult to solve. When Governor Snyder delivers his 2015 State of the State address tonight, he will yet again propose innovative solutions for our state’s toughest challenges in order to continue Michigan’s reinvention and provide a better quality of every for every Michigander.

Again, be sure to watch Governor Snyder’s 2015 State of the State address tonight at 7:00 PM. You can stream it live at www.Michigan.gov/stateofthestate.   Join the conversation on social media using the hashtag “#MISOTS15.”