For Immediate Release
Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011
Contact: Michael LaFaive
Fiscal Policy Director
989-631-0900
MIDLAND — Gov. Rick Snyder’s 2011 State of the State address included nine proposed expansions of government and three limitations, according to Mackinac Center Fiscal Policy Director Michael D. LaFaive, who has tallied and categorized annual State of the State addresses dating back to 1969.
“Like all State of the State speeches, this one was a mixed bag,” said LaFaive. “Gov. Snyder hinted at some positive things, but didn’t go nearly far enough with specific, cost-saving ideas that Michigan desperately needs to right its economy. The governor did say he is planning to give a series of legislative updates, so hopefully those will include more substantive policy recommendations.”
Gov. Snyder said he intends to present the Legislature with a two-year budget by mid-February, and will deliver a message in March on government reform.
“I was delighted to hear Gov. Snyder recognize that Michigan government has ‘an unsustainable financial model.’ Ideally he would have used that sentence as a segue to discuss one pointed solution; namely reining in the extraordinary cost of non-salary benefits for government employees,” LaFaive said.
A Mackinac Center analysis shows that public-sector employees receive annual benefits worth $5.7 billion more than those in the private sector.
“The highlight of the speech was Gov. Snyder’s call for an end to the Michigan Business Tax and its surcharge,” said LaFaive. “His plan is to replace it with a 6 percent corporate tax, which is a good start, but ideally it would be replaced with nothing. Doing so could create more than 120,000 new jobs through 2016, according to our calculations.”
The results of the annual tally are below.
Expansions and Limitations by Administration
since 1969*
Gov. Milliken, 1969-1982 |
Avg. |
High |
Low |
|
|
Proposed expansions |
5.6 |
12 (’71, 80) |
0 (’74) |
|
Proposed limitations |
2.9 |
8 (’73) |
0 (’70, ’79, ’82) |
|
||||
Gov. Blanchard, 1983-1990 |
Avg. |
High |
Low |
|
|
Proposed expansions |
8.6 |
19 (’89, '90) |
1 (’85) |
|
Proposed limitations |
2.1 |
7 (’84) |
0 (’87, ’88) |
|
||||
Gov. Engler, 1991-2002 |
Avg. |
High |
Low |
|
|
Proposed expansions |
8.4 |
18 (’00) |
3 (’91) |
|
Proposed limitations |
4.3 |
11 (’95) |
1 (’02, ’97, ’03) |
|
||||
Gov. Granholm, 2003-2010 |
Avg. |
High |
Low |
|
|
Proposed expansions |
16.25 |
24 (’08) |
7 (’05) |
|
Proposed limitations |
3 |
6 (’03) (’09) |
0 (’05) |
Gov. Rick Snyder, 2011
Proposed expansions: 9
Proposed limitations: 3
Proposed 2011 Expansions
Limitations
*These tallies are not based on exact science. Some decisions require judgment calls based on the highly nuanced language of these addresses.
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