Americans for Prosperity-Michigan

Public pressure stopped tax hikes

Public pressure helped balance state budget without raising taxes
The Macomb Daily — Editorial — Wednesday, November 4, 2009

The lawmakers in Lansing finally passed a balanced budget, at least for now, and Gov. Jennifer Granholm has let residents know she’s not happy about it.

But unlike two years ago, when she shut down state government and our legislators caved in to her demands for a tax hike, this year Granholm did some back tracking.

She certainly played enough politics this year in trying to get her way and win legislative approval of what she termed “revenue enhancements.”

And she could have again used the shutdown tactic. But instead, last week the governor signed the remaining budget bills for fiscal 2010 and has kept government operating.

Why? It appears we can attribute Granholm’s acquiesce to at least two things.

One, the Legislature, which passed the balanced budget, didn’t back down in the face of Granholm’s threats. For this, we give both Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, and House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford, credit for linking arms in a bipartisan effort to hold firm on the budget.

And second, Granholm seems to have felt the pressure from the general public and this time relented instead of trying to force the issue.

Of course Granholm is not giving up. She has called on the Legislature to return to Lansing to restore funding for public college scholarships, revenue sharing for police and fire, Medicaid payments for senior citizens and money for public education.

And she made an appeal to the public to contact their lawmakers and pressure them to restore funding for those priorities before the latest round of public school cuts takes effect in a few weeks.

We’re not against funding any or all of these very important budget items. But the budget needs to be balanced. It’s questionably strange that Granholm’s selection of line-item budget cuts comes in areas that will most affect the public, particularly schools.

This is not the first time she has put kids in the middle of her political games. Basically, the state needs a budget that is based on revenue coming in, not wishful thinking. Michigan has had for a number of years what is called a “structural” deficit.

The state spends more money than it brings in. It drafts a budget based on “hoped for” revenue instead of what really should be expected. The deficit is not going to be erased through the older, traditional methods, such as tax increases. Generally, any tax boost is just going to further heighten the economic woes of the state.

Bishop repeatedly has said the state doesn’t need tax increases. He went on to add that Senate Republicans are ready to start working on next year’s expected budget shortfall by making government and schools run more efficiently and changing tax policy to better reflect the economy. Bishop plans to release a list of ideas soon.

We look forward to seeing it. For once, the legislature held firm and public opinion also seemed to have a strong effect on Granholm. Maybe this is a sign that if the public puts enough pressure on state lawmakers, things will get done — in a way that’s best for the entire state.