In News Releases

For Immediate Release 
February 7, 2018
Contact:
Alex Rossman
arossman@mlpp.org
517.487.5436

Snyder recommends funding for education, roads, public safety, healthcare and more

LANSING—Following Governor Rick Snyder’s 2019 budget presentation, the Michigan League for Public Policy voiced support for his calls for continued investment in vital programs, and echoed his warning against reckless tax cuts by the Legislature. The League also called for a solution to Michigan’s ongoing revenue problem, and urged action on its own budget priorities as ways the Legislature can have a more significant impact on state residents’ well-being than a tax cut.

“There were a lot of great proposals in the governor’s budget today, including new and first-time funding for Early On, efforts to increase the existing low level of Family Independence Program cash assistance, and continued investments to support Michigan’s kids and families through ‘heat and eat,’ the Healthy Michigan Plan, lead pipe replacement in Flint, roads and public safety,” said Gilda Z. Jacobs, president and CEO of the Michigan League for Public Policy. “These are all longstanding priorities for the League and we appreciate the governor’s recognition that they are key to a better Michigan for everyone. But these very items could be first on the chopping block for the Legislature as they seek to reconcile hundreds of millions of dollars in ineffective and unaffordable tax cuts that give very little money back to most taxpayers.”

While the governor’s budget contained many positives today, there weren’t a lot of dramatic funding increases, because the money is simply not there as a result of previous policy decisions. The major tax cuts passed over the past several years have put Michigan’s budget in an untenable situation where we are unable to make significant investments in all of the things that state residents, businesses and communities depend on. League budget experts continue to sound the alarm on the decline in the purchasing power of the state’s General Fund—which is now estimated to be nearly 6 percent lower than the level in 1968 when adjusted for inflation.

“Michigan has a revenue problem, and has for decades. Lawmakers are still budgeting like it’s 1968,” Jacobs said. “The Legislature is still trying to make Michigan competitive with other states while picking the wrong role models. The Legislature is still underinvesting in nearly everything kids, families, workers and businesses depend on. And disregarding past mistakes, the Legislature is still looking to cut taxes when they should be raising revenue.”

As the budget process gets officially underway today, the League continues to outline its own budget priorities and 15 related policy recommendations. A recent poll from EPIC-MRA showed that the League’s priorities are Michigan voters’ priorities, and resonate much more than “Keeping state and local income taxes low,” an important point with the state budget’s current revenue constraints.

“We don’t work in a vacuum and we know that calling for new investments in our current fiscal climate is bold. But our budget priorities are optimistic and aspirational—here are 15 things we think would better serve the people of Michigan than a tax cut,” Jacobs said.

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The Michigan League for Public Policy, www.mlpp.org, is a nonprofit policy institute focused on economic opportunity for all. It is the only state-level organization that addresses poverty in a comprehensive way.

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