STOP BUDGET WOES WITH REFORMS

Michigan lawmakers and Gov. Jennifer Granholm may have filled the $1.3 billion deficit in this year's budget. But we have not averted the crisis looming on the horizon nor have we taken the much needed -- and long overdue -- steps to reform Michigan's government to bring spending in line with economic realities.

We want a state government that provides essential services, cares for our most vulnerable citizens and protects families. But we also want one that lives within its means, especially when so many Michiganians are cutting back and the backbone industries of our economy are teetering on bankruptcy.

The recent budget solution is temporary. Its use of more than $1 billion in federal stimulus money to balance the budget means none of it went to stimulate the economy or create jobs.
In Lansing, we've approached fixing the state's perennial budget shortfalls much the same way spring potholes are filled: Pour in some asphalt and call it a day. The holes keep coming back, often bigger, and the same thing is happening with our budget.

That's why House Republicans pushed hard to bring substantial cuts to the table -- more than $500 million for this year alone -- and called for far-reaching government reforms. Michigan is running out of money and options.

Michigan's economy is in the worst shape it has been in nearly a half century. Tax revenues are at their lowest amount as a percentage of gross state product since the Great Depression.
While the outlook is grim, the fact that there are few easy choices before lawmakers and the governor creates an opportunity and environment for lasting reform. Here are a few suggestions, and they are by no means exhaustive:

• Prison reform. A state that spends more incarcerating people than educating them is heading the wrong way. But rather than releasing felons and closing prisons, let's get to the bottom of why it costs Michigan thousands of dollars more to house each inmate than it does in neighboring Great Lakes states.

• Education funding. Republicans want every cent of school aid funding they send to schools to make it into the classroom where it benefits students. Yet, nearly 40 cents of every dollar of school funding goes for administrative and operating costs. Let's find ways for school districts to consolidate operating costs with each other where it makes sense.

• Public employee retirement. The state, local municipalities and school districts must get a handle on rising retirement costs. Let's bring the public employees and teachers unions to the table and find out a way we can lower these costs in the future while ensuring employees receive the benefits they've earned. This is costly, but if we use federal stimulus to fund reforms, it will save billions of dollars down the road.

• Job-killing government red tape. Let's call a moratorium on out-of-control regulations and honestly sit down and come up with regulations that work. Recently, LS Power announced it would not build its clean-coal power plant near Midland, taking with it about 1,500 good-paying jobs and billions of dollars in local economic activity. It said Michigan's regulatory environment drove it away. When government is costing us jobs, it's time to rein in government's zealotry.

These are just some of the reforms House Republicans have and will propose. We have no pride of authorship and are willing to take a serious look at reforms proposed by others so long as they save taxpayer money, make government more responsive to the needs of families and businesses and are not one-time gimmicks that don't address the state's underlying fiscal problems.

There is much work left to do, and House Republicans are ready to do our part. Michigan has an opportunity to truly reform government. Let's not pass it up.

LEADER ELSENHEIMER'S THOUGHTS ON THE BUDGET PROCESS

House Republican leader Kevin Elsenheimer talks about the need for today's legislature to control spending and avoid raising taxes.

HOUSE DEMS ON $300 MILLION SPENDING SPREE: Republicans call for reforms, not new spending in community health budget.

On the day that the House Democrats inflated a 30-foot duck outside of the capitol and went on a spending spree inside it, House Republicans called on the Democrat majority to 'get real.'

The House Democrats’ budget proposal for the Department of Community Health is not grounded in reality and relies too heavily on federal stimulus money to be a viable recommendation, prompting the House GOP to vote against the proposal that adds nearly $300 million in new or expanded programs.

"It's time to stop ducking the real issues," said House Republican Leader Kevin Elsenheimer. "During every hour that’s wasted working on impractical and unworkable budgets Michigan loses another 40 jobs. Michigan families are looking for real leadership from their government right now, and that means making tough choices and scaling back spending - not pulling cheap publicity stunts and passing unrealistic budgets.”

The House GOP questioned the wisdom of proposing more than $280 million in additional DCH spending when the state is currently spending $25 million-a-week more than it is taking in and relying on one-time stimulus dollars, which repeats the same kind of short-sighted thinking that mired the state in financial trouble to begin with.

“While many of the programs can be legitimized, we are not dealing with reality. The reality is that we are experiencing an $800 million deficit this year,” said state Rep. Kevin Green, Republican vice chair of the Department of Community Health appropriations subcommittee.
“It will be impossible to continue funding new programs or old programs at the current level next year when we don’t have that stimulus money to plug the gaps. Some realism needs to be injected into this budget in place of this foolishness, and it needs to happen quickly.”

Elsenheimer said he feared the governor and the Democrats were posturing to create a new doomsday scenario to make a case for another tax increase similar to what they did in 2007.

“Michigan families were promised cuts and reforms after the last tax increase, but they have seen neither,” Elsenheimer said. “This budget is emblematic of a larger problem -- Lansing does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. With unemployment well over 12 percent, Michigan families can’t afford another tax increase to bailout state government - again.”

GOVERNMENT TRANPARENCY NECESSARY, AFFORDABLE

Due to the recent bail-outs and the blatant mismanagement of funds occurring in the private sector as well as the public sector, the idea of government transparency has recently received a great deal of attention. New organizations and websites have been created purely to provide information regarding our government's bottom line.


Citizens have started blogs to track spending not only in Washington, D.C. but in Lansing and other state capitals around the nation. What's clear is that the potential for open and obvious government has never been so ripe. It's an insult that government does not provide this information in an affordable, easy-to-use manner.


In an effort to push back the curtain on at least part of the Michigan House of Representatives, I have published on my online office the budget allotment for my office as well as my staff's salaries. According to the Michigan House of Representatives Financial and Business office, I am the very first lawmaker in Lansing to post such information on-line. I hope others will follow.


Why is this important you might ask? Well, let me tell you. Last year, after it became certain the Legislature wasn’t going to return the $352 million in excess tax dollars the state over-collected in 2007, talks quickly turned to spending the surplus on such things as $14 million to the Detroit Zoo, the Detroit Institute of the Arts and the Detroit Historical Society.


Perhaps public disclosure of the state’s spending habits will help guide some accountability and transparency in government. If nothing else, it will provide an avenue for taxpayers to find out how government is spending their money. Is that really too much to ask?


It's no secret that Michigan is in terrible economic shape however it does seem that our executive branch would like to keep the secret of state spending. Recently, I asked the Governor to create an easy-to-use Web site where people can see exactly how their taxpayer dollars are being spent.


The Governor's administration claims the cost of creating a Web site is exorbitant. However states like Oklahoma built a Web site for as little as $8,000 in software plus staff time and it took me less than two clicks of a mouse to post my expenses on-line. I find it hard to believe that our state cannot afford a system similar to Oklahoma's when the benefits of such a system would only equal more effective spending.


In a time where every penny counts, it is no longer acceptable to make it difficult for citizens to see where their money is going. I hope you will take the opportunity to access my office's financial information by visiting www.gophouse.com/elsenheimer.htm and clicking on the Government Transparency link.