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AVOIDING A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
By Representative Kenneth B.
Horn
Review Guest Columnist Most of you are already aware of some details of the 2008 budget resolution. I voted against each of the tax increase measures offered by the majority party, because I believe Michigan must first restructure government to better live within our means. Our costs should reflect the new reality of the state's modest revenue capabilities before taking more from hard-working residents and families.
I could not, in good conscience,
ask the residents and businesses of Michigan to give more of their
hard-earned money to the government without making sure that we as
legislators are doing everything possible to find savings and
eliminate waste.
When everyday Michigan families are
faced with a budget crisis and are struggling to make ends meet,
they must make tough decisions.
I voted no on the roughly
$1.4 billion tax increases, but I did support some significant
individual reforms in government. Beyond averting a government
shutdown, the only brief celebration should the sensible reforms
that have been over a decade in becoming reality. The task left to
the Legislature is the $440 million remaining in real cuts
for the 2008 budget.
I can assure you, nobody would want
a true government shutdown. Not only does it make Michigan look weak
to the world around us, a true shutdown would have jeopardized our
public safety, put taxpayers in limbo, and prevented many businesses
from "business as usual." Michigan's credit rating would have taken
a major hit as well, increasing the state's long-term borrowing for
years to come.
While government technically did shut
down from midnight until 4 a.m. on Oct. 1, the vast majority of
Monday's state services were kept operational. Most of our state
employees reported to work as usual on Monday morning.
The Sales Tax on Services This new sales tax on services is causing great dismay, anger and frustration in small communities throughout the State of Michigan.
This tax chose winners and losers and
is being applied to a handful of businesses with no rational basis
for why they were chosen and others weren't.
This tax will end up hurting the
backbone of our economy - the small business community - at a time
when we need it to take up the slack of our faltering manufacturing
sector. And, let's make no mistake, this isn't a tax on business,
it's a tax on individuals who use these services.
You will never convince me that in a
time of record bankruptcies, mortgage foreclosures, and the loss of
some 300,000 manufacturing jobs that taking $1.4 billion
out of the private sector improves the economy. I don't care how
cleverly the word "investment" is spun. The big three state
industries of manufacturing, farming, and tourism and leisure will
feel a shockwave that I fear will push them out of business or out
of Michigan.
The service tax will do nothing to
encourage economic growth and for this reason I am currently working
on legislation with state Rep. Daniel Acciavatti, minority vice
chair of the House Appropriations Committee, to repeal the expansion of
the sales tax onto services.
At the very least, if residents must
now pay more in income tax, we can protect them as consumers from
taking a double hit by repealing this detrimental and job-killing
tax.
Michigan is not out of the woods
yet, and we will have to continue to come together as a state in
order to change course, correct mistakes and make the major reforms
that are needed.
There's still work to be done This 2008 budget ended up being an ugly and drawn-out mess that took far too long to accomplish and only addresses a small part of Michigan's structural deficit.
Lansing is still operating in a
manner where it spends more money than it is taking in.
Economists are predicting that even with the newly passed tax
increases, the budget for 2009 will have at least a $400
million deficit from the onset.
The administration needs to take an
honest to goodness leadership role, and very quickly. The governor
needs to tell department heads in no uncertain terms that they must
spend less money. Folks, it is not any one person's fault, but
we have nearly 2,500 state employees at the top of their pay scales
earning two to five times the median family income in Saginaw County.
The people of Michigan deserve better than to receive layoff threats
of our troopers and teachers, when our government is as top-heavy as
it is.
Office Hours An Opportunity One thing that impressed me these past few weeks while working on the budget was the number of residents who called or wrote with their views. I can't thank them enough for their insight and involvement. Office hours are another opportunity to let me know your views, or put me to work on an issue of concern to you.
I will be holding district
office hours from 10 a.m. to noon the first Monday of every month.
On Nov. 5, I will be at the Zaul Library; on Dec. 3, the Chesaning
Public Library; and on Jan. 7, the St. Charles Public Library.
If you are unable to make it to my
district office hours during these scheduled times, please feel free
to contact my Lansing office by calling (866) HORN-094 or e-mail
at
kennethhorn@house.mi.gov
Additional Thoughts By Robert E. Martin For a 'Family Plan' on Blue Cross/Blue Shield, currently I am paying over $800.00 per month, yet every legislator in Lansing that serves a six-year tenure in office receives full coverage from the age of 55-65, when Medicare kicks in. Plus, their plans include dental.
Do the math. Figure $800 per month
over a 10-year period for every legislator that has served a
six-year term and that comes fairly close to $100,000 per
'public servant' during this 10-year window.
I've published the Review for
28 years now, employing this six-year plan, does that mean that
because I've worked four or five times as long at my job (not as an
elected servant) that I deserve a $500,000 bonus from
taxpayers? Gee, I guess if that were true I could retire.
Like oil & water, greed and public
service do not mix, unless you're in America where the standard by
which the compliment is derived is financial gain.
Benjamin Franklin suggested
that the best thing that could happen in America was for the
electorate to overthrow its leaders every six years to insure the
integrity of its government. But apparently he never fathomed that
the price for admission into the legislature would become so
dependent upon the money, which holds the implementation of
effective ideas hostage.
Alarming economic statistics scream
out against raising taxes. Here are but a few economic facts:
* Michigan's Gross Domstic Product (after inflation) actually became .05 percent smaller in 2006. Michigan was the only state that achieved this goal. Overall, the rest of the nation's economy grew by 3.4 percent. * Michigan's unemployment rate is 6.9 percent. The rest of the nation's economy grew by 3.4 percent. * Michigan lost 49,000 jobs in the 12 months ending in April 2007. The rest of the country added 1/8 million jobs. And the real kicker: * Per capita personal income in Michigan fell 0.7 percent in real inflation-adjusted terms from 2001 to 2006. Nationwide, it rose 4.2 percent. (Exception to this statistic: Michigan legislators - among the highest paid in the country.) A state-by-state breakdown shows New York lawmakers in 2007 were paid the third highest. Only lawmakers in California & Michigan were paid more. |
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