Tagged: state of the state 2013

The Michigan House of Representatives welcomed 28 new members after the recent November elections, 19 of which are Democrats. Representative Theresa Abed of Michigan's 71st District, which includes Grand Ledge, is one such Democratic Representative.

Based on her lengthy experience working in Michigan schools, Rep. Abed says that her jump into the political arena was a direct result of her concerns regarding how current legislation is impacting people in her community.

"My whole life I've been an advocate...I've worked in our schools for almost 30 years, and I've always been someone who's involved in the community...Through this process, I've seen that more and more of what's impacting people right now is the legislation that's being enacted," she told Michigan Radio's Jenn White.

This “week in review” Michigan Radio’s Weekend Edition host Rina Miller and political analyst Jack Lessenberry discuss: Governor Rick Snyder’s State of the State speech, the possibility of no fault absentee voting, a positive report on Michigan’s housing market, and a possible tax amnesty program for Detroit.

Governor Rick Snyder delivered his third state of the state address Wednesday night. In a wide ranging speech he laid out his major agenda items for the year. They included transportation funding, reforming Blue Cross Blue Shield and bringing down the cost of auto insurance. This week we talk with Susan Demas, Political Analyst for Michigan Information and Research Service, and Ken Sikkema, former Senate Majority Leader and Senior Policy Fellow at Public Sector Consultants.

The following is a summary of a previously recorded interview. To hear the complete segment, click the audio above.

Rick Pluta of Michigan Public Radio Lansing Bureau Chief and Michigan State Economics Professor, Charley Ballard weighed in with their responses to Snyder’s State of the State speech.

“It was a pretty standard State of the State speech…The one wrinkle in that was just for one brief moment, the governor did allude to the controversies of last year and said he was hoping that going forward they could find ways to work together,” said Pluta.

Ballard said Snyder’s transportation proposal could be good for Michigan’s economy.

The following is a summary of a previously recorded interview. To hear the complete segment, click the audio above.

Last night Governor Rick Snyder delivered his State of the State address.

Today he spoke with Cyndy about the speech and his 2013 plans.

The governor began by assessing his transportation proposal.

“This is all about saving money. By actually doing this the right way, it will save us a tremendous amount of money that we’d have to pay later….This billion dollars a year, if we did that for ten years--that’s a lot of money. But if we didn’t, the bill we would have to pay to bring our roads back would be $25 billion. So it’s a huge savings by doing this…” said Snyder.

According to Snyder, one’s party affiliation shouldn’t affect discussions of the legislation. 

The following is a summary of a previously recorded interview. To hear the complete segment, click the audio above.

Today, House Democratic Leader Tim Greimel spoke with Cyndy about his reaction to Governor Snyder’s State of the State address.

“We stand willing and eager to work together in a bipartisan way to move our state forward and we’ll have to whether the Republicans show that same willingness,” Greimel said.

He thinks Democrats could possibly agree with Snyder's proposal to allow voters to register online.

Governor Rick Snyder would be the first to admit he is not a spellbinding speaker, and even by that standard, last night’s state of the state speech was not one of his best.

It’s hard to imagine that he could think that fostering a spirit of unity would be easy, after Republicans rammed right to work legislation through in a single day, without hearings, in what had to be the most bitterly controversial lame-duck session in Michigan history.

The governor’s weak acknowledgment that there had been “divisive times” at the end of the year and that he “wished it hadn’t happened” did nothing to heal the rift between the parties.

Democrats feel betrayed and lied to, and that isn’t going away any time soon. Add in the fact that Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic leader in the state senate, is almost surely gearing up to run for governor herself, and you don’t have an obvious formula for successful bipartisan cooperation.

Which is unfortunate for one big reason: Our roads. They are falling apart, and for the third year in a row, the governor is trying to do something about them.

Governor Snyder addresses roads, schools and partisan divisions in State of the State

"In his State of the State speech last night, Governor Rick Snyder asked lawmakers to fix roads, schools, and partisan divisions. Snyder wants them to find a way to increase spending on roads and transportation by more than a billion dollars a year. He says bad roads are a financial burden on drivers and the state alike," the Michigan Public Radio Network reports.

Michigan foreclosure rate plummets

"A new report suggests Michigan is becoming more of a home seller’s market. Home sale prices plunged in Michigan during the recession. But Realty Trac reports in 20-12 home sellers were getting about 94 percent of their initial home sale price listings," Steve Carmody reports.

Michigan set 160 weather records in 2012

One hundred and sixty extreme weather records were set in Michigan in 2012. That's according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. As the Detroit News reports,

"The Detroit News reports, "Last year's statewide weather broke records across the spectrum including, 139 heat records in 44 counties, 18 rainfall records in 14 counties and three snow records in three counties. Michigan's weather seems to be paralleling the national trend of record-breaking heat, rain and snow."

The State of the State speech outlines what the Governor sees as spending priorities for the state. But state taxes and spending are only part of the story.   Michigan Watch has learned recovering from the Great Recession will not go as well in Michigan as the rest of the nation this year.