Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder proposes budget

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder proposes huge business tax and spending cuts, cites need for 'tough decisions'

12:58 PM, Feb. 17, 2011  |  

590 Comments

LANSING -- Gov. Rick Snyder uncorked a radical new budget plan today that he says will stimulate new jobs by slashing $1.8 billion from business taxes statewide and cutting wide swaths through state spending, including money for schools, communities, universities and prisons.

Snyder began an unusual personal appearance at 11 a.m. to unveil the budget before an unusually large gathering of four House and Senate committees that decide spending and tax matters, and an overflow crowd in a Senate office building.
His plan calls for the most far-reaching changes in state taxing and spending in nearly 20 years, affecting virtually every constituency in the state and making good on Snyder’s pledge to shake up the Lansing establishment.
Snyder called it a defining moment, and said his plan will do things that should have been done 30 years ago, and that the state has built up $47 billion in debt -- $4,700 for every person in the state.
"This is more than a budget or tax proposal, this is an opportunity to stop living in the past and start looking to the future."
He added, "We are going to build a great state for our children and their future."
He said his plan presents a fairer, simpler tax system for businesses, and shared sacrifice across the state to get government costs under control, with a budget that aims to serve the public, not just spend its money.
Snyder said it's time to stop offering tax incentives to lure companies to Michigan, a practice Lt. Gov. Brian Calley called a form of bribery that doesn't help the economy grow in the long term.
"Let’s stop picking winners and losers, let’s start being fair, let’s start letting free enterprise work,” Snyder said.
Calley said the tax changes would make Michigan among the most competitive in the Midwest for businesses.
His plan closes a projected $1.4-billion general fund deficit, and shifts an estimated $422-million surplus in the School Aid Fund to pay for community colleges, rather than the general fund.