Action plan for Governor-Elect Snyder

The Detroit News

When Rick Snyder officially takes office on Jan. 1, 2011, he will inherit a $1.42 billion budget deficit, an economy that has lost more than 600,000 jobs in the last eight years, a Michigan Business Tax mess, and an electorate of angry, pessimistic and exhausted citizens. But it is what he will not inherit that may be his saving grace. Simply on term limits alone, there will be 81 new House members and 38 new Senate members. Incumbent losses have added to this number, which means Snyder will come into a state government that still will be trying to figure out where the restrooms and copy machines are at the same time they are dealing with some of the most serious issues ever to face Michigan.

Given that he has only until March 6 to submit a state budget, Snyder will need to start transitioning from one tough nerd to one strong team builder from the very beginning. Snyder's leadership skills will be much more important than his finance or law background during the transition.

Specifically, Snyder will need to focus on four key areas: Taking action quickly: There will be a period of time where Snyder's biggest asset is that he isn't Gov. Jennifer Granholm. He will have an opportunity, albeit a brief one, to use the momentum of his win to establish the direction of his administration and begin building his team. There are more than 130 positions that he can appoint directly to lead his departments and staff positions. He can start making those decisions immediately while being as transparent to the people as possible. The day he takes office, Snyder should not only be ready to get started, the public should be confident that he has his team in place.

Articulating a vision of hope: The "Reinvent Michigan" 10-point plan helped Snyder get elected. Now Snyder should take this plan from a campaign pitch to a vision of the future the public can embrace. To break the political gridlock and gain the public's support, he has to be able to inspire. This means he has to have a vision and be willing to go all out. The vision of the new governor shouldn't be about reconciliation or compromise, although both of these will have to happen for any plan to work. Rather, the message has to be about commitment and a sincere belief that this goal can be attained.

Building coalitions and momentum: Snyder needs to immediately become familiar with his new legislature, their needs and their positions. Some may refuse to collaborate, but if the new governor avoids being distracted by partisan politics and focuses instead on enlisting the efforts of representatives and senators on all sides of the aisle, he stands a chance of moving his plan from the abstract to reality.

If Snyder can build a significant coalition from the beginning, and begin making things happen quickly, it will be difficult to stay embroiled in partisan bickering.

Supporting the private sector: Michigan politics have become stagnant in large part because the economic generators have been stymied by an entitlement mentality. As an executive and venture capitalist, Snyder will need to loosen the reins on entrepreneurship, not just through changes to the Michigan Business Tax, but through his message of free enterprise and job creation.

Snyder has an opportunity to exhibit leadership to both politicians of Lansing and business leaders of Michigan through his policies and initiatives. This means creating avenues to expand business in Michigan while at the same time holding the business community accountable for its impact on the state economy.

When Rick Snyder was a Gateway executive and later CEO, he became known for his ability to make things happen and make tough decisions.

He proved that he could not only do what needed to be done, but that he could build a team that would execute the hard decisions and maintain the change needed to make a difference. To be successful as governor, Snyder will have to focus on leading change again and building the infrastructure and momentum to move from talk to action.

Granholm may be Candidate for Wayne State University Head

The Detroit Free Press

Gov. Jennifer Granholm is rumored as a possible candidate for president of Wayne State University.

And WSU Board of Governors chairman Richard Bernstein thinks she’d be a “fabulous” choice.

“Personally, I really like her, I think she represents a great skill set that would make an excellent president of Wayne State,” Bernstein said, stressing that he did not speak for the board.

He emphasized that the board has not yet created a search committee to choose a new president from a national search. That probably will happen in September; an interim president first will be named.

Wayne State president Jay Noren leaves Friday after two years heading the 35,000-student school in Detroit. Granholm leaves office Jan. 1 after eight years as governor under term limits.

University board member Debbie Dingell said she’s heard Granholm’s name as a possible candidate from “15 or 20 people” in the past few weeks. She said when she told Granholm of the buzz on Monday the governor was surprised.

“Enough people have suggested to me her name will come up,” Dingell said. She added, “I’m totally neutral; I want to see who’s out there.”

Bernstein said he’s heard Granholm and former congressman David Bonior mentioned as possible candidates for the WSU presidency. He said he has not talked to either.

Bernstein said Granholm is empathetic, compassionate, a consensus builder, and would be a terrific fund-raiser, with knowledge of Lansing politics and a state budget that supplies WSU with 65% of its revenue.

He said those attributes that would be a good fit with Wayne State’s mission to make a college education available to urban students who could not attend other universities because they hold jobs or are part-time students.

“She understands the process at a Michigan college is just as important the outcome,” Bernstein said of Granholm. “You have to be able to work with a lot of constituency groups. It’s important to work with all kinds of people.”

3 Wind Farms to Open in State

The Detroit Free Press

 

John Deere Wind Energy said Friday that it plans to open three new wind farms, two of which will be the largest in the state. The announcement is a major boost for the future of wind energy in Michigan.
The new projects -- in Lenawee County and Michigan's Thumb -- are expected to increase the state's wind power capacity by 61% to 374 megawatts. That would generate electricity for more than 84,000 households.

Michigan has lagged other states in developing wind power even though it has several areas ideally suited for it.

The three wind farms are to provide power to Consumers Energy beginning in 2012. They are:

• Michigan Wind 2 in Sanilac County (90 megawatts);

• Blissfield Wind Energy in Lenawee County (81 megawatts);

• Harvest II in Huron County (59.4 megawatts).

John Deere Wind Energy, based in Johnston, Iowa, already also owns the state's two existing large wind farms.

"We intend to lead the nation in making our nation energy independent," said Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who lauded the projects in a speech at the Michigan Energy Fair, which began Friday at the Rock Financial Showplace in Novi.

The wind farms and a new landfill gas-electric generation facility in Lenox Township that is to be developed by Waste Management Renewable Energy will enable Consumers Energy to obtain 6.2% of its power from renewable-energy sources by 2012, up from the current 4%. Under Michigan law, it must reach 10% by 2015.

Granholm also announced that nine Michigan companies will get $20 million in clean-energy manufacturing grants -- money that comes from the federal stimulus program.

The companies are: Amptech in Manistee ($573,000), Great Lakes Industry in Jackson ($2.5 million), Grid Logic in Metamora ($5 million), Heat Transfer International in Kentwood ($2.8 million), Innotec in Zeeland ($1.2 million), KC Jones Plating in Warren ($300,000), Polar Seal Window in Grand Rapids ($200,000), URV USA in Rochester ($4 million) and Ventower Industries in Monroe ($3.5 million).

Granholm and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who also attended the event, stressed the importance of making sure that new clean-energy products and technologies are made in the U.S., particularly in Michigan.

"We have to incentivize manufacturing it here," Stabenow said.

Of the 8,000 parts in a wind turbine, "we can make every one in Michigan," Stabenow said. "For me, the magic word is manufacturing."

Granholm sent Bill to Give Michigan High School Students more Math Options

mLive

LANSING -- The Michigan Legislature has passed a bill that would give high school students more options to avoid taking algebra II and still graduate.

The bill would let students substitute a statistics or data analysis class in place of the advanced algebra class. The legislation passed the House by a 104-3 vote and passed the Senate by a 32-3 vote on Thursday.

The legislation now goes to Gov. Jennifer Granholm for her consideration. Granholm's administration has resisted changes to the graduation standards.

Some lawmakers have sought to remove algebra II from the list of typical graduation requirements ever since the tougher standards were signed into law four years ago.

One size does not fit all, said Rockford Superintendent Michael Shibler. Students should be required to take four math courses in order to graduate, he said, but ones based on each student's ability and interest.

The bill wouldn't completely resolve the issue, he said, but it would give students more choices. "If they can come through with an alternative to algebra II, it's at least a step in the right direction," he said.

About 25 percent of high school students statewide have failed one or more of their graduation requirement classes, said Kent Intermediate Assistant Superintendent Ron Koehler, who echoed Shibler's opinion.

"We think some alternatives are very helpful or very positive for students who may be good students but may be challenged by the rigor of algebra II," he said.

The stricter standards for graduation kick in with the class of 2011.

Granholm Signs Texting-Driving Ban on 'Oprah'

Bloomberg / Business Week

Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia beat Michigan to the punch when it comes to banning texting while driving. Yet it was Michigan's governor who was the one who signed it into law Friday under the approving gaze of Oprah Winfrey.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed the legislation that bans sending, typing or reading text messages or e-mails about halfway through the broadcast of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" via satellite from Detroit's Renaissance Center. The law takes effect July 1.

"Thank you, Gov. Granholm. Michigan just became a safer place because of this new law," Winfrey, who broadcast from Chicago, said while Granholm signed the three-bill package at a public rally. Attendees included lawmakers behind the bills and high school students who hooted, hollered and held up signs affirming their stance against texting and driving.

Other "No Phone Zone" rallies held in Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta and Washington also were part of the broadcast.

Winfrey launched the campaign against distracted driving in January and has sponsored a pledge on her website asking motorists to commit to not text or talk on phones while driving.

"Today is a call to action to stop the madness of distracted driving," Winfrey said.

General Motors Co. officials said Friday they will ask the company's 77,000 U.S. employees as well as dealers and other affiliates to sign the pledge. Many GM workers attended the rally, since the building is the automaker's global headquarters.

Among those who spoke at the pre-show rally in Detroit was Loretta Strong, 66, paralyzed since a 2008 crash caused by a teenage girl who was texting while driving. On the back of Strong's wheelchair is a sign that reads, "I got this ride because someone decided to text and drive."

"We need to take this more seriously," said Strong, who goes to therapy three times a week and lives with her daughter in the suburban Detroit community of Macomb Township. The law, she said, is "going to be a good thing," and "I want to promote this in any way I can."

Texting will be a primary offense under Michigan's law, meaning police can pull over motorists solely for using phones to send text messages. Michigan is the 19th state with a primary ban.

The legislation does not ban using cell phones to make calls while driving, but that's clearly part of Winfrey's campaign.

"Put down your phone when you drive -- simple as that," she said during the show.

Granholm said texting is the biggest culprit of distracted driving because the driver's eyes, hands and mind are distracted. Still, she told reporters after the event that she hopes lawmakers take the "next step" and require the use of handsfree phone technology.

Granholm's Meatless Day Proclamation Grinds Farm Bureau

The Detroit News

Lansing -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm proclaimed Saturday a meatless day, and the Michigan Farm Bureau is having a cow.

Wayne Wood, president of the Farm Bureau, in a tersely worded statement, called the governor's proclamation for Michigan Meatout Day "unconscionable" and "an insensitive slap in the face to Michigan's livestock and dairy farmers, not to mention Michigan's meat-eating residents."

Liz Boyd, Granholm's press secretary, countered that "people may be taking this too seriously."

Boyd explained the governor receives many requests to make proclamations and she tries to accommodate as many as she can. This request came from the Michigan director of the Great American Meatout, she said.

"We've had an agriculture tourism month and an egg farmers' day," Boyd said. "And next month is Michigan Wine Month, although I'm sure some people might find that objectionable."

But Wood is not amused.

"It's inconceivable to us that the governor could stoop to this level of telling people what they should and shouldn't eat based on the philosophies of 'food elitists,' " he said.

"It'd be one thing if Granholm proclaimed a day to promote increased consumption of vegetables, fruits and whole grains. But the governor clearly crossed the line in recklessly singling out meat products for nonconsumption and belittling this wholesome source of protein."

Boyd noted that Saturday marks the first weekend of college basketball's March Madness.

"Not to worry. I'm sure a lot of chicken wings and burgers will be consumed on Saturday," she said.

Granholm Proposes New Tax on Services; Businesses React

WZZM Grand Rapids

Thursday Governor Jennifer Granholm unveiled her final budget plan for Michigan and it includes tax increases to offset budget problems. Granholm unveiled her budget in front of a joint session of House and Senate Appropriations Committees.

The Governor's main proposal is to reduce the sales tax from 6% 5.5%. But the tax would be expanded to include services which is expected to bring in more than $500 million in additional revenue next year.

The proposed tax has Michigan business owners sitting up and taking notice.

"I just felt sad. Like I said, I think everybody talks about how our government has taken a wrong path and it's broken and to add more tax burden on the backs of Michigan residents I don't think is the right answer," said Larry Walt, the president and owner of Design 1 Spas in Grand Rapids.

Walt's spas offer a variety of services to clients ranging from hair cuts and manicures to facials and massages. Regardless of what they come in the door for, the would leave with a little less cash if the expansion goes through.

Walt thinks a service tax is unfair to Michigan residents and business owners alike.

Right now the sentiment is Michigan is a tough place to run a business and a tough place to live and there is more people leaving than staying," he said. "I think the government needs to take a look, whether you are Republican or Democrat, and say what is best for Michigan. If that means cutting drastically government expenses you need to do what it takes to make people want to be here. "

Gregory Lewis, a tattoo artist and body piercer at Mystery Ink in Grand Rapids worries if clients will scale back on the services they buy when faced with an added cost.

"Yeah because tattoos aren't necessarily a necessity. It may hurt business a little bit. We just won't know until it all happens," he said.

Granholm says the sale of services make up 66% of consumer spending in Michigan. She says expanding the sales tax, among other things, would solve school funding problems.

"It would significantly solve the structural problems of the school aid fund into the future," she said.

The Governor proposes that some services including health care, social assistance, education, real estate, new construction, insurance commissions and services directly connected to business operations be exempt from the service tax.

"If you are going to tax service then you tax all service," said Walt, who thinks it is unfair for the state to pick and choose what type of services are exempt. "Where do you draw the line. Is real estate more important than other services? Or health care? Obviously it is a big issue but if we just want to be fair to everybody, if we are going to tax service then tax service and it is fair to everybody because it is across the board."

Governor Granholm says even with the expansion Michigan would have one of the lowest sales tax rates in the country. Only 5 states will have lower sales tax.

Granholm's Final State of the State 'All About Jobs'

The Detroit News

Lansing -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm delivers her eighth and final State of the State address tonight with a heavy focus on the two issues she sees as most important to propping up the foundering state in her last 10 months in office: jobs and education.

The term-limited governor hopes the hourlong televised message will set the stage for a year of reform she outlined in a speech in Lansing last week in which she called for up to 46,000 public employee retirements, reductions in benefits and other cost-saving measures to stabilize a budget in chronic deficit.

"The governor is going to focus on her priorities, the priorities of Michigan -- job creation, economic diversity, educating citizens and protecting them," said Liz Boyd, Granholm's spokeswoman. "But it's all about jobs."

Granholm won't talk about restructuring the tax system as the state faces a $1.6 billion deficit. Any talk about that may come on Feb. 11 when she presents the budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. One tax change she has favored is extending the sales tax to services.

With no forecast showing the state rebounding this year from the collapse highlighted by the auto industry's implosion, the state's first female chief executive likely will leave office after eight years with the economy still in the tank -- a decline that started a year or so before she took the reins.

That fact threatens to overwhelm the list of Granholm successes, including the implementation of a workplace smoking ban, increased state minimum wage, an accord barring Great Lakes water diversion, a major job retraining program, tougher high school graduation requirements and a new economic focus on advanced battery and other alternative energy businesses.

But her tenure will be dogged by mocking replays of her statement in her 2006 speech that "in five years, you're going to be blown away" by a diversified economy in Michigan.

"She wanted the state to be blown away (with jobs created by diversifying the economy), and obviously that's not going to happen by the end of this year," said Bill Ballenger, editor of the Inside Michigan Politics newsletter. "Things could get worse. Fairly or unfairly, when you're governor for that long a period of time and the news continues to be bad, it rubs off on you."

Michael LaFaive, economic development expert at the Midland-based Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free-market think tank, said overall, he gives the governor low marks.

"This is one administration that relied primarily on symbolism over substantive policy," LaFaive said. "When the state's fortunes were plummeting and citizens were getting poorer, she turned to economic development programs we knew would not work. Her focus was on job announcements, not real jobs."

Robert Kolt, a Democratic-leaning public relations consultant and political observer in Okemos, said the perception of Granholm as a cheerleader who governed by press release is unfair.

"I have to give her high marks for being a good communicator, but due to major problems in her backroom operation, most people never saw her deliver on promises made," he said.

"She's really bright. She just did not have enough focus, will and following to get many things done. And she even said herself she needed more legislative experience."
Success significant

Over the past seven years, there have been significant achievements, some with considerable help from key legislators and other officials.

The governor called for a public smoking ban a couple of times, and it finally won passage in the Legislature in December. She got assistance from legislators such as Sen. Ray Basham, D-Taylor, who made a career of pushing the ban. She was able to sign an agreement with other governors to protect the Great Lakes from diversion. Experts say her predecessors paved the way on this issue, but she gets credit for pushing it over the hump.

Michigan's high school graduates must complete a rigorous slate of courses, which educators say will better prepare them for college and the workplace. State schools chief Mike Flanagan and education leaders in the House and Senate played a huge role in getting that done. Students also must stay in school until they're 18, another Granholm proposal that became part of the deal when reforms were enacted last year to draw federal Race to the Top funds.

The state's minimum wage was increased by $2.25 an hour to $7.40 an hour between 2006 and 2008, which the governor called for in her 2005 address. Granholm had much help from labor backers in the Legislature, and ultimately the business community signed off on the raise.

"You always have to have dogged legislators or others to take what the governor proposes and get it done," said Bill Rustem, president of Public Sector Consultants Inc., a Lansing independent public policy think tank. "But on issues like the smoking ban and the increased minimum wage, the governor deserves credit for raising the issue so it can move through the process."

Granholm's No Worker Left Behind program has retrained more than 100,000 people for 21st -century jobs and has a waiting list. That came after the governor's Michigan Opportunity Partnership matched 124,599 people with mostly health care jobs between 2005-08, said Marcia Black-Watson, a deputy director at the Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth.

Project Great Start launched school readiness efforts for children up to 5 years old, and there are 55 local centers to coordinate programs. A recent study suggested this and other early childhood education initiatives save the state $1.15 billion a year.

She set up the 21st Century Jobs Fund to spur investment in high-tech companies and research, with the aim of diversifying the economy -- although it has been scaled back recently due to budget cuts. The full impact of the program cannot be measured for years.

In several addresses, the governor called for the replacement of lost auto jobs with green energy jobs. Her focus on advanced battery production has helped to make Michigan a hub for that technology. Former car parts makers are now manufacturing wind turbines. And lawmakers passed, at Granholm's urging, a plan to increase electricity production from renewable sources over the next 15 years.
Program eliminated

Other initiatives she proposed met with mixed results.

She upgraded former Gov. John Engler's merit scholarships for college students to a $4,000 Michigan Promise Scholarships program in 2005. But budget slashing last year prompted legislators to eliminate the program against Granholm's wishes.

The governor won funding for a new 100-trooper recruit school in 2008. But fiscal woes forced her to lay them all off last year and then call back all but about 15.

She donned sunglasses to promote her Cool Cities initiative in 2004, intended to spruce up cities to attract young professionals and entrepreneurs. The Legislature never approved funding, so the administration scrambled to find it through block grants, arts grants and other sources. The state spent $4.2 million on 48 grants in 32 cities over three years, ending in 2006.

Its success is difficult to measure, said Karen Gagnon, program manager at the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. "A lot of what we have is anecdotal. We'll have to wait for the next census for more data."

The Michigan First health care plan was proposed by Granholm in 2006 and was intended to provide health coverage for 550,000 uninsured. But the state never won federal approval for the program, and it's on hold during the heated debate over national health care, said James McCurtis, spokesman for the Department of Community Health.

The governor pushed for business tax reform in 2007 and, after a tough battle, the Michigan Business Tax was born late in the year. But the tax is nearly as reviled as the one it replaced. Repealing a 22 percent surcharge on the tax is the business community's No. 1 goal in Lansing.

The governor and legislative leaders share the blame for this botched effort, observers say.

Rustem said an assessment of Granholm's time in office will be defined by her actions as well as by forces beyond her control.

"She did some good things, but the implosion of the auto industry in Michigan was an overwhelming issue this decade will be remembered for," Rustem said. "Also, term limits really kicked in, and the Legislature had difficulty meeting deadlines and forging compromises."

Q & A With Governor Granholm

From TIME-CNN


In 2002, the Canadian-born Democrat became the first woman to be elected Governor of Michigan. Now in her second term, she is responding to tough problems -- the global financial crisis, the near-collapse of the U.S. automobile industry, a 17% unemployment rate in Detroit -- with innovative solutions: she has beefed up the Michigan film industry's tax credits and started the No Worker Left Behind program which provides up to two years of tuition at any community college, university or training program to accelerate the transition of thousands of workers into good-paying jobs.

TIME is taking part in Assignment Detroit, a year-long project to cover the Motor City along with its fellow Time Inc. publications. Submit your questions for Jennifer Granholm Here, then read the interview in an upcoming issue of TIME magazine.

Granholm: Wagoner Was Sacrificial Lamb

As Originally Posted to The Wall Street Journal

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The governor of Michigan says Rick Wagoner, the General Motors chairman and CEO forced out of his job in the Obama administration’s final effort to revive the ailing U.S. auto industry, is a “sacrificial lamb.”

Interviewed Monday on NBC’s “Today” show, Governor Jennifer Granholm noted that Wagoner has worked for GM for more than 30 years and was trying to turn the company around.

She said that Wagoner agreed to step aside for the good of the car maker and its workers.

The Obama administration announced late Sunday that neither GM nor Chrysler has come up with acceptable business plans to merit receiving additional federal bailout money. The two automakers were each given a brief deadline to try one last time to persuade Washington they’re worth saving.