Michigan, you can't get there from here

"You can't get there from here" -- a salty bit of logical nonsense attributed to Maine that fits Michigan's current cultural and economic predicament. Over the last few years, Michiganders who want to improve the state have described a way forward, a new economy and a defining moment. They have struggled to articulate a vision that might inspire people to change ideas and actions and habits.

Yet, getting "there from here" can feel as impossible as Lansing Democrats and Republicans collaborating for the sake of the state or the Detroit Three producing cars that actually get good mileage or Dow just cleaning up its shameful dioxin pollution in Saginaw or Kwame Kilpatrick graciously stepping down so Detroit can get some R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

Thing is, Michigan could get "there" from "here," but it would take generosity, maturity, magnanimity, compassion, warm-heartedness, concern for one's neighbors, humility, creativity and openness to new ideas. Plenty of people who love Michigan are working on it. Lots of others are not.

Openness to new ideas is probably the biggest impediment to reviving Michigan's economy and culture. New ideas can be expensive. For example the executives at Dow Chemical could choose to do the most thorough possible cleanup of the dioxin in the Saginaw River simply because it is the right thing to do. That would be a new idea. It might cost the company a lot of money, but at least they would be acting in good faith. They would be demonstrating a commitment to the environment and public health in communities vulnerable to the pollution Dow creates and spreads.

New ideas can mean forsaking short-term gain for the sake of long-term benefit. The Detroit Three could have chosen to embrace high gas mileage as a core value for everyone's sake. But over the last few years, public appetite for gas guzzlers has meant big profits for the domestic industry. Turns out, that short-term strategy is biting the industry but good as foreign-owned companies prepare to sell lots of small, efficient cars that consumers need. You can't commute if you can't afford the gas it takes to get to work.

New ideas make people uncomfortable, defensive, and unwelcoming to people who are different. We saw that last week with the State Supreme Court's decision prohibiting employee health benefits to people not in "man/woman" marriages. The idea of same-sex marriage (to some an obvious oxymoron) makes people uncomfortable and defensive in a knee-jerk, gut-based way. And so, Michigan is now unequivocally inhospitable to same-sex couples in long-term relationships a.k.a. marriages. Here is an issue that could help Michiganders stretch themselves and practice openmindedness and compassion and generosity and hospitality.

So what'll it be, Michigan? Narrow-minded, short-sighted,greed-driven, socially intolerant policy or a new way -- progressive, community-oriented, inclusive, locally sustainable innovation?

The art of governing

Don't lose hope. Although our elected officials have a hard job, it does not require genius or inspiration.

The legislature doesn't have to make music or create something beautiful or inspiring or timeless. They just need to respond to current economic and social circumstances. They merely need to manage public money.

They don't have to write documents that must last centuries or qualify as literature. They just need to make laws that reflect sound public policy for a time.

They don't have to invent fairness, justice, freedom and equality. They just have to honor and uphold them.

They don't have to play violin on a tightrope. Some days, for variety we all might wish they did.

It ain't over...Michigan's fiscal future

Non-partisan experts, the Governor, and legislators willing to be honest all agree that Monday's budget deal does not fix our state's structural deficit. Did anyone think a last minute deal hammered out by sleep-deprived, adversarial, policy newbies would eliminate a problem as vast as this structural deficit?

In order to be willing to make the necessary changes, a legislator would have to fully understand a range of factors changing our economy -- an aging population, a shrinking workforce, rising health care costs, an over-sized corrections system. But fundamentally you'd have to comprehend how the deficit relates to the seismic shift in Michigan's economy away from heavy manufacturing.

Still disproportionately dependent on a "resizing" auto industry, our tax structure has not changed to reflect the auto industry's shrinkage. Heavy manufacturing used to be our bread and butter, but not any more. A growing portion of Michigan's economic activity consists of services. You may not believe it and you may not like it, but that's how it is. To ignore that fact imperils Michigan's future.

So, when Gov. Granholm asked for a 2 percent across the board service tax earlier this year, it was actually a sound public policy idea. And it was based on non-partisan research and bi-partisan recommendations from veterans of government, who wanted nothing more than to help our state survive.

But if you were a legislator new to the process of governing, and you won your election by casting yourself as "anti-tax," you simply had to oppose this idea. In fact, if you hadn't done your homework to understand the wisdom of the idea, you might have even perceived it as a "Democrat" idea -- a hair-brained, tax and spend, liberal Democrat idea. Then you had no choice, but to oppose it.

In fact, you did have a choice -- to do your homework.

A week ago, an incomplete, inferior budget "compromise" was reached by exhausted legislators ready to scream "uncle."

Granholm continues to graciously thank legislators for working together, but she is being too generous. They didn't work together in a constructive way. They managed to cobble together a half measure and leave more tough questions for the rest of the month -- and -- for the months to come.

Citizens along the entire political spectrum -- from progressives to the Michigan Chamber -- are calling for changes to Michigan's term limit law. It "institutionalizes inexperience" says the Chamber. Watching the legislature for the last eight months, you could easily concur, even if you are a liberal.

Although Republicans postured and functioned as obstructionist, you could argue that was a basic play, like running the ball up the middle. It seemed effective and at the heart of the dysfunction, but Democrats lacked a sufficient counter move. And moderates in neither party were able to come together to talk sense to more extreme members of each party to move them to the center, where things actually happen.

Bill Rustem summed it up by saying lots of legislators were unwilling to move out of their comfort zone. True. That would have taken work and been uncomfortable.

Tom Clay said party leaders were having to "herd cats." Almost true, but with term limits it was more a matter of herding kittens. Even harder.

Can the legislature now do what they were unable to do over the last eight months? For the sake of Michigan, one surely hopes they can.

Not a time for celebration, says Gov. Granholm

cross-posted yesterday at Michigan Messenger

This afternoon a subdued Governor Granholm held a press conference on today's budget agreement.

Looking exhausted and speaking soberly, Granholm called the compromise a comprehensive plan to prevent massive cuts to education, public safety and health care. She thanked the legislators who reached agreement on a package of cuts, reforms and revenues.

Granholm called it a historic agreement for Michigan that will "set the state on solid fiscal footing and allow us to move forward and invest and build the next Michigan." She expressed confidence that "this fiscal plan will allow us to do the things that we know are important to rebuilding a state that has been so challenged by the global shift in manufacturing jobs and policies that got us here in the first place."

She said this was not a time for celebration. There are massive cuts -- about $440 million -- that will be made in the next 30 days. "These are going to be tough. And we know whenever somebody is cut, they don't like it. These cuts will be difficult, but they must be done," she said.

She said the combination of cuts, reforms and revenues will be difficult, but that it is a balanced approach to resolving the structural deficit in the long term.

She stressed that the increase to the income tax is temporary and "will start to roll back in 2011." She said her preference would have been for economic indicators rather than a date to trigger future reconsideration of the income tax. The tax returns Michigan's income tax rate to its 1999 level.

The new income tax rate will make Michigan's rate the fourth lowest in the country.

"The combination of the income tax and service tax means about $1 per person per week," she said.

The new revenues, she said, will make it possible to maintain current funding levels for education, public safety, Medicaid, health care, which was a major goal of the budget negotiation.

She was not specific about the nature of the reforms or cuts, except that they will affect corrections and bring public employee benefit plans in line with private sector norms.

"The solution we crafted enables us to put the state on stable, solid financial footing once and for all. We are not going to solve this budget deficit with one-time fixes," she assured her audience.

Speaking about economic development she said, "I am not going to assess blame. I want to move forward in a bipartisan way with my partners in the legislature. But really with citizens and the businesses of Michigan to create a vibrant economy and take advantage of our natural niches." Among those she included "the area of alternative and renewable energy."

Acknowledging the difficulty of the votes that brought forth the compromise, she chided "extremists" taking up recall actions against legislators who voted their conscience. "I am very angry at those on the fringes who would attack legislators who voted their conscience to put Michigan on solid footing." She urged citizens to refuse to sign recall petitions.

Defending legislators who voted for the comprehensive changes she said, "These legislators came to Lansing to fix problems and many of them last night cast what would be the toughest votes in their lives." She said the purpose of the votes was to prevent massive cuts to education, public safety and health care.

"People need to pat them on the back and say 'thank you' for moving us forward."

She also attributed to term limits complications in the negotiation process.

Michigan's New Economy--Basic Reading List

A Region in Turbulence and Transition--the Economic and Demographic Outlook for Southeast Michigan through 2035; SEMCOG (Southeast Michigan Council of Governments), March 2007

Preparing Michigan's Workforce for the New Economy: Recommendations of SEMCOG's Task Force on Workforce Development in the Changing Economy; SEMCOG, July 2007

Michigan's Economic Transition: Toward a Knowledge Economy; CLOSUP, (Center for Local, State and Urban Policy), University of Michigan, Summer 2007

Michigan's Defining Moment: Report of the Emergency Financial Advisory Panel; Feb. 2007

A New Agenda for a New Michigan; Michigan Future, Inc., June 2006

A Look at Michigan's Emerging New Economy, Public Policy Associates, October 2006

A New Economy for a New Michigan Initiative, Cherry Commission