Under Bouchard Proposal
Granholm Would Say
Sayonara To Her Pay
Oakland County- With just over 16 days left to solve yet another budget crisis, Governor Granholm is in Japan. Legislators in Lansing continue to fight with little progress to show toward closing the state’s billion-dollar deficit, and their leader is out of town. Mike Bouchard, Republican candidate for governor, has focused attention on the looming budget deadline facing Michigan, and is disappointed that the Granholm/Cherry administration has failed again to provide the leadership that is so desperately needed.
“At a time when Michigan is crying out for leadership, the Governor has once again abrogated her responsibilities and is in the Far East,” said Mike Bouchard, candidate for Governor. “With taxpayers, schools, cities, townships, villages and counties holding their breath waiting for the budget, she climbs on a plane out of town. It is sad.”
Last week, Bouchard announced his plan to make sure these budget stalemates are a thing of the past. His plan includes:
*First; every day after May 15 without a budget will cost every legislator and statewide officeholder a day’s pay.
* Second; no other non-essential legislation should be considered until a budget is adopted.
* Third; the state should adopt a two-year rolling budget and use externally verified numbers with a three-year projection. This is the same method used in Oakland County, is a more forward thinking approach to budget issues, and has enabled the county to maintain its AAA bond rating.
The legislature met only one day this summer in a six-week period, leaving things to the last minute again. Two years ago the State shut down and the taxpayers got a huge tax increase as a result of this behavior. It is long overdue to fix Lansing and get Michigan back to work.
Bouchard launched a Countdown to Shutdown clock on his website www.bouchardforgovernor.com last week for voters to track the time remaining for Lansing leaders to break the budget impasse. He will continue to call attention to the budget impasse and offering real solutions until an accord is reached.
