LANSING – Having already offered a long list of major policy proposals in his first year in office, Governor Rick Snyder departed from the traditional State of the State address model of offering new ideas to guide the year and instead delivered more of a report card on where the state stands and a call on the Legislature to complete work on key unfinished items from his 2011 agenda.
The notable proposal Snyder announced Wednesday was a request of the Legislature that it put into statute the Education Achievement Authority that will oversee the worst schools in the state. Snyder advisers said there was some concern whether the EAA, set up through an intergovernmental agreement between the state, Eastern Michigan University and the Detroit Public Schools, had sufficient legal authority to withstand a possible court challenge without legislative approval.
But overall, Snyder said this year was more about finishing key items remaining from 2011: the New International Trade Crossing, transportation funding reform, regional transit in metro Detroit, insurance coverage for residents with autism, cyberlearning, a health insurance exchange, and elder abuse protection legislation. Snyder also said this year would see the pursuit of much anticipated legislation to phase out the personal property tax and create a mechanism to replace much of the funding it now provides to local governments.
In the 52-minute speech – the governor’s staff had said they expected it to run 24 minutes, not including time to allow for legislative applause – Snyder talked at length about the major achievements of 2011, like eliminating a $1.5 billion budget deficit, teacher tenure reform, the anti-bullying law, lifting the cap on charter schools and changes to the foster care system.
“In 2011, we set that standard and accomplished many things that many thought were impossible,” he said. “2012 needs to be the year of implementing good government.”
Democrats harped on the lack of new initiatives in Snyder’s speech and sat in silence for much of it. They called on Mr. Snyder and the Republican majorities in the House and Senate to depart from “mean-spirited” policy changes that they said have hurt seniors, the poor and children. They also said his speech lacked a plan to put residents back to work.
And protestors outside the Capitol made their voices heard with chants of “Recall Rick!” audible inside the House chamber.
If Snyder’s approach to the speech was different from those of his most recent predecessors like Governors James Blanchard, John Engler and Jennifer Granholm to announce at least one major new initiative, it was more in keeping with the model of former Governor William Milliken, who took the report card approach and saved his policy ideas for special messages.
Indeed, Snyder reiterated his plans to issue a special message on public safety, which will come March 7, and one on energy and the environment to be delivered in the fall. In 2011, the governor delivered special messages on education, local government, health and wellness, infrastructure, and talent where he put forth a long list of proposals.
On public safety, Snyder said statewide crime statistics have improved, but noted that four of the top 10 cities in the nation for violent crime are in Michigan (Flint, Saginaw, Pontiac and Detroit).
“In 2012, we’re going to focus on this and resolve this issue,” he said.
E.A.A.: The EAA proposal is the lone major new ask Snyder is making of the Legislature at this point.
Snyder Director of Strategy Bill Rustem said the administration wants to ensure the EAA has sufficient legal authority to withstand a court challenge. The EAA was formed initially to oversee the Detroit Public Schools and any other schools in districts that fall under an emergency manager (Highland Park schools will soon have one as well).
“It will lock in the new EAA,” Rustem said of the legislation.
Eventually, the state Department of Education could place schools in other districts in the bottom five percent of performance into the EAA, although Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan has indicated he sees no reason to go that route at this time.
Flanagan again said those schools making progress, no matter where they stand on raw achievement, would not be moved to the EAA, which the governor urged Wednesday be fully in place by September.
Flanagan said it had become clear there were some legal “loose ends” to be addressed legislatively to make the entity function as intended. He did not have details Wednesday on what changes were needed.
Among the other new initiatives Snyder announced: more frequent campaign finance reporting, especially for ballot committees, and a six-month ban on state procurement officers from going to work for vendors to whom they awarded contracts.
Snyder also announced a recommendation for increasing funding in the 2012-13 fiscal year budget to a program created last year making available $5 million in state funds to help local governments share services. There were $20 million worth of applications for the program for the current year. How much Snyder would recommend when he announces his budget proposal February 9 was not clear.
The governor announced he would make trade missions to Asia and Europe this year. And he announced a partnership called Pure Michigan Fit between Gerber, the Michigan Grocers Association and the Michigan Health and Hospital Association to give parents better information to raise healthy children.
As was the case last year, Snyder eschewed a TelePrompTer and prepared text in favor of an outline and more extemporaneous approach. That came back to bite him at the beginning as he was thanking legislative leaders when he referred to Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) as “majority leader.” There was an awkward silence, and then Mr. Snyder caught himself and said. “Minority leader. Sorry about that.”
But Snyder also succeeded with some humor too. At one point, he talked about how tourism is a bright spot for the state’s economy, and, referring to the unusually snowless winter in much of the state, said, “Now we just need more snow.”
And as he mocked some of the state’s regulatory policies he said his administration would repeal, the governor noted the Department of Environmental Quality has 28 separate requirements for outhouses, including one that the seat not be left up.
“I don’t know about you, but I have a higher authority at home,” he said, drawing big laughs and standing ovations from a few female lawmakers. “I don’t need the state telling me that.”
In going over 2011, perhaps the most interesting segment came in his defense of the new emergency manager law that provides enhanced powers to state-appointed emergency managers in financially troubled school districts and municipalities. Snyder spent a considerable amount of time defending and explaining the law, which has come under heavy criticism and is under challenge in the courts and from a voter referendum effort.
“Think about a situation where employees are not going to get their paychecks,” he said. “These are critical problems. The new law is helping.”
Of all the topics up for discussion, the emergency manager one seemed to reveal the partisan split most decisively as Democrats sat in stony silence while Republicans applauded.
Snyder introduced Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, who was in the audience, and stressed his administration wants to help Detroit thrive. The city is undergoing a financial review that could lead to the appointment of an emergency manager.
Snyder went through a series of metrics he has established to determine the state’s condition when discussing Michigan’s present status.
He extolled the decline in the state’s unemployment rate during the year from 11.1 percent to 9.3 percent with the addition of 80,000 pr
