LANSING – Election-year politics, including having two legislative leaders seeking statewide office, is creating a time crunch for Business Leaders for Michigan to get its Michigan Turnaround Plan into law, the head of the group said Friday.
Doug Rothwell, president and CEO of the group formerly known as Detroit Renaissance, said part of the organization’s strategy for the New Year is to work with lawmakers and state leaders to get the plan’s recommendations into place, as well as educate the general public about the plan’s contents and get support from associations and candidates for office.
“More than Andy getting in or not, the time is probably our greatest enemy,” Rothwell said, commenting on the news this week that House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Twp.) is officially exploring a bid for governor. Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) has been a candidate for attorney general for some time now.
The group is also facing its own transition with Domino’s CEO David Brandon, chair of the Business Leaders for Michigan’s board, accepting the athletic director’s job with the University of Michigan this week.
Rothwell credited Brandon for getting CEOs from across the state engaged in solutions to the state’s problems.
While Rothwell expressed hope that some of the group’s solutions can be put into place before the election ramps up, the group’s other goal for the year is also to ramp up its own political action committee endorsement and campaign process.
“It’s going to be a tough year to do things with an election. I think we can lay the groundwork for new leaders coming in next year and particularly educating the people coming into office,” he said. “You have a lot of interest on the Democratic side for tax reform and a lot of interest on the Republican side for budget reform, and the reality is you need both.”
Rothwell wouldn’t specify which of the group’s turnaround plans are getting priority in presentations to lawmakers, but he said clearly the first three steps of the plan are key to getting more changes implemented in the coming years. Some of those proposals include two-year budgeting, changing how state revenues are estimated, reducing the state workforce and finding ways for layers of government to collaborate.
While people tend to gravitate to one part of any plan, Rothwell said the “beauty” of the proposal is “there is no one thing that is going to fix Michigan.”
Rothwell said one of the group’s current vice chairs will likely take over for Brandon when he leaves in late February, but the organization will continue to work off the foundation already laid in executing the turnaround plan.
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