Editorial From the Michigan League for Human Services

Wednesday night the governor will deliver her last State of the State message. No matter how much we sugarcoat the dismal picture with anecdotes about the progress under way in some communities, we all know that the state is in a mess.

We're in our 10th year of deficits and when we think it just can't get any worse, it gets worse. As a budget for fiscal year 2010-2011 is negotiated, the administration and the Legislature must address a gap of at least $1.6 billion. Federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money helped to balance this year's budget, but is pretty much depleted and will only plug small holes in next year's budget.

The governor has announced that she will be proposing a range of reforms, many of which have been called for by the business community and others. They include some "good government" proposals that we applaud, such as auditing state contracts, routinely examining tax expenditures, requiring more financial disclosure, tightening ethics requirements, etc.
Reducing the governor's and legislators' pay if they don't have a budget completed by July 1 is, however, a sorry gimmick intended to make elected officials do more quickly what the Constitution already requires.

Likewise, threatening approximately 7,000 state employees with reduced retirement benefits, and promising to replace only two out of three employees, will only exacerbate the state's ability to do its job.

Imagine being a local Department of Human Services caseworker with a caseload of about 700 cases. Waiting rooms are already filled with desperate, angry people. As experienced workers retire they will be replaced with fewer, less experienced workers to administer these extremely complicated programs. I don't envy them their jobs.

Some of the governor's "reforms" may yield savings now, others later. Some may yield no savings whatsoever. What is needed right now is cold, hard cash in the form of revenues.

The League has joined with others in a campaign for A Better Michigan Future. The campaign lays out a comprehensive proposal of reforms that, if adopted, could not only balance the 2011 budget but also ensure a future for Michigan that is fiscally sound.

I hope you will all become involved in this effort.

Sharon Parks
President and CEO
Michigan League for Human Services