Friday morning, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder answered questions from public radio listeners on 89.1 WEMU, 91.7 WUOM and other stations of the Michigan Public Radio Network.
MNPR Managing Editor and State Capitol Bureau Chief Rick Pluta hosted the special broadcast, “A Conversation with Governor Rick Snyder.” Callers addressed education reform, the state budget and the economy.
Listeners of Friday’s broadcast special were able to phone in their questions during the segment or e-mail them in advance. Responses came from varying distances including Ludington, Farmington Hills and Ann Arbor.
The first topic of discussion was his tax reform bill, part of his effort to pass a state budget by May 31.
“It’s basic economics — cutting taxes will create jobs,” Snyder said.
Several months ago, the governor proposed a budget including the elimination of the Michigan Business Tax (MBT), creation of a 6 percent Michigan Corporate Income Tax and
permanent spending reductions.
It also included increases to revenue by eliminating tax credits for low-income workers, a
phase-out of most senior tax breaks and elimination of numerous income tax deductions and credits.
“It’s not like we had a system that was working,” Snyder said about Michigan’s business tax, which was ranked the worst in the entire country by several organizations.
“In many respects, these are some fundamental reforms that we’ve needed to do for a long time in Michigan, not just the last few years but for decades. And career politicians haven’t had the conviction or courage to take on these issues, and so I thought it was appropriate to really reinvent Michigan.”
One version of the governor’s proposal adopted by the Senate and the House on Thursday requires residents born after 1946 to pay taxes on retirement income for the first time in years.
Low-income workers will see their tax credit cut by two-thirds and middle class homeowners will lose some tax credits that had previously reduced the pain of property tax bills.
He chose not to cut Medicare reimbursement rates and to better fund child welfare programs.
“I do really care about people in need. … This is a tough job and we do need to make decisions, but that’s one of the things I focused on — the people in greatest need,” Snyder said in response to a caller.
Since the state is expected to collect more tax revenue than originally estimated with
Snyder’s reinvented tax system, educators are hoping cuts to per-student state aid will be far less severe.
“Our (school) system is broken and has been far too focused on money and not enough on student results,” Snyder, who was an adjunct professor for three years, said. “We have 16 percent of our kids that are college-ready on last year’s scores. That’s a failure. But it’s a failure of the system – not the people in the system.”
He suggested a recalibration of the education system to better recognize teachers. This would provide them with better feedback and training as they requested in The American Federation of Teachers Report publicized a month ago. Snyder also mentioned the creation of an incentive program called a ‘master teacher category’ to encourage educators to remain in the field since most leave after 3-4 years.
As far as the rest of the job market is concerned, Gov. Snyder said he would not say which industries he thinks would uphold the state now that the auto industry has slowed down.
“That’s been one of the problems in our government – people picking winners and losers,” he said. “But the focus should be on creating the best environment for free enterprise to work and let those industries figure out how to grow.”
He did, however, express an interest in figuring out how to diversify and develop new industries or promote mature industries like agriculture, the state’s second-largest industry, and manufacturing.
Other issues he touched on included his support for on-shore energy possibilities, not offshore and that Right-to-Work laws are not part of his agenda.