What the Governor’s Talking about This
Week
Friday, Aug. 28, 2009
Governor Says New State Resource Offers a Helping Hand
On Wednesday the governor unveiled Helping Hand, a streamlined state Web
site that will help the unemployed and others enduring economic hardship to
easily find programs and services that may assist them.
By going to www.michigan.gov/helpinghand, people will see five color tabs labeled jobs and
training, unemployment benefits, health care, family support and housing. By clicking on those five tabs, people
will find links to programs and services for their particular areas of
need.
The state is partnering with Michigan Association of United Ways and
Michigan Community Action Agency Association to help the many thousands of
people facing economic hardship.
Helping Hand provides links to 2-1-1, the United Way system
that connects people with local information and resources. Community action agencies also are
pitching in by introducing people visiting agency offices to Helping Hand. Staff at community action agencies and
United
Way’s 2-1-1 also can help people fill out forms for
the assistance they’re seeking.
Talking points:
- Part of the Granholm administration’s effort to
streamline government is to use technology. If someone is seeking service, it
is much easier to access it online.
- For the first time, people can now apply for
food assistance online — they don’t have to visit a Department of Human
Services office. By answering a
few questions online, people can determine if they qualify for additional
assistance such as Medicaid.
- People also can file for unemployment benefits
online, and contact a homeownership counselor if facing foreclosure.
- Helping Hand is just the latest in a series of
actions the Granholm administration has taken to protect and better serve
Michigan
citizens during these tough economic times. They include asking Congress to extend
unemployment benefits, boosting staffing levels at state unemployment offices
to speed up service, enrolling more than 88,000 people for job training
through the No Worker Left Behind program, enacting a new state law giving
homeowners an extra 90 days to prevent foreclosure, and calling on auto
insurance companies to freeze rates for 12 months.
Granholm Administration Working to Bring High-Speed Rail
to Michigan
The governor on Monday rode an Amtrak train from Dearborn to Jackson to
spotlight the state’s application for up to $800 million in Recovery Act funds
to help bring high-speed rail service to a corridor stretching from Pontiac to
Detroit and Chicago.
The $800 million would be used for track and train control improvements,
corridor acquisition and construction or renovation of train stations. Long-term work on the high-speed
corridor could create up to 10,000 jobs in Michigan.
Talking points:
- The Granholm administration is committed to
bringing high-speed rail service to Michigan because of its benefits for
citizens. High-speed rail will
enhance our transportation system, create jobs and spur economic development,
and reduce air- pollutant emissions.
- The vision is high-speed rail service that’s
fast, frequent, reliable, safe and secure, and that uses modern equipment
which makes arriving and departing convenient. The goal is to shorten the time it
takes to travel from Detroit to Chicago to four hours and
increase the frequency of that trip to nine times a day.
- High-speed rail offers many potential benefits
to Michigan
communities. These include
increased economic development around train stations, better linkage among
colleges and universities, and a new way for tourists to travel to the Henry
Ford complex in Dearborn.
Galesburg Visit Highlights Eaton Corporation’s Role in Building
Hybrid-Electric Vehicles
On Thursday the governor visited Eaton Corporation in Galesburg to highlight the
company’s key role in a $45.4 million advanced-battery award by the U.S.
Department of Energy to the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Michigan led the nation earlier this month
with the announcement of 12 awards totaling more than $1.35 billion in federal
grants for advanced-battery and electric-vehicle manufacturing and
development.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District is working to develop a
plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle (PHEV) system for medium-duty utility and
delivery trucks and shuttle buses, including 387 PHEV Ford F-550 utility bucket
trucks to be placed in 50 utility and municipal fleets around the country. Eaton Corporation will produce the
hybrid power systems for the trucks.
Talking points:
- Funding for the federal grants for
advanced-battery and electric-vehicle manufacturing and development comes from
the Recovery Act.
- The grants awarded for the 12 Michigan projects are
estimated to create 6,800 jobs in the next 18 months and up to 40,000 jobs by
2020.
- Advanced battery manufacturing is one of the
targeted sectors in the Granholm administration’s strategic plan to diversify
Michigan’s
economy. The administration has been working since 2006 to establish an entire
advanced-battery industry in the state, creating new economic activity and new
jobs.
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