Subject: What the governor is talking about today
What the Governor’s Talking about
Today
Friday, June 25, 2010
Republican Obstructionism in U.S. Senate
Threatens Thousands of Michigan Families
The governor today said that obstructionism by
Republicans in the U.S. Senate threatens unemployment benefits and federal
Medicaid assistance (FMAP) for thousands of Michigan workers and
families.
Without an extension, the Extended Benefit program
is scheduled to end in Michigan with the program making its final unemployment
benefit payments in the week ending July 3. In addition, the federal
Emergency Unemployment Compensation program has now stopped taking new
claims. Republican opposition in the U.S. Senate has blocked both
unemployment benefits and FMAP from being extended.
“Senate Republicans are turning their backs on
working men and women by saying no to prescription drug coverage and mental
health care for citizens whose lives depend upon those services, by saying no to
paying doctors who treat the poor, by saying no to families who will have a
harder time putting food on the table,” the governor said.
Key messages:
• By the end of next week, more than 87,000
workers will have been cut off from unemployment benefits because of this
stalemate. By the end of July, that number will double, and by the end of
the year the number will exceed 408,000 (people losing benefits or not being
eligible for an extension).
• FMAP is supported by 47 governors.
More than 30 state budgets, proposed by both Republicans and Democrats, are
counting on the FMAP extension to avoid devastating cuts.
• For Michigan, failure to extend FMAP could
create an additional budget shortfall of $500 million. This could mean
cuts to payments to doctors who treat the poor, mental health services,
university funding and funding for local police and fire services.
• Even the budget recently released by
Michigan Senate Republicans relies on an extension of FMAP for their budget to
work.
• Republicans in Congress need to
reconsider. Republicans in Michigan’s congressional delegation and the
Michigan Senate need to help send that message to Washington.
More Than 17,000 School Employees Retire,
Saving Schools $515 Million; Part of Reform Agenda Proposed by
Governor
The governor today announced that 17,063 school
employees have filed for retirement with the state’s Office of Retirement
Services as a result of school employee retirement reforms. Changes to the
Michigan Public School Employees’ Retirement System were among the major reforms
to Michigan government proposed by the governor in January, and she signed
school retirement reform legislation into law on May 19.
Calculations from the State Budget Office estimate that the school
retirement reforms will produce first-year savings of $515 million for school
districts across Michigan.
Ninety-five percent of schools across
the state had employees retire. Of the 17,063 retirement applications
filed, more than 10,000 came from the ranks of teachers and
administrators.
Key messages:
• The number of school retirements is more
than triple what’s typically seen in a given summer.
• The school retirement reforms are working
as we intended: helping resolve the long-term structural imbalance in the School
Aid Fund so we can properly fund K-12 education, and creating thousands of job
opportunities for new teachers just entering the
profession.
Governor Announces Second Round of Winners for
Recovery Act Grants and Loans to Help Michigan’s Small
Manufacturers
The governor today announced that the state of
Michigan will award nine small manufacturers $15 million in grants and $5
million in loans for a total of $20 million through the Clean Energy Advanced
Manufacturing (CEAM) program. Michigan’s CEAM awards, funded by the
federal Recovery Act, are designed to help Michigan businesses diversify into
high-growth, clean-energy industries.
The CEAM award recipients were selected from among
40 applicants representing more than $105 million in proposed projects.
Any for-profit Michigan business with 500 or fewer employees was eligible to
apply.
CEAM funding will allow small Michigan businesses
to diversify into advanced manufacturing of renewable energy systems and
components that will boost the state’s economy, create jobs and reduce reliance
on imported energy.
The second round CEAM award winners are AMPTECH,
Manistee; Great Lakes Industry Gear, Jackson; Grid Logic, Metamora; Heat
Transfer International, Kentwood; Innotec, Zeeland; KC Jones Plating Company,
Warren; Polar Seal Window, Grand Rapids; URV USA, Rochester; and Ventower
Industries, Monroe.
The governor singled out Michigan Senators Carl
Levin and Debbie Stabenow along with key Michigan members of the U.S. House of
Representatives for their leadership in supporting Recovery Act
funding.
“Because Michigan’s congressional leaders stood strong in
support of putting these vital federal resources to work building Michigan’s
economy, we’re now experiencing the positive impact in Michigan communities from
Monroe to Mackinaw City,” the governor said.
The members of
Michigan’s congressional delegation who voted in support of the Recovery Act are
Senator Carl Levin and Senator Debbie Stabenow, and Representatives John Conyers
(D-Detroit), John Dingell (D-Dearborn), Dale Kildee (D-Flint), Carolyn Cheeks
Kilpatrick (D-Detroit), Sander Levin (D-Royal Oak), Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield
Twp.), Mark Schauer (D-Battle Creek) and Bart Stupak (D-Menominee).
Key messages:
• We’re building on Michigan’s long history
of manufacturing know-how to position our state as a leader in renewable and
clean energy. Our Clean Energy Advanced Manufacturing program will help
move Michigan businesses into the clean energy industry, creating hundreds of
jobs while helping the nation reduce its dependence on fossil
fuels.
• In December 2009, five Michigan companies
received $15.5 million in the first round of CEAM awards, allowing them to
expand and create a projected 713 jobs by 2011 and 1,400 by 2014. The five
companies are Astraeus Wind Energy, Eaton Rapids; Energetx Composites, Holland;
Loc Performance Products, Plymouth; LUMA Resources, Rochester Hills; and Merrill
Technologies Group, Saginaw.
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