Governor's radio address discusses state budget, economic stimulus

 LANSING - In her weekly radio address, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today said that in the face of a national recession and new figures on the state's economy, Michigan will endure, revive and prosper through hard work and cooperative effort.  The governor alluded to President Roosevelt's advice, that a time of economic challenge is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly.

"The experts agree that the challenges of the national recession and the auto industry restructuring will continue to hit Michigan hard," Granholm said.  "Simply put, that means Michigan families will continue to face job losses and economic challenges while the state struggles to provide needed services with less revenue, much less revenue."

Granholm emphasized that President-Elect Obama and the new Congress will likely agree on a package of economic stimulus proposals of targeted investments designed to create jobs and help struggling citizens.  The governor added that Michigan will welcome this economic stimulus package and is working tirelessly to prepare to use the funding smartly.

"We have to continue to cut, reform, streamline and downsize," Granholm said.  "In a few weeks, I will present my executive budget recommendation for next year, and it will include a number of measures to help address the on-going economic challenges we face.  By prioritizing wisely, reforming aggressively and investing judiciously, government can help struggling citizens and jumpstart the economy."     

The governor's weekly radio address is released each Friday morning and may be heard on broadcast stations across the state.  The address is available on the governor's Web site at (www.michigan.gov/gov) for download, together with a clip of the quote above.  The radio address is also available as a podcast on the Web site, as well as on iTunes and vi2a RSS feed for general distribution to personal MP3 players and home computers.  Links to the audio files and text of today's address follow.

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm

Radio Address - Budget and Stimulus

Full:  http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/Gov179_Full_261960_7.mp3

Edited:  http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/Gov179_Edit_261961_7.mp3

Quote:  http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/Gov179_Quote_261962_7.mp3

This is Governor Jennifer Granholm.

When President Franklin Roosevelt delivered his first Inaugural Address in 1933, the nation had been suffering through the Great Depression for more than three years.

Financial institutions were failing, homes and farms were being foreclosed, tens of thousands of citizens were losing their jobs each month.

In that speech, President Roosevelt told Americans, "This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly.  Nor should we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today." 76 years later, those words still ring true.

This week, the state's financial experts issued an official economic forecast for this year and next. The experts agree that the challenges of the national recession and the auto industry restructuring will continue to hit Michigan hard. Simply put, that means Michigan families will continue to face job losses and economic challenges while the state struggles to provide needed services with less revenue, much less revenue.

Despite already making more than $130 million in budget cuts this year, we face an additional budget deficit of more than $1 billion that must be addressed in coming months.

Some may argue that the economic stimulus package being debated in Washington will solve these problems for us, but that just is not the case.

President-elect Obama and the new Congress will likely agree on a package of economic stimulus proposals in the coming weeks.  In this package, will be a series of targeted investments designed to create jobs and help struggling citizens.

Make no mistake, Michigan will welcome this economic stimulus package and we are working tirelessly to prepare to use this funding smartly. But no action in Washington can erase, completely, the challenges that states, including Michigan, currently face. We have to continue to cut, reform, streamline and downsize.

In a few weeks, I will present my executive budget recommendation for next year and it will include a number of measures to help address the on-going economic challenges we face. In a time of recession, government cannot be all things to all people … nor should it try.

But by prioritizing wisely, reforming aggressively and investing judiciously, government can help struggling citizens and jumpstart the economy and downsize.

In that same Inaugural Speech, President Roosevelt offered a ray of hope to struggling Americans.  He reminded them that "this great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper." Through hard work and cooperative effort, Michigan, too, will endure, revive and prosper.

Thank you for listening.

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