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by Tim Skubick
May 22, 2009

“Chicken Little” is alive and well at the state Capitol, because every special interest group is crying out: “The sky is falling.”

First there was an Executive Order that sliced $300 million out of state services on top of the $4 billion in cuts from previous years. Then the prediction that next year the state would have 1.7 billion fewer dollars to spend on services — and that did not factor in an extended bankruptcy for General Motors and or Chrysler.

In response, the Michigan Municipal League rattled off a press release suggesting “…many cities are teetering on the edge of financial collapse” and the state needs to do something to “not push them into bankruptcy.”

Earlier, local public health departments griped that the cuts are “putting all Michigan citizens at risk, especially our most vulnerable.”

The guy who runs the association for school business officers predicts more districts will be pushed to the edge of insolvency…and on and on it goes.

The crying and gnashing of teeth over more state budget cuts are so loud the governor and lawmakers will need earplugs to drown out the noise.

So what will they do?

First, they will cut more services.

And when the pain gets unbearable, somebody in the Granholm administration and/or the legislature will finally step up and suggest the state needs more revenue.

Some outside groups have already gone there.

The Michigan Education Association, always on the prowl for more bucks for teachers, trotted out a study suggesting that if the state eliminated some useless business tax breaks, it could painlessly raise millions of dollars for other state services.

Close behind the MEA was a coalition of 30 groups demanding the closing of tax loopholes and some sort of general tax hike to get more money flowing into state coffers.

At this read, those calls are falling on legislative deaf ears.

But an inside source who is monitoring the Granholm administration whispers about “waiting two months” and then look for some move to raise more revenue to avert more Draconian budget cuts.

Here’s the problem for Gov. Granholm et. al. The $4 billion in previous service cuts was never really felt by everyone. Sure, little groups here and there took a hit, but their protests were never heard by the rest of the state.

It was not until the governor recommended the elimination of 100 state troopers that the lazy television media woke up to cover that story and disseminated it to a larger audience, which immediately came unglued.

Fears of the crime rate going up got everyone’s attention.

The lesson was learned. Look for more visible budget cuts in the future that will grab even more headlines and produce even more “fear” in the citizenry.

Then and only then will the grassroots demand something other than budget cuts. But knowing this state, there’s a good chance the grass root protests won’t materialize.

In reality, there are methods to raise money without a general tax hike, which is the least popular option as the Michigan House and Senate move into another election cycle next year.

But currently, only the Chicken Littles in town are making the case for that. Everyone else has those earplugs firmly in place.

Tim Skubick is Michigan’s senior Capitol correspondent and has anchored the weekly public TV series “Off the Record” since 1972.

Tim Skubick Extra Extra… (A weekly bonus for Dome readers)

Save the Troopers
It is looking more and more as if the 104 state troopers slated for the unemployment line will not end up there.

Lawmakers two weeks ago asked the Michigan State Troopers Association to take time off without pay to save the jobs. That is now on hold in favor of Plan B.

Plan B involves using Obama bucks to save the jobs.

Here’s the inside skinny on what’s coming down.

Look for a move to call on the Granholm administration to rewrite its request for federal money from the so-called COPS program.

At first, the governor’s office feared it could not do that. But the trooper union produced the federal administrator who wrote the program, and he reassured everyone it could be done.

So here’s the plan: resubmit the request redirecting some of the federal dollars for the 104 state troopers; speed up the release of the funds from September 1st to June 28th, just in time to avert the July 1 layoff date; and when the jobs are saved the White House will get a ton of positive publicity.

You can see the headlines now: Obama Bucks Save 100 Trooper Jobs. Film at 11.

It’s the proverbial win-win-win for the troopers, for the state and for the president.

Anticipating more trooper layoffs next year, you should also look for pressure on the governor to sign a repeal of the mandatory motorcycle helmet law, which she has opposed since day one.

Under the plan, the state would raise $15 million from bikers who would have to pay the state to remove their brain buckets. The money could go to the troopers, if the governor can be convinced to sign the bill.

As one source put it, without the money there won’t be the cops to police the helmet law in the first place.

Granholm Has a Record
Those promoting Gov. Jennifer Granholm for the U.S. Supreme Court suggest she has a leg up on those with a judicial record because she doesn’t have one of her own. That makes it tougher for opponents to find something to criticize.

That may be true, but boy oh boy does she have a political record that will set tongues wagging on both the right and the left.

10 Commandments. She flip-flopped on showcasing the 10 Commandments in the state Capitol. First she was for it. But when word got to the ACLU that she was, within two days her office “clarified,” saying that when she said that she was speaking, not as a governor, but as a private citizen.

If that was the case, why didn’t she say that in the first place?

Gay rights. The governor is for them and has hired any number of gay persons on her staff, but she opposes gay marriage while supporting gay unions.

Guns. She made no friends with the powerful National Rifle Association when she staunchly opposed the expansion of Michigan’s concealed weapons law. She predicted a Wild Wild West scenario but had to recant and admit she was wrong when shootings did not increase.

Medical marijuana. As a former prosecutor she opposed the ballot proposal that has become a cause celebre for the liberal left.

Affirmative action. She led the charge with a variety of civil rights groups to preserve it on our college campuses. She lost as the vast majority of voters said yes to the ban.

Abortion. Other candidates for the U.S. Supreme Court have skirted a direct answer because “the case may come before me down the road.” This would-be candidate can’t say that, as she is clearly for the woman’s right to choose but opposes abortion herself.

That stance has gotten her into Dutch with her own Catholic Church.

Empathy. Mr. Obama says he is looking for that in his choice. That is Ms. Granholm’s middle name, and conservatives can hardly wait to blast her for that, if she gets this long-shot nomination.