Tagged: state of the state 2012

Governor Rick Snyder is in for a long night if he plans on answering ALL of the questions submitted for his "online town hall" tonight.

More than 3,500 have been submitted, according to Snyder's staff.

He's a sampling of some of the questions that have been posted recently:

• Hamtramck is charging Officer $900 a month for healthcare permitted under Act 152. Was this your intent?
• Will you please make high-speed commuter rail between Ann Arbor and Detroit a priority?
• You say Michigan has a surplus so why are so many people still losing their jobs? And why is Detroit in debt?
• Why did college students lose food assistance, including the disabled taking online classes? Inhuman to me.
• How do you feel about the potential legalization of marijuana? This could create potential jobs.

More on the 6 p.m. online town hall from the Associated Press:

Thousands of Michigan residents have sent in questions for Gov. Rick Snyder as he prepares for his first online town hall.

The Republican governor has scheduled an online discussion on his Facebook page beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Snyder spokeswoman Sara Wurfel says more than 3,500 questions have been posted on Facebook and Twitter and on the state website. Questions also can be called in during the town hall.

The governor says he wants to discuss the initiatives he talked about in Tuesday's State of the State address. Besides the 45-minute online town hall, he's also participating in a televised town hall Friday afternoon at Detroit Public Television studios in Wixom.

Snyder has held more than 100 town hall meetings since he began running for governor in 2009.

Governor Snyder’s state of the state speech last night didn’t provoke the kind of excitement it did a year ago.

And that’s not necessarily bad. In fact, it demonstrated two things; a grasp of political reality, and responsible common sense. Last year was one of revolutionary change in the way state government does business. The governor proposed a series of breathtaking programs and far-reaching changes.

To the astonishment of the experts, he got pretty much everything he wanted through the legislature, with one exception -- the New International Trade Crossing bridge.

(We are having problems with the "audio processing" file above. Please use the second link.)

In his second State of the State address, Governor Rick Snyder did not spend a lot of time talking about the environment. But he did say that agriculture, tourism, mining and the timber industry are key to the state’s future.

He also talked about his push to overhaul the state’s regulatory system.

“So far we’ve rescinded nearly 400 obsolete, confusing and burdensome regulations.”

Now... those 400 regulations are not all environmental. But Governor Snyder did call out one set of rules that was on the books.

“The Department of Environmental Quality has 28 separate requirements for outhouses, including a requirement that the seat not be left up.”

The governor got big laughs - it was the best punch line of the evening. But of course, there’s a serious undertone to the Governor’s plans for overhauling the way the state regulates businesses.

As we've been reporting, Governor Snyder delivered his second State of the State address last night. Here's a roundup of what various political reporters and pundits are saying about the speech this morning:

• Tom Walsh: Snyder's a little short on specifics to solve state's problems, Detroit Free Press
• Rochelle Riley: Improving education has to be Snyder's Job One, Detroit Free Press
• Editorial: Snyder sets right tone for 2012, The Detroit News
• Southwest Michigan Republicans pleased with Gov. Rick Snyder's State of the State address, Democrats want more details, The Kalamazoo Gazette
• Gov. Rick Snyder: Crime, obesity statistics unacceptable, but state can build on education, tax reforms, The Grand Rapids Press
• Some of Gov. Snyder's 2012 proposals face tough tests, The Associated Press
• Snyder's second State of the State address: Nothing 'sexy,' few details, practical prescription, Crain's Detroit Business

And, over at annarbor.com, they've posted some photos from the address.

Governor Rick Snyder said in his State of the State speech last night that he wants to make sure all kids in Michigan who graduate from high school are ready for college or advanced job training.

Democratic state lawmakers say the policies the governor has supported so far have hurt that goal.

The governor says he thinks a handful of education proposals that stalled last year would strengthen the state’s education system. He says he would like to see those measures approved this year; including more online learning, and better funding for early childhood education.

Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer says she was not impressed. “He spent 48 minutes talking about last year. We know what happened last year; they picked corporations over kids every time. What we need is a bold vision," Whitmer says.

Whitmer says it was a mistake last year to cut school and university funding. She wishes the governor would have acknowledged a Democratic proposal to ensure all kids who graduate from high school in Michigan receive tuition grants from the state.