This November, many students will cast their votes and have a voice in who will be the next president of the United States. Besides just voting, students across campus have taken active roles in organizations and campaigns to help elect the candidate they support. Yes, the presidential election this November is very important. There are many national issues the next president will be expected to solve. However, among all of the hustle and bustle of the presidential election, many students seem to forget the crisis our state government is facing, and the decisions of our state government will more directly affect the students of MSU than the decisions of the federal government.
It comes without a surprise to hear our state will once again be facing another deficit. For the past few years, Michigan has unfortunately become accustomed to hearing this sort of news from their state government, and just as the news of a budget deficit is commonplace, so is the idea of “solving” the deficit through tax increases. The state government claims the tax increases will solve our deficit. However, Michigan has also become accustomed to the tax increases failing to solve our deficits.
There is little difficulty in understanding the reasoning behind the failure of tax increases. The revenue the tax increases are supposed to bring in is determined by the current population of Michigan. Unfortunately, more people are leaving Michigan than the number of people moving in, and as a result, the taxes do not bring in the expected revenue. The population at the time the taxes are taken is actually lower than when the taxes were implemented and the revenues were estimated — this results in a deficit.
The state government continues to tax those who do not have much left. Those who have remained in Michigan are obviously committed to the state and want to see it turn around; however, they have been taxed too much and are tired of seeing the tax increases fail. It is time for the state government to take a new approach, to re-examine what is a necessity and a luxury, and finally learn that, in tough times, the luxuries must be cut.
The youth need to take action and tell the state government that the years of tax increases have not worked. Even if you plan on leaving Michigan upon your graduation from MSU, you still have a stake in the state government’s decisions. Besides your very own tuition dollars, MSU is greatly dependent upon funding from the state government, and the amount of money the state government allocates for MSU is determined each year in its budget.
For those of us who hope to have a job in Michigan upon graduation, we have even more at stake. Besides a high unemployment rate, Michigan has a very weak business atmosphere. The taxes are continually being placed upon those who operate their own small business. Furthermore, as most can see, no large corporations are rushing to relocate to Michigan due to our unfriendly business climate.
The details of Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s proposed budget are online and accessible to everybody. There is a lot of “fat” within the governor’s proposed budget, from funding countless programs to the many unnecessary bureaucratic jobs in state departments. The details of the budget talk about how there is increased funding or how there will need to be funding for new programs the governor wants to create. While the governor’s intentions seem great, she has forgotten that Michigan is in an economic crisis, a time to actually cut spending and save money instead of finding new ways to spend it.
It is time for us, the youth of Michigan, to let our state government know we have an interest in the future of Michigan. The state government needs to know the policies they have implemented in the past are not turning Michigan around nor are they bringing the jobs we dream about having after our countless hours of studying in the library. It is time for our voices to be heard and for us to address the issues of the state government with the same passion and energy we are putting into the presidential election.
Louie Glinzak is a State News columnist and press secretary for the MSU College Republicans. Reach him at glinzak@msu.edu.
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