CORE PRINCIPLES

We all know that catch phrase but apparently Governor Granholm doesn’t. In 2006 three state departments overspent their budget violating the Michigan Constitution. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy requested that these departments regularly release detailed expenditure reports to the public, much like the Department of State does.

To make matters worse a just released audit of Department of Human Services (DHS), one of the three departments that overspent in 2006, has found over $147 million in overpaid childcare funds. The audit report goes on to suggest that the overspending could be much more than $147 million because 47 childcare providers failed to respond to their request for information. This audit was released just one week after it was reported that DHS paid sex offenders to provide childcare.

The state of Michigan last fall had one of the largest tax increases in history that continues to burden the residents and business owners of this state. Michigan is facing tough times but it’s not a lack of revenue that is the problem, it is a spending problem. That is why last year I introduced HB 5137 that would create a searchable database listing all state expenditures to help eliminate wasteful spending much like it has in other states. This is not a partisan issue; at the Federal level the two major sponsors were Senator Obama D-(IL) and Senator Coburn R-(OK) at opposite ends of the political spectrum.

Perhaps Governor Granholm has something to hide in these three budgets…after all 2006 was an election year.

--Jack Hoogendyk