Radio Address : Economy, Jobs Continue to be Top Priority
This week’s radio address focuses on the need for the Legislature to finish work on the economic stimulus package that will bring jobs and investment to Michigan.
This is Governor Jennifer Granholm.
You may have heard earlier this week that Michigan’s unemployment rate took a big jump in the month of May. As new job seekers – many of them young people – entered the work force, they weren’t able to find the jobs they were looking for, pushing our unemployment rate to over 8 percent.
While any increase in the unemployment rate is unacceptable, Michigan can’t escape the effects of $4-a-gallon gas, contraction in the automotive sector, and the sub-prime lending crisis that’s battering the national economy. The national jobless rate also soared in May, increasing by more in a single month than any time in more than 20 years.
As governor, I draw only one conclusion from this economic news: Every day that we delay in enacting an economic stimulus package in Michigan is a day that is hurting Michigan families.
In January, when I delivered my State of the State address, I asked the Legislature to take swift action on a series of measures that could promote economic growth and create the jobs that we need in Michigan. Almost five months later, we’ve made some real progress, and we’ve seen genuine bipartisan cooperation in Lansing. But we need to do more, and we need to do it now.
Lawmakers in both parties have worked together to enact incentives that are bringing the film- making industry and its good-paying jobs to Michigan. They have supported an expansion of our business and tourism marketing campaigns to bring new visitors and new employers to Michigan. And we have taken important steps to make sure the emerging alternative energy industry takes root in Michigan.
This week, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation announced a series of new company incentives that brings the total number of jobs created this year to almost 22,000. But in the light of our latest economic news, we need to do more – relentlessly.
We need energy legislation that will help keep utility rates affordable in the future and bring alternative energy companies and tens of thousands of new jobs to Michigan. We need to finalize approval of necessary building projects at community colleges, universities, and airports that will put people to work in construction jobs across Michigan.
These are all steps that will create a stronger economy in Michigan; an economy that can produce the jobs we need.
Whenever we see an increase in the jobless rate in Michigan, we need to think of the hardship it can represent for our neighbors, our friends and our relatives. And then we need to get back to work to do all we can to bring more good-paying jobs to Michigan.
Thank you for listening.
Governor Granholm and Speaker Andy Dillon released a statement earlier this week that called for continuing bipartisan support for moving both the energy legislation package and the capital outlay bills – you can read that statement here.
