Sharon Parks
Webster defines “dog days” as a period of stagnation and inactivity. It’s the day after the start of the summer, and in Lansing it already feels like the dog days of summer.
Michigan is 100 days away from the new fiscal year, and we don’t appear close to having a budget. There is no agreement as to how to close the gap between revenues and expenditures; targets haven’t been set, and the whole process appears stalled. Meanwhile, we creep closer to campaign season when there’s little likelihood of rational policymaking.
Monday’s Spotlight on Poverty, a national online source for news, ideas and action, focuses on the importance of federal aid and a balanced approach to state revenues, rather than cuts, as the immediate short-term solution to state budget problems. The article highlights the difficulty that many families and individuals have in making ends meet, and cites the harm of continued state budget cuts.
In Michigan this is particularly true. While we moved last month to No. 2 in the nation’s unemployment rate, we still have a long road ahead of us. That journey could be made easier if policymakers would get over their fear of the “t” word and tackle the important job of overhauling our tax structure. Wishing doesn’t make it so; action is needed now rather than later.
– Sharon Parks
