John Engler on Budget & Economy Former Republican MI Governor

Michigan lagged in 1990s; now restored & renewed

Throughout the ‘90s, after a decade in which Michigan lagged the nation, our goal was to “restore and renew our great state.” We did just that.
• Record cuts in property taxes were combined with record increases in school funding-full funding for every child.
• More than 58,000 children are learning in 183 charter public schools, while 26,000 are benefiting from schools of choice.
• Welfare caseloads are at the lowest levels since the 1960s-down more than 70%.
• With the creation of nearly 900,000 new jobs, unemployment went down from 9.3% in 1991 to 3.4% in 2000, the lowest unemployment rate in Michigan history!
• We are the number one state for new factories, expansion projects and capital investment.
• And Michigan gained nearly 650,000 new residents, the fastest growth since the 1960s and an increase almost 20 times the growth in the previous decade.
• Together, we turned Michigan’s lights back on. You might say we went from watching taillights to welcoming headlights.

Let state meat inspection suffice for interstate shipments.

• WHEREAS, The federal Meat and Poultry Inspection Act prohibits the interstate shipment of state inspected meat and poultry products; and
• WHEREAS, Twenty-five states, including eight in the Midwest, have developed individual state inspection programs for plants which do not currently participate in the interstate shipment of meat and poultry products; and
• WHEREAS, Despite meeting federal requirements enforced through a state program, the lack of federal program approval prohibits these smaller state inspected plants from shipping beef, pork, poultry, sheep, lamb, or goat products in commerce across state lines; and
• WHEREAS, This restriction unfairly and severely limits the smaller plants’ marketing options, particularly in the burgeoning Internet market; and
• WHEREAS, The Midwestern Governors strongly support meat and poultry inspection plans that protect public health; now therefore be it
• RESOLVED, That the Midwestern Governors urge Congress to pass legislation that removes this unfair marketing barrier but continues to insure safe meat and poultry products.

Foster dairy production that is market driven.

• WHEREAS, the Federal Milk Marketing Order System was created in 1937 to provide economic incentives to dairy farmers in order to provide sufficient fresh fluid milk for all Americans; and
• WHEREAS, the Federal Milk Marketing Order System has served its original purpose and the creation of the Interstate Highway System and refrigeration trucks have allowed fresh fluid milk to be easily transported throughout the country; and
• WHEREAS, studies show that dairy producers in the Midwest have comparative advantages that allow them to produce products more economically than dairy producers in other regions, yet under current conditions, our family dairy farmers and our states’ dairy infrastructure are at risk; and
• WHEREAS, the dairy industries in our states provide a vital underpinning of our states’ economies; and
• WHEREAS, the United States Department of Agriculture should foster dairy production that is market driven; and
• WHEREAS, the 1996 Farm Bill charged the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to substantially reform and simplify the Federal Milk Marketing Order System; and
• WHEREAS, regional pricing solutions, such as compacts, could impede efforts to promote a market-oriented system and erect barriers to the export of dairy products from our states; now therefore be it
• RESOLVED, that the United States Department of Agriculture move forward to implement a new, streamlined system that more closely reflects the true national dairy market and that does not provide an unjustified pricing advantage or disadvantage to any region of the country.