We must face facts: three decades of cuts to public programs, services haven’t inspired growth or excellence

LANSING – The Growing Michigan Together Council has released its recommendations for future growth and prosperity, and one thing is clear: to accomplish the goal of making Michigan a top-10 state by 2050, we must have more revenue for quality schools, transit, clean air and water, and other public goods that make communities a desirable place to live. 

The recommendations from the council, which Gov. Whitmer assembled earlier this year to brainstorm potential solutions to boost the state’s stagnant population, came after months of research, public comment, and discussions with policy experts. 

Fund MI Future Executive Director MoReno Taylor II said he felt encouraged that the council’s recommendations include a significant structural funding overhaul in order to reverse decades of disinvestment in schools, infrastructure, public transportation, and other programs and services that entice young professionals to put down roots and make a community their home. He said he looks forward to hearing more details on how to raise revenue and offered his diverse coalition’s help to policymakers.

“We know from the Education Trust report that Michigan’s K-12 school funding is already short roughly $4.5 billion each year,” Taylor added. “And that’s just schools; we have other pressing funding needs that we can’t continue to ignore. Since we can’t just print money, how do we get more revenue? We reform our tax structure to be more equitable so everyday Michiganders don’t pay the same tax rate as millionaires and billionaires. Rather than allowing wealthy corporations to rig the rules in their favor so they get endless tax breaks, we must demand that they pay their fair share so we can create communities where working families flourish.”

Imani Foster, the Director of Research and Communications for the nonprofit 482Forward and member of the Fund MI Future coalition, served on the GMTC’s PK-12 workgroup. She said she feels optimistic about Michigan’s future if the council’s recommendations are implemented.

“It was an honor to be a part of the Growing Michigan Together Council and hear so many bold ideas coming from the workgroups,” Foster said. “Those of us working in education have known for a long time that we’re in dire need of more revenue to undo the damage caused by constant budget cuts. Michigan has the potential to offer so much to young families like mine – housing that is more affordable than many parts of the country, good-paying jobs in high-growth industries like electric vehicle development; one of the nation’s longest coastlines and beautiful beaches – but if we can’t get the busses to run on time, or find care for our kids, or offer the opportunity for a good public education, our state’s unique attributes risk going to waste.”

The GMTC’s recommendations reflect the idea that the state needs dramatic systemic reforms to get back to being a top state for education, as it once was. Despite an educational system once ranked among the top states in the country, Michigan is now in the bottom ten. 

Michigan residents have the fifth-lowest tax burden of any state in the nation, yet many in the state’s corporate community insist that Michigan must continue cutting taxes to be prosperous, Taylor said, adding that the state actually needs more revenue if it wants to enact the GMTC’s recommendations. New polling out this week from EPIC-MRA found that 82% of Democrats support creating a graduated income tax, and 60% of Independents and GOP women feel the same.

“We know we need to fix things like K-12 education and transit to lure people to Michigan, and that requires more revenue,” Taylor noted. “Michiganders understand that we need more money to invest in their communities and families. Just last month, we polled a cross-section of state residents and found that a majority supports raising taxes on the wealthy to generate more revenue. That support number jumped to 70 percent once the stakes were fully explained to voters. Business leaders should get on board and support the revenue increases that their customers are demanding.”

Fund MI Future is a joint effort of grassroots community organizations, labor unions, and policy/research experts working to create shared prosperity for all Michiganders by fully and equitably funding our public services like schools, roads, and clean water.

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