In the state of Michigan this year there is a nine hundred and twenty thousand dollar deficit in the government budget. Our governor Jennifer Granholm proposed a plan to save money by cutting large percentages of funding for many programs and delaying our tax cuts from coming in for an extra six months. The plan will cut funding to our educational and environmental programs such as the Michigan State University Cooperative Extension, the arts council, K-12 education, the MEAP incentive and higher education. Gov. Granholm's plan, if accepted will prove to be a larger problem than solution. The aftermath of these budget changes will show that illiterate, uneducated people mixed with an unsafe atmosphere can be disastrous.
The Michigan State University Cooperative Extension (MSU Extension) is often unheard of. Funds go to a variety of programs including 4H and the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station. The MSU Extension also tackles issues such as nutritional and adult education, animal and wildlife safety, and supports land preservation programs. Our crop reserve programs provide money for landowners to keep the soil, plants and animals healthy and safe. The plan suggests that this is not necessary and the twenty eight point six million dollars would be better placed in another area. Gov. Granholm would not be cutting only a small percent, but one hundred percent of the funding for the MSU Extension. Without these programs many farmers would not have the money to keep their crops growing and the wildlife sanctuaries would cease to exist. But then again is keeping our environment safe and protected really a priority. It sure doesn't look that way.
The arts programs have been facing financial problems since 1992 when the state discontinued their funds by seventy five percent with promises that as soon as the economy went back up, so would the amount in their checkbook. That was twelve years ago.
