So Mark Schauer (D. MI) revealed his 10-point jobs plan:
http://wkzo.com/...
He calls it "Blueprint, A Plan that Works for Everyone".
It calls for more funding for education, roads and alternative energy to create jobs in those fields.
It also calls for undoing the shifts in the tax burden imposed by the current republican majority.
The plan also calls for some incentive and loan programs to attract new employers to the state and to help entrepreneurs with start-ups of their own.
Schauer says Michigan remains mired with one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, because of Governor Snyder's policies. - WKZO, 7/30/14
Here's some more info:
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/...
Schauer, who also promised to repeal new state taxes on pension income imposed under Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and fully restore the Earned Income Tax Credit, was short on specifics about how he would pay for the programs, saying those details would be laid out in his first state budget.
Schauer did say he would shift spending away from for-profit charter schools, end the use of School Aid Fund money on higher education in favor of K-12 schools, root out government waste and fraud, stop corporate “sweetheart deals” and tax loopholes, and get Michigan a greater share of federal road money.
He said at a news conference at a union training facility in Lansing his plan would create tens of thousands of good jobs. When reporters pointed out that Snyder says more than 250,000 private sector jobs have been created in Michigan since he took office in 2011, Schauer said he doesn’t dispute those numbers but believes most of them are due to the rebound in the automotive industry. He said his own job creation numbers are conservative.
“The best way to create jobs is to grow the economy from the bottom up and the middle out, not from the top down,” Schauer told reporters.
“Rick Snyder’s policies may work for the wealthy, but they don’t work for the rest of Michigan.” - Lansing State Journal, 7/29/14
And here's the real sweet part of the plan:
http://michiganradio.org/...
It also includes boosting the state’s renewable energy, repealing the right to work law, and restoring the tax break for pension income.
Schauer said his economic plan would create tens of thousands of new jobs.
“By rebuilding our infrastructure, raising our renewable energy standard, tough ‘buy Michigan’ standards, by cutting taxes to retirees and working families,” Schauer said, “I think tens of thousands is a conservative estimate.”
Schauer said he would also ban for-profit charter schools and rely less on outside contracts for state services. - Michigan Radio, 7/29/14
Here's a little more info that part of the plan:
http://www.mlive.com/...
Schauer, speaking beside supporters at a Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 333 training facility in Lansing, proposed a 30 by 35 renewable energy standard, meaning that utilities would have to derive at least 30 percent of their annual electric retail sales from clean sources by 2035.
Michigan voters rejected a 25 by 25 standard in 2012, but Schauer suggested that residents were wary because it was a proposed constitutional amendment and may have been overwhelmed by the large number of proposals on the ballot that year.
Utilities are currently on pace to meet a 10 percent standard by 2015, but the Michigan Energy Office and Michigan Public Service Commission have said a 30 by 35 proposal is feasible.
Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has said he would like to have a set of flexible renewable energy goals in place by the end of 2015, when the current standard expires. He does not plan to push for 30 percent by 2035 but has said he would prefer to set “a reasonable range.”
Schauer, who helped author the current standards, said Michigan has the resources and wind capacity to be a leader in renewable energy technology and production.
The Battle Creek Democrat also reiterated his call for an increased investment in education, which he said would better position the state to compete for good jobs. He promised to reverse Snyder’s “devastating cuts” to education, which he pegged at around $1 billion.
That figure has been the source of some controversy in recent months. Snyder has actually increased state-specific funding for the K-12 system, but much of that new money goes to teacher retirement costs rather than the classroom. The governor has also spearheaded a significant investment in early childhood education.
While Schauer has not set a target for increased K-12 spending, running mate Lisa Brown said that, if elected, the administration would require a feasibility study to determine an appropriate level of investment.
Schauer also reiterated the need to fix Michigan roads, calling it an economic issue, but made clear that he would not support increased gas taxes in order to reach needed funding levels, estimated at $1 billion to $2 billion a year.
Instead, Schauer said he would fight to win more infrastructure money from Washington D.C., which is mired in its own road funding debate, and would audit state government to find wasteful spending that could be re-prioritized for things like roads or schools.
The business community, which has seen a large net tax cut under Snyder, must also contribute to a bipartisan road funding solution, Schauer said, also suggesting the need to close tax loopholes.
“What we’ve learned form this Republican-controlled Legislature is that they refused to require heavy trucks that beat up our roads — businesses that got a 1.8 billion tax giveaway — to pay their fair share,” Schauer said.
The 10-point plan also calls for reversing some 2011 tax code changes, creating a “Michigan in-sourcing initiative” to help local businesses lure jobs from other states and countries, expanding lending programs for small businesses and a toughening “Buy Michigan First” policy for state government.
All told, Schauer said he was confident that his plan would create tens of thousands of jobs. While Snyder says the state has added 250,000 private sector jobs since 2011, Schauer argued many of those were due to the auto industry recovery that he supported during his single term in Congress. - MLive, 7/29/14
Now the one thing people have been wondering is if Schauer wins, how will he be able to handle the gerrymandered Republican legislature? Schauer thinks he can manage:
http://michiganradio.org/...
Yet if he does win, how could he get what he wants through the legislature? Democrats have no chance to win a majority in the state senate, and Republicans may well keep the house too.
On this, Schauer thinks he has an edge over both Rick Snyder and Jennifer Granholm, neither of whom ever served in the legislature. “I was there for a dozen years in both the house and senate, and was in the minority for ten of those years."
“You learn how to put together coalitions around common interests,” he said. “A coalition to fix the roads might be a very different coalition from one on economic development.'
“But you’ve got to have relationships, and realize their constituents are my constituents too. And I know how to do that.” - Michigan Radio, 7/29/14
People are waking up and Democrats are coming home. Lets help Schauer pull of an upset victory here. Click here to donate and get involved with Schauer's campaign:
http://markschauer.com/