Students planning protest in Lansing

A group of about 1,800 students are expected to protest Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s final State of the State address at 6:30 p.m. today at the Michigan Capitol in Lansing.

The students are led by Warren freshman Ben Lazarus, who said the group is protesting the drop of the Michigan Promise Scholarship and a government unresponsive to the needs of its people.

“We think it’s going to be one of the largest student protests in Michigan history — at least on the Capitol lawn,” he said.

The state-sponsored scholarship provided $4,000 to students attending at least a two-year institution, but was cut from the state budget this fiscal year. Granholm visited CMU’s Charles V. Park Library Auditorium on Nov. 19, pledging to restore funding for the scholarship.

Lazarus organized today’s event through NoBrokenPromise.com, a site dedicated to issues surrounding the Promise.

He used the Web site to gather students from schools across the state.

Lazarus organized the event with the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance and Common Sense in Government, an organization led by Central Michigan University alumna Wendy Day.

The two groups are expected to bring an additional 2,600 people to join the students in protesting.

Day said her organization’s reasons for protesting reach beyond the Michigan Promise Scholarship.

“It’s about our general discontent with our government and the political elite,” Day said. “The students epitomize what’s wrong with our government in that the government is making promises that they probably shouldn’t make and not keeping the promises they should keep.”

Sean House, a member of Common Sense in Government, will speak during the protest. He said unrestrained government taxation has affected him personally.

“They’re spending a lot of money and, every time they run out, they try to tax us more to supplement their budget,” House said. “Government never shrinks. It just keeps growing and growing until it’s out of control, which is where we’re at right now.”

Liz Boyd, the Governor’s press secretary, said Granholm’s State of the State address, which begins at 7 p.m., will focus on issues that matter most to citizens.

“Diversifying the economy, creating jobs, educating our citizens, protecting them during these very difficult times—these are the priorities that are important to Michigan citizens, and these are the priorities that the governor will focus on in her eighth and final state of the state address,” she said.

Boyd would not say whether the Governor will mention the Michigan Promise.