Granholm: budget recommendations will include Michigan Promise Scholarship

Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced in her final State of the State address Wednesday that her executive budget recommendations for the year ahead will include the Michigan Promise Scholarship.

Before a joint session of the Michigan Senate and House of Representatives, she stressed an investment in higher education was a prerequisite to create jobs and reduce the state’s jobless rate – currently at 14.6 percent.

“Today’s jobs demand a college degree or technical training and that’s why it made absolutely no sense to take away the promise scholarship,” she said.

The program was cut last fall amid Michigan lawmakers’ efforts to balance the state budget. Granholm will present all of her budget recommendations Feb. 11.

Granholm also said, in addition to identifying creative ways to pay for the promise scholarship, she will “draw the line against additional education cuts in the year ahead” and will identify incentives for college graduates to stay in Michigan.

However, the Jan. 11 Revenue Estimating Conference indicated the state deficit for the 2011 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, will be $1.725 billion.

“There’s less money and less tax dollars for the state to use on spending programs for things like higher education, like where you go to school, and that in turn can slow our recovery in future years,” said Bill Ballenger, editor of Inside Michigan Politics and former Endowed Griffin Chair at Central Michigan University.

Ballenger said, whether “practically speaking” the promise scholarship is restored or not remains to be seen.

Rep. Bill Caul, R-Mount Pleasant, said the promise scholarship will not be restored unless the legislature reduces revenues in other areas to create real cost savings that free up real dollars.

He said the goal would be to create discretionary funds by cutting irrelevancies from the budget instead of shifting money between departments.

Freeing up revenue will unite legislators, Caul said, so they may provide for the programs they feel are priorities.

“And certainly that means educational, which along with that means the promise, and being able to fund that for students wanting to get into college and community colleges,” he said.