Gov. Rick Snyder to discuss ‘report card’ for Michigan at first State of State address

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Rick Snyder’s inaugural State of the State address Wednesday has heads of public programs shaking in their boots with financial cuts expected across the board, particularly in higher education.

The governor will announce his plans to evaluate the state’s programs during the address, which begins at 7 p.m. One specific item Snyder will discuss in his speech is a report card he will use for evaluation of state programs.

“We are in a crisis,” Snyder told Central Michigan Life at Monday’s CommUNITY Peace March and Vigil in Mount Pleasant, “but we are going to work our way out of this by being proactive and aggressive and addressing our challenges, and laying out a road map.”

The report card will rank how state programs are doing and be utilized to measure improvement in the specified areas.

Snyder, who has served as governor for 19 days, faces much speculation going into his first State of the State address, said Bill Ballenger, former Griffin Endowed Chair and editor of Inside Michigan Politics.

“People are waiting to see whether the new governor comes out with something substantive and concrete,” Ballenger said.

Snyder is delivering the speech about 10 days earlier than usual, Ballenger said, compared to Granholm. Snyder said he’s delivering the speech early because he wants to send the right message.

Ballenger said to watch and see if Snyder will address the budget crisis or give a more optimistic tone, as former Gov. Jennifer Granholm did during her eight years in office.

“All the ugly, nasty stuff people don’t like to hear she didn’t want to use her State of the State to deliver,” he said. “She waited for her budget director to come out with the grim news a couple days later.”

University President George Ross will attend as a guest of state Rep. Kevin Cotter, R-Mount Pleasant.