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 Article of Interest - Proposal A

Granholm Clarifies 'Tweak'; Wants Arbitration for Teachers
from MIRS, September 5, 2002
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Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jennifer GRANHOLM said she does not favor giving school districts more leverage in calling for millage elections and her “tweaking Proposal A” comments have been distorted by her Republican opponent Dick POSTHUMUS.

Speaking to reporters after a tour of the Capitol Area Michigan Works! Office in Lansing, Granholm said the changes she'd make to Proposal A would mean allowing school districts to float low-interest bonds to fix their buildings and update their technology.

“You can't lift children up in schools that are falling down and you can't prepare the workforce for tomorrow with the technology of yesterday,” Granholm said.

Posthumus and Republicans have attacked Granholm on her comments that Proposal A needs to be “tweaked” so school districts can receive “more resources” as a backdoor of saying she wants to give districts more freedom in calling school millage elections and raising property taxes. Granholm said this “lie” has been perpetrated by the Posthumus campaign.

“I'm not interested in going back to a property tax-based way of funding our schools,” she said. “I've said local schools should have the flexibility to access additional funds. I wasn't talking about property taxes, I was talking about them being able to borrow at low interest rates for capital improvements through a state bond issue or educational foundations, which would allow for local parents or businesses to donate and get a tax credit.”

This definition of "tweak" comes months after the issue was first raised and appears to be a major revision of Granholm's previous statements which tended to be less specific and open to interpretation. This change could be interpreted as a signal that Granholm's campaign sees the "tweak" Proposal A issue as a potential winner for Posthumus and is moving to nullify it before it has a chance to really resonate.

"This is just her latest definition of 'tweak,'" Posthumus spokesman Sage EASTMAN told MIRS. "On numerous occasions she has talked about tweaking Proposal A. Low interest loans have nothing to do with Proposal A. Either she didn't know what she was talking about then, she doesn't know what she is talking about now, or she really does want to raise property taxes."

Granholm also said she supports binding arbitration for teachers as opposed to simply repealing the teachers strike sanctions put in place during the Gov. John ENGLER administration. She said that giving teachers the ability to call in an arbitrator to handle disputes gives them leverage at the bargaining table and keeps them from going on strike.

When asked if this would create situations where school districts would have to find additional revenue, Granholm said, “maybe, maybe not.”

“Arbitration means there are two sides and there is some leverage so people feel like they have some ability to bargain,” she said.

Voters will decide in November whether binding arbitration should be expanded for state employees, a proposal (02-3) that Granholm supports and Posthumus opposes. The Senate Fiscal Agency today reported that if the current trends hold true, the arbitration proposal would cost the state between $30-$60 million starting in Fiscal Year 2005 (see related story).

Engler made note of Granholm's position on binding arbitration during a talk with reporters in August, saying, “I point out to local government, if there is binding arbitration for state employees, binding arbitration for public school employees — one step behind is binding arbitration for all local government employees. A binding arbitration world would be a pretty lousy world to be in.”
 

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NOTE: (ALL RESOURCES PRE-IDEA 2004 ARE FOR INFORMATIONAL/HISTORICAL RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY)