There’s a reason why governors can’t wait to deliver their annual State of the State message. Actually it’s more than one reason.
First and foremost, it’s the only time in the year that a governor can speak to the citizenry unfiltered by the state capitol news hounds. He or she can say whatever and nobody outside the inner circle can alter what is said before it is said. Secondly governor’s can talk as long as they want. Heck former Democratic Gov. Jim Blanchard took almost 90 minutes one year to get his message out much to the chagrin of the assembled lawmakers who sat through part of their lunch hour to hear the governor go on and on.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used up about 43 minutes to deliver her message that the “State of the State is ready to rock!”
She had something in common with those earlier chief executives. She and they did not dwell on, what the media would call controversial bad news. There is a enough doom and gloom out there as it is, so governors, who are upbeat sort of souls to begin with, ignore that and instead they “accentuate the positive” as the old song goes.
There’s not enough room to rehash the new proposals for the new year. But she has a boat load of targeted tax breaks for everyone from senior citizen caretakers, community college students, kids four years and older headed for a free preschool gig, new car buyers, and businesses looking for state aid.
What is worth kicking around is, can she get any of this done between now and this coming April?
The house has 54 D’s and 54 R’s and some in this town believe it will be gridlock from now until the spring when the Democrats supposedly get two house seats putting them back in the driver’s seat for the rest of the year.
But if you know this governor, she is an anxious sort, chomping at the legislative bit to get stuff done and it would be unlike her to sit back, let three months go by and then jump in to get stuff done if she has enough votes to advance her agenda.
Assuming she can hold all of her 54 Democrats, and from issue to issue that could be problematic, but if she can, all she needs is one Republican to join her 54 to get 55 votes to pass her measures.
Can she find one? One knowledgeable source suggests you bet. On any given day there are “under 10” Republicans who are potential crossover voters depending on how she horse trades to corral one vote for what she wants in return.
Does she know how to do that?
Surely you jest. With over 15 years under her belt in the legislature and now as the chief nose counter, she can do that with one armed tied behind her back and no one should be shocked if she does.
So while the “legislature is gridlocked for three months” is a more tantalizing story line for those capitol news hounds to chase, the governor has a chance to write a story line of her own which includes plenty of tax breaks for you, which during this election year, might be the sort of thing the D’s and R’s who are running for reelection might agree on.
