Senator Nancy Cassis :: 15th District

Senate Republican Priorities
and Achievements

Budget: Right-sizing government and Growing Michigan's Economy

The first step to government's economic recovery is an honest acknowledgement of the crisis. Denial is no longer an option, and reliance on tired old solutions and political rhetoric will not change our fortunes. Staying the course is only going to make matters worse and prolong our journey to the road to recovery. (more)

Elimination of MBT Surcharge

Senate Republicans sent a message this year to Michigan job providers to let them know how important they are to re-energizing our state's economy. We encouraged them to keep their businesses here with our recent passage of a bill to eliminate the onerous Michigan Business Tax surcharge. Senate Bill 1 phases out the 21.99 percent MBT surcharge over a two-year period - cutting the surcharge by half to 11 percent in 2009 and eliminating it by 2010. (more)

Workforce Training and Jobs

With our state's unemployment rate nearly 50 percent higher than the rest of the country, we must do everything we can to help put people back to work and facilitate job creation. Michigan has been in a one-state recession for the past six years and our state's economy is undergoing a change that is fundamental and long lasting. As this process plays out, the need to have a trained and capable workforce will grow and remain a top consideration for employers and entrepreneurs deciding where they want to locate. (more)

Health Care Reforms

Currently, Michigan is home to an estimated 1.1 million residents who do not have health insurance, which is equal to 11.5 percent of the state's population. This number is likely to increase unless the economy improves.

Michigan Senate Republicans understand many residents are afraid that they may not be able to afford health insurance. In the last legislative session we tried to address these concerns before they became an issue for the people of Michigan, but unfortunately, the House did not agree. (more)

Eliminate Bureaucracy

Senate Republicans will continue to do everything to make our state a leader in the nation for job growth. One of the most important factors a business considers when deciding where to locate or expand its operations is the time, cost, and ease of compliance associated with a state's regulatory climate.

Senate Republicans will continue our fight to eliminate bureaucracy and make Michigan an inviting place to do business. We will work with job providers to reform the regulatory structure in Michigan and to put pressure on the administration when the actions of a department are costing us precious jobs. (more)

An Agenda for Strong Schools

Senate Republicans firmly believe that the success of our great state will depend almost entirely on whether Michigan has the kind of education system that provides our children and future generations with the skills to succeed in the fiercely competitive and ever-evolving global economy. Literally and figuratively, we simply cannot afford an education model that has grown out of a 20th century industrial and agrarian society. Just as we must diversify our economy, we must challenge ourselves to innovate and to create a diverse and comprehensive approach to educating our children. We are focused and committed to a long-range plan to build strong schools that reflect a dynamic, efficient and high-performance 21st century learning environment. (more)

Protecting Water and Natural Resources

Michigan's natural resources are one of the state's most valuable assets. It is imperative that they be preserved and protected. Senate Republicans will continue our strong leadership role in protecting our water and our environment.

Efforts to conserve Michigan's natural resources are not new for Senate Republicans. For more than five years, we have been leading the way to develop proactive legislation to protect the Great Lakes, promote alternative energy, and expand recycling in Michigan. (more)

Keeping People in Their Homes

Senate Republicans will take action to ensure families are not taxed out of their homes in these tough economic times.

Property values in Michigan have declined steadily over the past two years. Most homeowners have seen the values of their homes drop 15 percent to 25 percent. Property taxes, however, have actually increased over the same period.

We will lead the charge to fix the constitutional provision that allows property taxes to increase while the value of your home decreases. (more)

Making Neighborhoods Safe

Senate Republicans served on a bipartisan workgroup comprised of members of the governor's administration, the House, and the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center to determine how the state might reduce corrections spending while reinvesting in measures that will make communities safer and stronger. The workgroup produced a bipartisan package of policy options that gives Michigan a real chance to achieve needed cost savings and prevents crime at the same time. (more)

From the Senate Floor

Michigan Senate Republicans Floor Statements

Senator Cropsey refutes false statements by the governor and other democrats that the Senate has not acted on revenue generating legislation for the K12 budget.

Recent Blogs from Senate Republicans

The leaves have all fallen from the trees, the temperatures are dropping and soon the snow will be flying it must be time for one of my favorite holidays: Thanksgiving. (read)

Cassis queries the state film office director on the effectiveness of the film credits

Friday, May 01, 2009

LANSING—The Michigan Film Office director was questioned about the effectiveness of the state film incentives and the tardiness of the office’s report during her testimony Thursday before the Senate Finance Committee.

“The law was not complied with in a timely fashion. It took nearly two months before all the required information was released by the film office. Without that information, the Legislature cannot do its job in evaluating the effectiveness of the credits,” said Sen. Nancy Cassis, R-Novi. “As the state faces a $1.3 billion deficit for the current fiscal year, the importance of full disclosure on state expenditures has never been clearer. I asked Janet Lockwood to present to the Finance committee about the effectiveness of the film credits. I also stressed to her the critical importance of timeliness of the film office annual reports.”

Lockwood is the director of the Michigan Film Office, which is in charge of approving refundable film production credits of up to 42 percent of a production’s cost. The film office is required to give an annual report on the film credits to the governor, Senate Finance Committee chair, the House Tax Policy Committee chair and the Michigan Strategic Fund president by March 1.

“The film credits are being subsidized by taxpayers at an estimated cost of $150 million in 2010,” said Cassis. “According to the Senate Fiscal Agency, the state needs more than 20,000 small businesses, or almost 148,000 taxpayers with an income of $45,000, just to pay for the credits next year. It takes 789 individuals or 109 small businesses to fund a single star in a movie. Who pays the cost of the credits is an issue of balance and fairness.”

David Zin, from the nonpartisan Senate Fiscal Agency, testified that the credits will never pay for themselves and no state has ever seen a full return on their investment.

Representatives from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy also testified that improved transparency is important because public funds are used to pay the credits and that it was extremely difficult to obtain the information from the film office.

Sen. Cassis asked Lockwood to work with her and the committee on creating a reasonable and responsible cap so that the film credits are balanced and fair to all taxpayers.