State Rep. Cam Cavitt on Wednesday announced his bill to re-establish natural resource advisory boards to protect Michigan businesses from unnecessary rules and regulations.  The bill is part of a larger House Republican legislative package to help grow Michigan’s economy so Michiganders and job providers can succeed.

“State officials don’t seem to care how many jobs they kill or businesses they close with their burdensome regulations,” said Cavitt, R-Cheboygan. “We all care about the environment and natural resource advisory boards are essential to sorting out which rules are necessary to protect it and which cause way more harm than good to our community.”

The House Republican economic growth plan comes after Gov. Whitmer’s Growing Michigan Together Council in December determined that Michigan needs a “bold, coordinated economic growth plan.” House Republicans laid out multiple proposals that form elements of the state’s growth plan, including reducing the income tax for Michiganders and small businesses, cutting red tape to make a fairer and more streamlined regulatory environment, and increasing accountability over taxpayer-funded economic development projects.

A recent study by Bridge Michigan found that 40% of economic development deals create jobs paying below-median wages, and Ford’s planned factory in Marshall was approved for $1.8 billion in state incentives that amount to a more than $1 million cost per projected job.

“Someone had to work hard to earn every dollar the state spends,” Cavitt said. “It’s our responsibility to ensure taxpayer dollars are not sporadically doled out to everyone with a flashy new idea. The plan we announced today will take meaningful steps toward reversing the unchecked spending by Gov. Whitmer and lay a framework to ensure every dollar is spent wisely.”

House Republicans said Michigan’s coordinated economic growth strategy should include plans they’re introducing to:

• Respect tax dollars in economic development programs: Michigan taxpayers should have their dollars spent responsibly, so the state’s economic development programs need more accountability to ensure taxpayers are getting a worthwhile return on investment. Michigan should audit payouts, reclaim funds when deals don’t deliver on their promises, increase transparency about paused projects, and require votes by all the people’s representatives on large-scale projects funded through the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) Fund. The state should also prioritize funds for small- and medium-sized businesses and coordinate permitting between the state and local governments to expedite projects.
• Cut red tape and make it easier to put people to work: Burdensome regulations and confusing bureaucracy impede workers and employers who are trying to succeed in Michigan. State government should streamline bureaucracy with a single, user-friendly portal where businesses and workers can deal with state agencies. The state should review and reevaluate regulations, paperwork, and licensing to determine what works and what only gets in the way of economic productivity and growth. Michigan should also restore policies that prevent bureaucrats from imposing stricter rules than the federal government or ignoring the input of experts and employers.
• Measure performance of state workforce programs: Taxpayers shouldn’t fund programs that don’t work, so Michigan should measure the performance of workforce programs to see whether they are successfully helping people develop skills or obtain good-paying jobs.
• Increase families’ paychecks: Thanks to Republicans, Michigan’s income tax rate decreased last year from 4.25% to 4.05%, and Michiganders and small businesses are receiving larger returns this spring as a result. However, legal maneuvering by the Whitmer administration and Attorney General Dana Nessel resulted in a tax hike. Michigan should restore the income tax cut so Michiganders can keep more of their hard-earned paychecks in the years ahead.
• Restore right-to-work: For more than a decade, Michigan’s right-to-work law guaranteed workers the right to choose whether to pay dues to a union, and many businesses look for right-to-work states where they can move or expand. Michigan Democrats repealed that successful law last year, and the state should restore this crucial freedom so workers don’t have their paychecks cut to fund union bosses.

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