Bouchard announces government spending reform proposals

Oakland County Sheriff and GOP candidate for governor Mike Bouchard announced his government spending reform proposals in Saginaw Monday.

According to a press release on his campaign website, Bouchard’s proposal includes:

Eliminating the Michigan Business Tax and replacing the business tax system with one that is low, easy to comply with and makes Michigan globally competitive.

· Moving all future public employees, including school district, local government, and public higher education employees, to a defined contribution plan from a defined benefit plan.

· Creating a cafeteria-style health-care plan option for all three branches of government. Employees would have two or three choices and can pay for enhanced options or choose reduced coverage. Universities, school districts and local units of government could opt in to lower their insurance rates.

· Requiring a two-thirds vote in the Legislature for tax increases and hikes in total state spending that outpace prior year private sector spending (Gross Domestic Product minus inflation.) This will protect taxpayers and businesses now and in the future. Bouchard proposed this twice while he was a leader in the Senate.

· Increasing government transparency by requiring state agencies to post every check written online for taxpayers to review, and by posting state employee salary and benefit information, including unfunded liability information.

· Systematically reviewing every state agency for efficiency and eliminating optional programs that duplicate federal ones.

· Having the Legislature become part-time with lawmakers getting part-time pay, and requiring that lawmakers have a budget in place by May 15 or have their pay docked for each day it’s delayed.

· Creating a two-year rolling budget process based on externally verified numbers that looks ahead three years so lawmakers and the governor can plan for the future and make budget adjustments as needed.

Not included in this “Principles of Lasting Prosperity” proposal was his plan to privatize public rest areas, and eliminating funding for the Michigan Commission for the Blind and other disabled Michigan residents.

Bouchard is battling Attorney General Mike Cox, Ann Arbor Businessman Rick Snyder, Holland Congressman Pete Hoekstra, and State Sen. Tom George for the GOP nomination for governor. Polls have put him fourth in the race, with Hoekstra up over Cox, followed by Snyder.