Apr 7, 2007

Michigan Governor Slashes At Extension – Again

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm isn’t a reader of fruit and vegetable publications, or at least doesn’t appear to have been following our series of articles on the Cooperative Extension Service.

In his interviews, Assistant Editor Matt Milkovich found, in state after state, a profound appreciation for the role Extension plays. (One of his articles, about Extension in New York, appears on page 16 in this issue.)

That appreciation isn’t apparent in the Michigan governor’s office. Two years ago, she proposed the total elimination of state funding for Extension, and that resulted in an outpouring of support for Extension and, ultimately, the restoration of its funding. That was the second time she proposed cutting Extension funding.

She took a third swipe Feb. 8. The governor issued an executive order that would reduce the state’s contribution to Extension by $2.6 million, to take place in the remaining half of this fiscal year. Not surprising, we learned about this by an e-mail message from the Extension office in Leelanau County, one of Michigan’s leading fruit-producing counties.

“No other line item in all of the higher education category was listed for a cut except the Cooperative Extension line, where a 10 percent rescission was issued for the current fiscal year,” wrote Mark Breederland, the interim county Extension director.

“We’re already almost six months into this budget (2006-7), and this rescission would be devastating to the statewide services MSUE provides.”

Extension also stands to lose federal funds, which come as a match to state funding.

“I’ll call this a ‘slice and freeze’ description of our budget situation,” Breederland said.

He was referring to the governor’s decision not only to slice Extension to adjust 2007 spending. The budget she proposes for 2008 carries on the theme.

The Extension line item is frozen, whereas all other higher education lines are listed for a 2.5 percent increase, Breederland said. And a separate $30,000 line item in the Michigan Department of Agriculture’s budget, which supports the Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Station, is gone as well.

The House and Senate appropriations committees had two weeks to approve or reject the executive order. Not surprisingly, state Extension Director Tom Coon was testifying before those committees when I called the morning of Valentine’s Day.

Under Michigan law, the governor has the authority to issue executive orders to remedy budget problems caused by a shortfall in projected revenues. She needs to cut $800 million – not an easy task.

Still, Granholm needs to take a harder look at the state she governs.

First, Michigan is one of the few states in which agriculture is not the largest industry. She “brags” that agriculture is No. 2, naively thinking that’s a compliment. The fact is, no other state has such a huge single industry as automobile manufacturing.

The auto industry has shaped – I’d argue misshaped – the state. From the days of Henry Ford, the state has attracted poor people – black and white, largely from the South – who came here for good wages earned without investment in education or training. They formed what CNN’s Lou Dobbs keeps calling “the middle class,” but it’s really just “the class in the middle.” It’s not an entrepreneurial class. They buy and own lots of stuff – boats and cottages and snowmobiles and cars – but they don’t own or manage businesses.

Now, the auto industry is foundering, driven down by a combination of inept managers – who believe their own advertising and keep passing rising costs on to consumers – and workers that earn without investing money or talent or commitment.

So now the governor needs to build a new base.

Her idea is to educate these workers – many of whom have a historic aversion to and disdain for education – and somehow attract new industry to employ them at the high wages they’ve come to expect.

The farmers in Michigan are caught between a Democratic governor who wants to do good for labor and a mostly Republican legislature. Last fall, the legislature repealed the state’s single business tax, a tax hated by business. That tax will end Dec. 31, with no replacement in sight. In last fall’s election, the Republicans ran a notorious multilevel marketer for governor, who lost. Control of the state’s House of Representatives also passed to the Democrats, but the Senate remains Republican.

Surely the governor, in choosing her cuts, remembers this history. Farmers last fall allied themselves to the losing party, to their detriment. Still, the governor ought to look beyond politics when assessing agriculture.

Michigan’s population is declining, as people vote with their feet. Unemployment is highest in the nation. The rate of home foreclosures is highest in the nation. Michigan’s businessmen haven’t shown great loyalty, as many have also left. Farmers are stuck here. If Michigan farmers could pick up their land and run, they probably would. But this state is endowed with some of the best fruit and vegetable land in the nation – perhaps the world – and it’s not moving.

Times are changing.

– Fruits and vegetables, finally, are getting the recognition they deserve for their place in a healthy diet. (Michigan was recently cited for having the fattest people in the country.)

– Agriculture is finally gaining its rightful place as a producer of renewable energy, and Michigan is building new ethanol plants.

– “Eating local,” is finally getting the appreciation it should have always had.

– Crop prices are finally rising, driven in part by the dual food-fuel nature of grain.

Does it seem that the governor is choosing unwisely as she seeks to balance the budget by cutting funding for an institution that plays such an important role in agriculture, which can be a bright spot in Michigan’s dismal economy?

It seems that way to me.

Luckily, the appropriations committees seem to agree. Tom Coon called late on Valentine’s Day to say the bouquet of flowers he got was their rejection of the governor’s executive order. But that’s a postponement only. Budget cuts of $800 million still have to be made.