Senator Jason Allen (R-Traverse City) introduced 15 bills yesterday that will "provide Michigan's cities with planning and development tools to help develop downtown neighborhoods and businesses."
"Both large and small downtowns must reinvent themselves to attract business that will be the backbone of the 21st century economy," Allen said. "The state's economy will be greatly enhanced by vibrant downtowns where our citizens can work, raise families, shop and find an enjoyable quality of life."
Sounds like a great idea! Gosh, I wonder where that came from...
“Building vibrant, energetic cities is essential to attracting jobs, people, and opportunity to our state,” said Granholm. “If Michigan is to be competitive in the 21st century economy, we have to attract new businesses and retain the highly-educated, talented young people who are crucial to building and sustaining businesses in today’s global marketplace. I’m thrilled about the potential of these projects and the positive impact they will have on their communities and the economic vitality of our state.”
Granholm talked more of grants and leveraging existing money as opposed to what sounds like a bunch of tax abatements from the Republicans- but tax credits, so forth and so on, were a part of the Cool Cities plan, too.
Still, it's good to know that Republicans have finally seen the light, even if it is almost four years later.
Headline of the future - 2017. "With the expiration of the surcharge on the MBT looming on the horizon, today Republicans introduced a plan to put a 2% across the board tax on all services..."