Rick Snyder in 2017 Governor's State of the State speeches
On Drugs:
Enforce prescription law, but Good Samaritans get treatment
A problem area we have is Opioid Abuse. Since 2009, we have seen a doubling of heroin overdoses; that is unacceptable. We need to do better. I want to thank the Legislature for passing Good Samaritan legislation that encourages people to seek help for
themselves or others without fear of prosecution.We are making an investment in Michigan's automated prescription system, which will make a big difference in preventing drug diversion, whether it be prescribers, pharmacies,
or at the patient level. MSP has launched an angel program at their Gaylord post. Literally, people can now come to the Gaylord post and ask for help. MSP, the Michigan State Police, will actually help them get treatment.
That is the kind of outreach we should have. We are going to expand that program.
Source: 2017 Michigan State of the State address
Jan 17, 2017
On Education:
CCSTEP: capital equipment for training in community colleges
We should be really proud of CCSTEP. It was about providing capital equipment to our community colleges to upgrade their career tech education programs. So if you're an auto technician looking to do auto repair you didn't go on 10 year-old equipment,
you're using the same equipment you're going to walk on the job and use. If you're doing machining the same thing. It was an outstanding investment that we helped 18 community colleges. I went around and toured a number of these community colleges.
The results are outstanding. Places like Bay College are doing emergency medical technician.One of the most exciting programs I heard of was at Washtenaw Community College at the Auto Show. They are literally doing mobility technicians to
understand how to do lidar vision systems, all these new systems that are going to be going on vehicles. It's cutting edge. That's the kind of attitude we need to bring to career connectedness and we are going to invest more in programs like this.
Source: 2017 Michigan State of the State address
Jan 17, 2017
On Energy & Oil:
Protect our environment while meeting our energy needs
One of the big accomplishments this last year was energy legislation. Some of us even pulled an all-nighter on that one, but it was worth it because it's going to achieve three outcomes.
It's going to help protect our environment, it's going to help us meet our energy needs, and it's going to save Michiganders money.
Source: 2017 Michigan State of the State address
Jan 17, 2017
On Environment:
Pure Michigan: promote tourism like U.P. and brewery trail
Tourism: thanks to Pure Michigan we are showing America just how beautiful we think our home state is. I am a huge fan of kayaking, rock hunting, I even tried elk bugling last year. One of my favorite experiences was biking the brewery and wine trail in
the Thumb. It was absolutely beautiful. We have so many awesome things to do in our state and we should be proud. One of the great things was what Lonely Planet did for us. They named the U.P. one of the top 10 value destinations for
2017 and it was in a category the only place in the United States along with Venice, Morocco, Belize and Nepal. The U.P. is right up there with the best in the world.
To give you more perspective though, Michigan had the highest growth in incoming international visitors of any state in the nation from 2014 to 2015. The secret is getting out and I couldn't be happier about it.
Source: 2017 Michigan State of the State address
Jan 17, 2017
On Environment:
More resources to fight invasive species in Great Lakes
On wetlands: They are vital to our wildlife and infrastructure. We have lost an estimated four million acres of wetlands over the last few decades. We're going to do something unique this year. The DNR is going to create a public private partnership on
state land to work with local landowners to say we can use state lands as a mitigation bank to help encourage development and at the same time protecting our environment. Invasive carp [is] one of the greatest threats to our state.
We need to do more. We've invested resources, but we need to catalyze all the Great Lake states on doing more, and our nation. One of the ways we are going to do this is: we're creating an international crowdsourcing challenge.
On the topic of environmental justice, I'm going to announce a work group on the issue of environmental justice to make sure all Michiganders have a clean, safe, healthy environment no matter who they are or where they live.
Source: 2017 Michigan State of the State address
Jan 17, 2017
On Environment:
Work tirelessly, plus $27M, to make Flint's water safe
Make no mistake, Flint was a sad chapter in the history of our state. Last year the people of Flint suffered an unacceptable crisis. I made a commitment to the people of Flint to fix it. We took immediate action and in the following days and months
we've worked tirelessly to make Flint's water safe to drink again and improve the entire city of Flint. We're making progress but our work is not yet.
We all owe the people of Flint a solution and we've worked hard to deliver that, we are going to continue to be committed to that. In terms of progress, though, on the water front we have new test results and by June of
2016 this last year we provided $27 million to help with lead pipe replacements to the city of Flint. To date we've seen progress, over 600 pipes have been replaced and we look forward to working with the city on accelerating the progress of that.
Source: 2017 Michigan State of the State address
Jan 17, 2017
On Jobs:
People now moving to Michigan for good jobs
We are at the lowest unemployment in 15 years, 10 points below our high of June 2009 and it's a broad-based comeback. With respect to population, we have had five years of population growth in a row. Do you remember what it was like when we heard
about our kids having to leave the state? [Usually people] who had to leave Michigan because there was not a job opportunity in the last decade or so. Those days have changed. They no longer have to leave Michigan; we are creating opportunities.
To give you a fact you might be amazed by, but we should be really proud, our state has the highest net-bound inward migration of people with bachelor's degrees of any state in the Great Lakes region. We are winning the national and international
competition for quality minds, for career opportunities for quality people and we are going to keep it up. Business in Michigan is growing with exciting expansions and new investors. We are growing a more diverse, vibrant and healthier economy.
Source: 2017 Michigan State of the State address
Jan 17, 2017
On Technology:
Invest billions to address risk of aging infrastructure
We know infrastructure is a huge challenge not just in Flint, but we saw what happened in Fraser with the sink hole. We are at risk in every corner of Michigan for aging infrastructure and we cannot take this for granted. Michigan residents deserve
safe, reliable, sustainable infrastructure. That's why I created the 21st Century Infrastructure Commission last year. The commission did tremendous work, they looked for best practice not just in our country but around the world.
They concluded that we need to invest more. We need to literally invest billions of dollars of new investment over the next several decades. We need to look at all public and private sources for this,
including fees, taxes, grants, bonds. We need to start now working on this issue and we need to stay committed to it.
Source: 2017 Michigan State of the State address
Jan 17, 2017
Page last updated: Dec 10, 2018