The group of business and university executives known as Business Leaders for Michigan (BLM) has come up with an interesting metaphor for fixing the state’s chronic problems. It involves tiny figures in bright colors climbing onto a teeter-totter and bouncing in unison.
The group launched a TV campaign slated to run for the next 3 1/2 weeks around the state. The ad and a smaller-scale radio flight aim to increase awareness of BLM’s turnaround plan for Michigan and, over time, build support for enacting it at the state Capitol.
The group wants what it calls holistic change in the way government operates and the state’s tax structure. Details of the plan were unveiled in January, but Consumers Energy Chairman David Joos said 4/13 the group has been disappointed by the slow pace of change at the state Capitol, reports The Detroit Free Press.
Joos and BLM President Doug Rothwell told the paper they hope the campaign, combined with public forums, social-media efforts and the like, will create consensus about the need to make dramatic changes that will make Michigan more economically competitive.
Asked why the group was making such a commitment, Joos said: “We live here. We’re seeing a state in decline. And something’s got to be done.”
The turnaround plan calls for scaling back government payrolls and benefit and retirement plans to bring public-sector costs in line with the state’s diminished private sector, while also restructuring state taxes to reduce barriers to business growth.
The plan and TV ad can be reviewed at the BLM website: www.michiganturnaroundplan.com.
