By By ANDY HAMILTON / Niles Daily Star
NILES – Gov. Jennifer Granholm will deliver her fifth State of the State Address tonight at 7.
The speech will be broadcast locally on the National Public Radio station in Elkhart, Ind., 88.1 FM WVPE, and on TV on all Michigan Public Television stations. The annual address will also appear shortly after 7 p.m. on the state's Web site, www.mich.gov.
Heidi Watson, the governor's deputy press secretary, said Granholm noted Jan. 1 in her inaugural address a plan for creating the next Michigan. Granholm is expected this evening to present a vision for improving the state's economy, largely by investing in education, Watson said.
"Tonight she will lay out the road map for moving Michigan forward and what we need to do to create the next Michigan," she added.
On Thursday morning, Granholm will deliver her budget presentation, which will describe plans to pay for moving Michigan forward while balancing the budget. Granholm said Friday, Feb. 2 that Michigan is facing its most challenging fiscal crisis in recent memory – and a $3 billion deficit – due to the convergence of a weakened economy, the lack of business tax revenue and spending pressures the state can't avoid.
"The days ahead are going to be challenging for everyone who cares about this great state of ours," Granholm stated in a Feb. 2 press release. "The crisis we face as been decades in the making and cannot be changed overnight even though we have the most aggressive economic plan in the nation, a plan to diversify the economy, create new jobs, retrain displaced workers and give every child a college education or technical training they need to be successful in the 21st century."