Sen. Jacobs argues to restore revenue sharing dollars

From the office of Sen. Gilda Jacobs
Tuesday, May 18, 2010

State Senator Gilda Z. Jacobs (D-Huntington Woods) today argued against a four percent cut to revenue sharing included in the state General Government Budget, House Bill 5880. Senator Jacobs supported a Democratic sponsored amendment to restore the money cut from revenue sharing, but it was defeated by Senate Republicans.

“Revenue sharing is the lifeblood of our communities and our cities just cannot absorb any more cuts,” said Senator Jacobs.

“This four percent cut means there will be fewer police and fire fighters to protect us. It means that it will be harder for communities to offer parks and recreation services to the families that rely on them in these tough economic times when families stay close to home instead of taking vacations. This is another blow to our cities that will seriously impact the quality of life for our citizens.”

Revenue sharing funds are distributed by the state to local communities to help fund local police, firefighters, water systems, road maintenance and other vital services.

Cities, townships and counties rely heavily on local revenue sharing funding for public safety and infrastructure improvements, and the Legislature has already cut billions in local revenue sharing over the past few years.

“Cuts to local services will also inevitably harm our ability to attract new companies and jobs as well as keep the companies we now have,” said Senator Jacobs.

“Businesses want to know that they have the support of the community, but that’s hard to show when cuts are made to safety officials, and infrastructure projects languish for a lack of funds. Another revenue sharing cut is short-sighted and could delay our efforts to turn our economy around.”

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Senator Gilda Jacobs represents the 14th Senate District, which includes Farmington, Farmington Hills, Ferndale, Hazel Park, Huntington Woods, Lathrup Village, Oak Park, Pleasant Ridge, Royal Oak Township, Southfield and Southfield Township.

She is the Minority Vice Chair of the Campaign & Election Oversight, Families & Human Services and Finance committees. She is a member of the Economic Development & Regulatory Reform and Health Policy committees. She can be reached toll-free in Lansing at 1-888-937-4453.