TRAVERSE CITY -- The answer to Michigan's faltering economy lies in breaking down Lansing's partisan gridlock, three of four Republican candidates for the 101st District House of Representatives agree.
Manistee County Republicans Gregory Ferguson, Ray Franz, and Janice McCraner have all pledged to work towards changing a partisan culture in the capital that each one cited as a key to turning around the state's long economic slump.
"Unless we can all start moving together in the same direction, we will not be moving at all," McCraner said.
Franz, McCraner, Ferguson and Michael McManus of Leelanau County will compete for the Republican nomination for the open seat now held by term-limited state Rep. David Palsrok. Democrat Dan Scripps is unopposed in the Aug. 5 primary.
The district includes Leelanau, Benzie, and Manistee counties.
Ferguson, 48, a concrete contractor from Manistee, said there's no quick fix to the state's complex economic woes.
He favors tax credits for employers to provide health insurance but offered no other specific programs.
"I can't put my finger on one thing that will solve (the economic slowdown) now," he said.
Ferguson said energy prices are unlikely to come down and people will have to make lifestyle changes to adjust.
Franz, 60, owner of the Bear Lake IGA grocery, said the state must control spending, cut regulation, and encourage cheap nuclear energy to attract business to Michigan.
State requirements to increase the use of renewable energy through such things as wind turbines will drive up the cost of electricity, Franz said. Instead, he wants the state to invest in nuclear power through fast breeder reactors that are common in Europe but currently banned in the United States.
"Nuclear power is clean, it's efficient, and it's affordable," Franz said.
Franz said he's not calling for immediate tax cuts to attract business, but instead would focus on reduced spending to get taxation under control.
He also supports converting state employee pension plans to 401K plans, exempting all state construction projects from federal prevailing wage laws, permit workers in union shops to opt out of paying union dues, and privatize government services whenever possible.
Franz supports adequate funding of K-12 education but balks at more funding for public universities that "lack fiscal control.
"I can't justify taking money from folks in my county with an average income of about $25,000 and giving it to people for a college degree so they can earn six figure incomes and then move out of state," Franz said.
McCraner, 59, a Manistee County commissioner and former Arcadia Township supervisor, said the state needs to create a supportive environment for business by reducing regulation and paperwork, investing in tourism, and helping agriculture.
She would start with a push to restructure the new state business tax which lawmakers struggled to finalize in 2007.
"I think what they did was create a band-aid for an open wound," McCraner said. "It was a huge tax increase."
McCraner said too often legislation results in negative unintended consequences.
She said lawmakers need to reach out to more people to help solve complex issues.
"We need to bring for-profits and non-profits in, educators and people who deal with these issues day to day to help and advise us on solutions," she
said.
McManus, 62, is making his second attempt to join the state House. He previously ran and lost in the 2002 primary when he lived in Traverse City. The father of state Sen. Michelle McManus and brother of former state Sen. George McManus, he declined to comment for this story.
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