Last night at Grand Valley State University (GVSU), GVSU’s Public Policy Institute hosted a candidate forum for candidates in the 28th Michigan Senate district Republican primary. The Republican primary consists of four candidates—Scott Harvey of Belmont, Mark Jansen of Grand Rapids, James Koetje of Wyoming, and Joanne Voorhees of Wyoming—with one of the four Republican candidates going on to face Democratic Party candidate Albert Abasse in the November general election. The 28th district covers much of Kent County outside of Grand Rapids and a map of the district is available. The questions were posed by moderator William Byl of the Public Policy Institute and consisted of those submitted by groups including Clean Water Action, the West Michigan Environmental Action Council, the Grand Rapids Public Schools, and the Chamber of Commerce as well as the audience. In order to facilitate access to the information required for voters to make more informed choices at the polls, Media Mouse has compiled a list of questions and candidate responses:

Opening Statements

James Koetje (JK): Michigan needs a Senator with job creation and job development experience, and as former member of the Michigan House of Representatives, he has that experience. He has been a business lawyer for more than twenty years. He wants an improved economy, is pro-life, supports the second amendment, and supports decreasing taxes and regulations that inhibit business.

Scott Harvey (SH): He has no background in the Michigan House of Representatives or the Senate but he has experience as a leader in the telecommunications industry with a track record of creating jobs in that industry. He believes that the state needs to cut wasteful spending, create jobs, and stop driving jobs out because of public policy.

Mark Jansen (MJ): He is a former member of the Michigan House of Representatives and he believes that with a changing economy Michigan needs a Senator with bold leadership. He did appropriations in the House of Representatives and as such he has the experience to work on the budgeting process and to work on improving the economy. He cited his deep faith, endorsement from the Chamber of Commerce, and his involvement on the convention center, M-6, and life sciences corridor as reasons to vote for him.

Joanne Voorhees (JV): She is a former businesswoman and Michigan House of Representatives member. She wants to reform tax laws to support farmers and small business owners, remove the Single Business Tax (SBT), and remove unnecessary government regulations. She worked on K-12 education when in the House.

Question: Michigan’s general fund is the section of the budget most controllable by the state legislator, but it is currently done 9% to $9 billion. What would you do with a 2% increase?

JV: She advocated a zero-based budget where each department of the government would have to justify its funding by explaining exactly what they need to make their program work. She believes that all programs must prove that they work before being funding.

JK: He would turn some money over to local communities for police and fire and would go after “tax cheats” in order to shift revenue. He would also continue to cut employer taxes.

MJ: With a 2% increase, the appropriations process would work and the legislature would look at what needs funding and make decisions that way. He also would look at investing in venture capital to grow business.

SH: He would start with a 5% reduction of the budgets of all agencies and require agencies to show that they are functioning. He would allot funds to revenue sharing and investment in jobs.

Question: If there was a 2% shortfall for the general fund, what would you do?

MJ: He would look at raising revenue and cutting programs as a means of offsetting losses.

JV: She would get rid of the SBT, reform tax law, and “open the doors wide” for business in Michigan which she believes would help the economy get better.

SH: He would hold government accountable and tell agencies to make cuts. He cited and example where separate corrections departments in Ionia County could combine services rather than maintaining and duplicating services.

JK: He would establish a lifetime limit on welfare of four years in order to increase revenues, would go after tax cheats, and would reduce the budget where able.

Question: The legislature has the primary responsibility for funding education and with Governor Jennifer Granholm stating that she wants to double the number of college graduates, do you feel that Michigan’s K-12 educational system can meet her challenge?

SH: He has faith in the system and believes that it is important to go into “troubled areas” and mentor students and teachers in order to improve graduation rates.

MJ: Kent County has some “tremendous” school systems and graduation rates are higher than in some other Michigan counties. He believes parents need to become more involved and educators need to be brought together to work on the issue.

JK: The schools should make use of video and technology to have advanced courses available to rural areas. Money is not the only key, but it is important to increase funding.

JV: She was on the education committee in the House and shared the fact that only fifty-seven cents of every dollar spent on education gets into the classroom. Schools need to be held accountable for the money that they spend.

Question: If the state is to be successful in graduating more college graduates, how can universities and families meet this goal and how will the state help?

JK: He said that he would have new money coming in via his plans to grow business in the state and that would prevent funding shortfalls. He explained the importance of eliminating unnecessary spending and cited the University of Michigan teaching classes on “how to be gay” as a waste of money.

SH: He would increase internship and mentoring programs but would not put any more money into education until the system was held accountable for its spending.

MJ: Tuition grants are not helping enough and he was involved in the merit scholarship program as a means of helping youth and also worked to secure more funding for universities while in the House.

JV: Government and universities need to partner as everyone should go to college to participate in the economy; she supports similar partnerships between high schools and universities.

Question: The cost of health care is a burden for everyone—what, if anything, can the state do about this?

JV: The state can promote tax credits for individuals getting their own care, provide tax credits to employers for providing care, and promote health and well-being.

JK: In Massachusetts’ health plan, they make sure that all uninsured patients at emergency rooms signup for Medicaid. He would also remove the SBT as it is a penalty for employers offering healthcare.

MT: He would incentivize health and wellness, stop penalizing businesses for providing insurance, and would work to keep people out of emergency rooms if it is not needed.

SH: He supports a centralized database of patients as a means of reducing bureaucracy and increasing efficiency while he would also look at health care savings accounts and ways for small businesses to pool resources.

Question: Should the state further regulate access to the state’s waters and aquifers and do you support a constitutional amendment giving the legislature control over the state’s water?

MJ: We need to evaluate if using god-given resources in the best way and to look at bottling plants such as the one in Mecosta County where jobs are being provided to the community and evaluate if they are effectively sharing access to resources without harming the environment.

JV: Legislation on this issue needs to be based both on science and common sense and she feels that current legislation on the issue is appropriate.

SH: Scientists can tell how much if any water can be diverted from the state. He is opposed to pipelines shipping the state’s water elsewhere but he is would look at ways of providing access to water resources when there are emergencies elsewhere. It is important to protect the environment when these decisions are being made.

JK: Science is important with this issue, but also look at common sense if wells are drying up next to bottling plants. This issue has already been addressed by the state and ultimately will be decided at the federal level. He also explained that he voted against slant drilling in the Great Lakes.

Question: Local governments have seen a loss in state revenue sharing, how will you listen to local officials and improve the situation?

SH: He has talked to communities and money is not getting to first responders. Spending needs to be reevaluated as he believes the world is on the verge of World War 3 and defense and security spending must not be cut.

MJ: Local control is essential and communities need to control how money is spent; he fought against revenue sharing cuts when he was in the House.

JK: He was on the Grandville City Council and worked for local control of revenue sharing dollars and he would look at cutting spending on city pension programs.

JV: She believes in local control and revenue sharing, but did vote against a measure protecting this in 2004 as she believed more cuts could have been made at the state level.

Question: With gas prices at record highs, increasing the gas tax is obviously a bad idea, but how can the state fund transportation?

JK: He would consider using dollars from the general fund, but is against implementing tolls or property taxes to fund infrastructure. He argued that welfare can be cut and “tax cheats” can be pursued to fund infrastructure.

SH: Do not increase the gas tax.

MJ: He worked on the appropriations committee to secure funding for West Michigan more equal to that awarded to Southeast Michigan and there can be money for projects in West Michigan if the funding disparities are addressed.

JV: Michigan ranks second to last for transportation funding, she would fight for road funding—especially if the roads would spur job growth.

Question: What is your stance on the Senior Millage, Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI), Single Business Tax (SBT), and the K-16 Proposal?

JV: Supports the Senior Millage and is opposed to the MCRI, SBT, and K-16 proposal. She opposes the K-16 proposal because he believes that you cannot tie the hands of the legislature. The senior millage is very important as it keeps seniors in their homes which saves money and helps seniors.

JK: Supports the Senior Millage, is opposed to the MCRI and K-16 proposal, and SBT is a non-issue as the legislature already voted to eliminate it. K-16 would take away legislative control and create mandatory increases in educational funding as it is a money grab by people wanting to benefit themselves.

MJ: No to the MCRI as it is the wrong approach, supports the Senior Millage, already voted to eliminate the SBT, and is opposed to K-16 proposal as it is a budget issue for the legislature and it is already a priority.

SH: Told the audience to vote yes on the Senior Millage no matter what their stance is on the candidates, is opposed to the MCRI, supports eliminating the SBT, and is opposed to the K-16 proposal as bureaucrats will waste the money.

Question: There is a ballot proposal for a unicameral government, is this a good idea?

MJ: He has worked with Nebraska legislators on welfare reform and they said that they did not like the unicameral system. He said it limits the diversity of legislation and would look at cutting costs other ways.

JV: She likes the balance of two chambers as different angles are expressed on legislation by each chamber.

SH: He does not support this as bureaucrats are doing more in Nebraska than legislators. He would look for other ways to cut costs.

JK: He opposes it, especially in light of term limits.

Question: What has the impact of term limits been? Would you support changing them?

SH: They have opened the doors for people outside of the legislature to campaign for seats vacated by term limits. He would evaluate them in a few more years and would monitor bureaucrats to make sure they are not getting too much power.

MJ: Staff and lobbyists often have more knowledge than many legislators. He voted for them as it provides an opportunity for a citizen legislature but would also support strengthening them.

JK: There are good and bad aspects, with the bad being that a lot of legislators make unnecessary legislation in order to make names for themselves and that it costs businesses money if inexperienced legislators are writing tax policy. He voted to extend them to 14 years.

JV: She would not have had an opportunity to serve without, but feels that six years is not enough time as legislators are just starting to feel comfortable at that point.

Closing Statements

SH: Believe that power corrupts and that Senators need to respond to the needs of the people and as such he said that it is important for legislators to have an open-door policy.

JV: Her priorities are jobs, economy, workforce development, education, and quality of life for seniors. She said that she has a record and work ethic worthy of the job and that Michigan is an example of what can be done when people work together.

JK: He focused his time on job creation when in the House and would continue removing regulations and reforming taxes.

MJ: Has been on appropriations and has evaluated spending and that is an experience that others do not have. He also mentioned that current Senator Sikkema supports him.

The forum will be broadcast on GRTV's LiveWire Channel 24 on the following dates and times:

• Thursday - August 3rd at 7:30pm
• Saturday - August 5th at 8:00pm
• Monday - August 7th - 9:30pm