(WXYZ) - The state senate voted 20-15 on Thursday to take the necessary action to block funding of the new Michigan State Police headquarters in Lansing that our Steve Wilson has been reporting on for the last two years.
WATCH STEVE'S EARLIER REPORT ON THE VIDEO PLAYER TO THE RIGHT
PLUS: Read a statement sent to WXYZ.com from the developersThe Granholm administration was set to have the state begin paying $3.7 million-a-year to lease the building, which state police never requested. It would replace the current state police headquarters on the campus of Michigan State University which costs taxpayers $1 each year to lease.
The amendment to forbid taxpayer dollars from being spent on the headquarters was introduced by Sen. Cameron Brown (R-Fawn River Twp), and was attached to the appropriations bill that funds the state police. It received bi-partisan support. The vote follows a state Attorney General opinion first reported on Action News that said the state is free to break the lease, virtually without penalty, by not appropriating funds.
The stunning development is a blow to developer Joel Ferguson, a friend and supporter of Governor Granholm who stood to pocket millions of tax dollars by leasing the building back to the state. Ferguson and his partners have paid all of the costs to construct the building in downtown Lansing.
Supporters of the project argued that the state had a moral, if not legal obligation to proceed with the lease. Sen. Nancy Cassis (R-Novi) blunted that position by pointing out that the senate passed a resolution which she authored eighteen months ago, putting the developers on notice that the state did not want the building.
An executive order issued last month by Gov. Granholm called for the layoff of 100 state troopers in an effort to cut $349 million from the state's budget. It is not clear whether walking away from the lease would avert the layoffs that are set for the end of this month.
The appropriations bill, with the amendment, goes now to the House of Representatives for debate and a vote.
The following statement is from Joel Ferguson and Gary Granger (developers):
"We are deeply troubled by the Senate's action today. It sends a terrible message to anyone doing business with this state. We have already invested millions of dollars in this highly specialized state-of-the-art building designed to meet the intensive security demands of the federal Homeland Security Act and the Michigan State Police.
"The need for a new state police headquarters was confirmed in 2005 as part of the state's statewide strategic real estate planning. The lease was approved by the legislative Joint Capital Outlay Subcommittee and the bipartisan Administrative Review Board (Governor Granholm, Lt. Gov. Cherry, Attorney General Mike Cox, Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land and State Treasurer Robert Kleine) in 2007. The approval was based specifically on the costly ($4 million per year) use of outdated facilities on the campus of MSU.
"We are deeply proud to work with the Building Trades and know that, because of our Project Labor Agreement, together we will bring this building in on time, under budget and built to the specifications required by the state, which participated in the design process every step of the way. We have created more than 500 construction jobs and contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars in state and local tax revenue in the process. We will be moving forward full-speed ahead first thing in the morning and know our construction workers will be there to make sure we deliver.
"The decision today showed the politically driven, headline-making actions of a Senate that will send shock waves through the business community - and won't save a dime of taxpayer money in the process."
