Last night Governor Granholm laid out a courageous and innovative agenda with a clear vision of how to move Michigan forward.

We especially commend her emphasis on creating good paying jobs. It makes perfect sense to speed up vitally needed infrastructure improvement projects in universities and municipalities in order to jump start Michigan’s economy and put people back to work and make Michigan a more attractive location for new businesses to locate.

The Governor’s proposal to invest $2 billion in research in fuel cells and other alternative energy, future auto-related areas and the life sciences is exactly what is needed to position Michigan to became the national leader it these cutting-edge technologies. This proposal will help produce the necessary transformation of our economy and will create thousands of good paying jobs in the years ahead.

We particularly appreciate the Governor’s support for our efforts to raise Michigan’s minimum wage by $2.00 an hour over two years and to index the minimum wage to inflation. We can no longer wait for Washington to act on this vital issue. It’s time that Michigan joins the 15 other states who have raised their minimum wage above the woefully inadequate federal minimum of $5.15 an hour.

Michigan AFL-CIO President Mark Gaffney said, "Workers all over Michigan should be excited by the Governor’s growth plan. One hundred thousand jobs created in construction and high tech areas will have positive economic impacts on every other business and worker in our state."

"The quarter of a million Michigan workers who are trying to support their families on $11,000 a year should take heart from the Governor’s call to raise our minimum wage. Jennifer Granholm’s compassion will help those families and stimulate our economy."