Less than a year ago, the current occupant of the governor's office was telling the people of this state that our economy was rebounding and she wouldn't raise taxes to balance the budget. Just months after making that promise, however, she began threatening the citizens of this state, like a strengthening storm. First, she scared people by telling them that she would need to make devastating cuts to education, public safety, and health care.

It was far from perfect, but this body balanced that budget and avoided those cuts. For a time, the citizens of this state thought that the storm had passed, that sunny days lay ahead. All the while, however, the storm continued to build, threatening Michigan's citizens and their wallets. I know that some people left our state, but most stayed behind, thinking and hoping that Hurricane Jenny wouldn't hit them directly.

They had seen and heard about the devastation in other parts of the state; businesses leaving, people losing jobs, homes going into foreclosure; but they clung to the hope that the storm would pass them by. Of course, Hurricane Jenny first hit Michigan years ago, coming from afar and wiping out jobs, cities, and hope in our state. Now our unemployment leads the nation, while our housing market trails it, a circumstance more common in the Gulf States, than in the Great Lakes states.

Worst of all, the storm has chased many of our talented young people to the higher ground and better opportunities offered by other states.

And still, not all of Michigan had directly felt the impact of Hurricane Jenny ; that is until this past weekend. Now, with her tax increases in hand, and her promise that our state would be `blown away' coming true, Hurricane Jenny has finally hit every township, city, and village of this state.

We now have an even more difficult task facing us, because long after Hurricane Jenny moves on from Michigan, we will be repairing the damage that she has caused. We need to roll up our sleeves today and start helping the residents of this state who have been impacted. We need to put our state back in order. We need to rebuild Michigan to the state it once was before Hurricane Jenny blew into town.