In his seventh State of the State address, Gov. Rick Snyder took the podium in front of his constituents and the Michigan public at home Tuesday night in the Michigan Capitol House Chambers.
Snyder set the tone for his next to last year by reflecting on the optimistic change of his last six years and the numbers involved, but said the future is where the spotlight should be.
Here is a brief recap of Snyder's points.
A reflection on jobs
To kick off his speech, Snyder segued into a variety of statistics on Michigan and job creation, touting the lowest unemployment rate in Michigan in around 15 years.
"Michigan today is transformed from the Michigan of six years ago," Snyder said. "To be honest we weren't very hopeful about our future and we suffered from a lot of negative perception."
Snyder pitched a plan to increase Michigan's population to 10 million people by 2020, which would need to see an increase of 71,700 people to hit his goal.
"We have to give them every reason to stay," Snyder said of young people seeking career opportunities.
He expressed caution for the young people aiming to leave the state.
Snyder wants to keep young people in the state and bring employees in by revitalizing Michigan cities, he said.
Flint water crisis
Snyder's speech came 366 days after President Barack Obama declared an emergency in Flint, which is a point he touched on in his speech at approximately the 30 minute mark.
"We’re making progress, but our work is not done yet,” Snyder said.
Snyder expressed his interest in holding higher standards in water quality than the federal level for drinking water.
Infrastructure
Snyder mentioned the Flint water crisis as a failure of infrastructure and stated Michigan needs to invest billions of dollars through the next few years.
"We're at risk at every corner in Michigan," Snyder said. "We need to invest more."
Snyder divulged into how the state could save money by taking on big projects and doing the work now.
"We could tear it up once and do it all at once," Snyder said.
Education
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Snyder did not mention higher education funding or student debt for the second year in a row.
Snyder recognized East Lansing High School students who advocated at their high school for women to join STEM programs.
"We need to do better with computer science, computer education and cyber security in our schools," Snyder said.
Snyder would like to grow apprenticeship rates, recognizes the "cutting-edge" career connections in colleges.
"We’ve been talking about (higher education and sexual assault on campus) in the legislature—we’ve been demanding more from all universities, including Michigan State University, to make sure we know what they’re doing," Rep. Sam Singh (D-East Lansing) said. "We’ve provided funding, but we have to do more.”
Environment
Snyder brought up the dedication of the Michigan legislature on environmental legislation, stating in one case an all-nighter was pulled for the work.
Michigan needs to be focused on being cleaner, safer and utilizing more sustainable energy, Snyder said.
Sexual Assault on College Campuses
Snyder talked about his wife, Michigan first lady Sue Snyder's, work to end sexual assault on college campuses.
“We need to do everything we can to keep our campuses safe," Snyder said.
The Campus Sexual Assault Grant Program awarded $500,000 to community colleges and universities in 2015 and 2016.
Snyder turned the conversation into a larger one by bridging into safer overall communities.
“No one should have to walk our streets in fear," Snyder said.
Opioid abuse
Since 2009, the number of opioid cases in Michigan has doubled, Snyder expressed concern with the trend.
Snyder mentioned the "good samaritan" laws passed by the Michigan legislature.
Madison F. O'Connor contributed to this article.
