March 28, 1997

A Conversation with House Minority Leader Ken Sikkema (R-Grandville)

by Jonathan Hansen, Senior Consultant

On the Republican agenda and the last two years of GOP control in the House "There has been nothing like the last two years—and there won’t be again—because it wasn’t just a matter of having complete Republican control, but there was this pent-up policy demand. There were so many things that we wanted to do, and we went right after them—one after the other—but frankly, we ran out of time. In the months ahead, we’ve got to work together to find some common ground—Republicans, Democrats, the House, the Senate, and the governor."

On the need for repairing Michigan roadways "There’s no question in my opinion that the state of our roads demands more money, demands a lot of changes in the way we spend our money, and demands a fair shake from Washington; it’s intolerable what goes on today with the federal gas tax. Those changes have to occur before we raise the gas tax. Now, none of that will change unless we force it to change. Nothing in government changes unless a crisis has occurred—it just doesn’t. We have to force those changes before we raise a gas tax for Michigan citizens. I think we will get to a point where we’re going to have an increase in gas tax to deal with our road issues. The infrastructure issue is important to our economy, but I think it’s very important to get some of these reforms first, otherwise you’ll never get to the reforms."

On education reform "First, What is our goal? Our goal is improving public education. And then, What is our strategy? I have a very clear strategy: objective standards; regular testing measurements for those standards; consequences if the standards aren’t being met; and maximum flexibility for local districts, school boards, and parents as to how to meet those standards. You have to have consequences if you have a goal that you say is important—and you keep measuring to learn if you’re getting there. Without consequences, you have no reason to improve."

On GOP environmental initiatives of the last session "I think Lansing Republicans in the last two years have gotten unfair criticism on the environment. We’ve done a number of things that actually are going to result in the improvement of environmental quality. The changes in the cleanup law are already having a positive impact in terms of more cleanup, more investment in the urban areas, and more reuse of contaminated land."

On health care reform "I think a fundamental issue is access to quality health care for the working poor. I think our philosophy is to look at approaches that will find ways to provide an incentive for the private sector to cover the working poor, rather then having to craft a system that government will control and pay for."

On GOP chances in the 1998 elections "We’re going to win the majority back in ’98 for the House; the weaknesses that the ’96 election exposed will become our strengths in ’98."

A similar conversation is scheduled with the House majority leader and Speaker, Curtis Hertel, and will be reported in a few weeks.