2007 Senate Bill 863: Ban replacing one-dollar State Police HQ lease with $3.7 million lease from developer

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Introduced by Sen. Cameron Brown (R) on October 30, 2007, to prohibit going forward with a 25-year, annual $3.7 million lease of a new State Police headquarters in downtown Lansing (the “Triangle Project” owned by developer and prominent Democratic Party activist Joel Ferguson) to replace the headquarters the state now leases from Michigan State University for $1 per year under a contract that ends in 2030. The new project is supported by Gov. Jennifer Granholm and has already been granted the necessary approval by the state administrative board.
- Referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee on October 30, 2007.

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1) veto power by Anonymous Citizen on November 7, 2007
She does have veto power, but the reality is every one of our Senators and Representatives should be climbing over each others backs to get on board in support of this legislation, as Jenny has said it is full steam ahead. In the House version, there were 52 or so co-sponsors, including some Dem's. With those numbers, provided it gets to a vote, there should be enough for an overide. If the legislation fails, then you have a developer that is taking a chance that the money will be appropriated late next year at budget time. If the money is not appropriated, there is a clause in the lease that lets the State off without penalty. I know if I was a developer, and the potential occupants were hedging even a little on moving forward, I would be reluctant to dump $39 million in to building it. Oh yeah, $39 million to build it, then lease it back over 25 years for a total of $116.7 million, that makes a lot of sense.
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2) Granholm's payback by Anonymous Citizen on November 6, 2007
Word on the street is that the high cost lease is a payback from Granholm to some of the sponsors who got her elected.

Banning it is almost as good as killing it outright. But doesn't Granholm have veto power?
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3) total by Anonymous Citizen on November 6, 2007
total payment over 25 years equals $116.7 million dollars. Their own Senate fiscal agency analysis says the state could do the same exact building, manage it in the same way, and do it for $45 million dollars less, and they could put it on state-owned property that would give them enough room for everything they need that this project is lacking (parking, warehousing, helicopter pad, staging area, emergency operations center, etc). Funny how that government math works.
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