Editorial: Don't pay for police with temporary surplus

Add police and prosecutors to the lineup of groups seeking a cut of what's being billed as a state budget "surplus." Their push for some of the overage expected from the 2011 and 2012 fiscal years is another aspect of the challenge Gov. Rick Snyder faces in his effort to avoid spending every dollar whenever it looks like the state treasury will have some extra money.

Public assistance advocates, K-12 school officials and municipalities are other, arguably worthy interests staking claims to a portion of those dollars.

Neither Snyder nor the Legislature's leaders should let themselves be stampeded into quickly carving up money the state is fortunate to have following a decade of shortfalls and austerity measures. There are billions of dollars in unfunded public worker retirement mandates and a depleted rainy day fund. Great care should be used in deciding what to do with temporary excess revenue.

While he didn't say so, Snyder's probably a bit irked that Attorney General Bill Schuette seemingly has upstaged his own proposal for improved public safety, which he's due to present in a special message in March.

Flanked Wednesday by prosecutors, victims' relatives and law officers such as Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee, Schuette urged lawmakers to devote $140 million of the leftover state revenue to the hiring of 1,000 police officers in the next two years. He also called for 25-year mandatory prison sentences for four-time felons and tougher penalties for law-breaking public officials.

There's merit in the plan. The Pew Center for the States, a nonpartisan public policy research organization, says there's evidence that putting more cops on the streets is a more effective crime preventative than issuing harsh prison sentences after criminals are caught and convicted.

Schuette notes that Michigan has gone backward in this respect. It has lost 3,200 police officers since 2001, even though it's home to four of the country's most-violent communities. Two Michigan cities, Detroit and Flint, are among the top 10 in homicide rates.

Schuette characterizes his proposal as a two-year start toward a safer Michigan, essential to our efforts to foster business and population growth.

But hiring 1,000 cops with two-year money would be risky. House Speaker Jase Bolger, R-Marshall, summed it up well.

"Mr. Schuette's plan uses one-time money for an ongoing spending commitment, which is not fiscally responsible," he told The Detroit News.

To put a finer point on the issue, he said the days of incurring unfunded spending commitments that will be passed on to our children and grandchildren "are over in Lansing." We hope that's true.

Snyder has promised he'll suggest ways to add police manpower at all levels. He'll also present ideas for increasing the efficiency of Michigan's court system and for using jobs to combat crime. Perhaps Schuette's proposals can be folded into his plan, which sounds like it will be more thorough.

And based on a year of experience under Snyder's governance, it seems pretty certain he won't ask us to meet long-term needs with short-term funds.