Senators Cassis, Brown, Kahn, Basham, Anderson, Schauer and George offered the following resolution:

            Senate Resolution No. 129.

            A resolution opposing the proposed Triangle Project and urging the developers in good faith to discontinue the project in light of Michigan’s struggling economy and limited revenue and  expressing the intent of the Senate not to appropriate any money for the lease after the state of Michigan takes possession of the building.

            Whereas, The proposal for the new Department of State Police headquarters location is known as the Triangle Project and will be located at the corner of Grand Avenue and Kalamazoo Street in Lansing; and

            Whereas, The downtown facility has been controversial since it was first proposed in 2002. The initial project would have housed both the Department of State Police and the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. The scaled-back current version of the project was approved by the Joint Capital Outlay Committee in March 2007 and given final signoff by the State Administrative Board in August 2007; and

            Whereas, The current State Police headquarters is located at an adequate facility owned by Michigan State University and is leased for $1 a year. The new building would cost an estimated $92 million over the period of the 25-year lease; and

            Whereas, The original intent of the Triangle Project was to consolidate State Police operations at one central location. This project fails to consolidate the Emergency Operations Center, the Fusion Center, and warehouse facilities and does not incorporate adequate space for a staging area and a helicopter pad that are available at the current location; and

            Whereas, It is irresponsible for the state to continue to pursue this project at a time when citizens and businesses have had to bear the financial burden of two tax increases. Michigan has been fiscally challenged in the following ways: Michigan's October 2007 unemployment rate of 7.7 percent was the highest in the nation and 64 percent higher than the national rate of 4.7 percent. Since June 2000, Michigan has lost nearly 500,000 jobs representing 9.5 percent of our payroll. Michigan per capita personal income relative to the nation is at a historic low. In 2006, the Michigan per capita income was only 92 percent of the U.S. per capita income, which marks the lowest level since 1929. Michigan is in its seventh straight year of job losses, which is worse than the Great Depression; and  

            Whereas, There is a provision in the lease for canceling the lease during any period of possession of the property by the lessee, which possession will not occur until 2009, if the lessor is notified in writing as soon as the lessee learns that one of the following occur: (1) there is a specific prohibition arising out of the appropriation process using funds for the lease, or (2) the legislature fails to appropriate funds for the purpose of paying rent under the lease; and

            Whereas, The Triangle Project provides for the construction of a facility in a very confined urban  space. In light of the potential terrorist challenges we face today, it does not make sense to risk the dangers posed by placing such an important security facility in a very confined urban space and an exposed area; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the Senate, That we urge the developers in good faith to discontinue the project in light  of Michigan's struggling economy and limited revenue; and be it further

            Resolved, That it is the intent of the Senate not to appropriate any money for the lease after the state of Michigan takes possession of the building; and be it further

            Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the Department of State Police and to the Governor of Michigan.