LANSING – In his first State of the State Address that hammered home a commitment to actions that could help business, and with a headlining enthusiastic endorsement of the controversial Detroit River International Crossing, Gov. Rick Snyder called on all residents of the state to take an active role in helping rebuild Michigan.

Snyder kept to the theme of the economy and economic development in the address, saying to applause, “Simply put, job one is jobs.” Ultimately all the proposals he put forward he said would either help companies save money or promote economic development and create more jobs in the state.

To that end he said Michigan residents could play a vital role in the effort by things as simple as patronizing Michigan entrepreneurs and companies. He called on Michigan to lead all other states in supporting its own entrepreneurs.

“You must challenge yourselves to be innovators,” he told state residents who watched the address on television or listened to it online or on the radio.

And he insisted that the “path to a bright future is in all of us.”

The address drew mostly praise for its optimistic tone and its inclusion of a number of issues important to both parties. But some specifics, such as ending the state’s item pricing law, drew some criticism.

Snyder skipped over any details of the budget he will present next month, markedly not reminding the state that his budget will have to include major cuts in spending – especially with an expected increase in the state’s deficit with his proposed elimination of the Michigan Business Tax.

Snyder made only brief mention of issues such as education, government reform and health care. He promised that in March he would give a special message on government reform and that in April he would give a special message on education.

Nor did he endorse the state adopting a single health care plan for all public workers, as some sources had earlier suggested he might. Though he did say the current government structure had left Michigan with an “unsustainable” $54 billion price tag in terms of pension and benefits.

But Snyder did roll out what he called the Michigan Dashboard, which he said will measure the state against other states on a series of different statistics. No other governor has used such a measurement against him or herself, he said, but he promised that he would measure his own performance as well as that of the state as a whole against that dashboard in every one of his State of the State addresses.

While the some 44-minute address was lacking in oratory, Snyder made up for it with a series of proposals in addition to his endorsement of the DRIC.

Snyder called for:

? Repealing the state’s item pricing law, which has been in place since the 1970s;

? Supporting funding of the “Pure Michigan” campaign at an annual rate of $25 million;

? Ending an effort to enact rules creating workplace ergonomic standards;

? Protecting farms that meet state environmental standards from lawsuits and excessive regulations;

? Revamping the Michigan Economic Development Corporation so that it is “better and stronger” and works in a more coordinated fashion with local and regional economic development agencies;

? Placing an emphasis on “economic gardening” that works to keep companies already located in Michigan satisfied more than hunting for new companies to locate in the state;

? Changing the scope of the 21st Century Jobs Fund to expand the types of industries that could be eligible for the program;

? Creating a new initiative to encourage highly skilled immigrants to move to and work in Michigan;

? Changes to the state’s revenue sharing system;

? Passing quickly a capital outlay budget that would add 117 new recreational land acquisition parcels to promote recreations and tourism; and

? Expanding urban outreach efforts by creating governor’s offices in Grand Rapids and the Flint-Saginaw area along with Detroit.

While he did not give out major specifics on areas such as education and health care, both through his address and the Michigan Dashboard, Snyder did enunciate some long-term goals such as ensuring that children can read by the third grade and that more students attend college.

He also called for creating a health care system that encourages individuals to have annual physicals, cuts smoking and reduces obesity. When that line got little applause, Snyder cracked that obviously some people were more excited about diet and exercise than others.

And in terms of government reforms, Snyder did call on the Legislature to rework the state’s emergency financial manager act. The current act lacks clarity on the powers of the financial manager (an issue that has come up over the authority of Detroit Public Schools Manager Robert Bobb) and does not allow for fast enough action in critical financial situations (which has come up in the request of Hamtramck to declare bankruptcy).

As he outlined his basic economy strategy, Snyder voiced a number of concepts that businesses and Republicans in general have supported. None got more support than his charge that “the role of government is to support success, not to pick winners or losers.”

But the address did not touch on ending any tax credits or incentive programs, which critics have said is the main way government has tried to pick winners.

In fact, in his call to revamp the MEDC, Snyder said the corporation needed to work with local development agencies to ensure both a “seamless delivery of services” and the “optimum use of incentive tools.”

But by far the biggest surprise was Snyder’s enthusiastic endorsement of DRIC, which drew one of the loudest ovations from legislative Democrats.

In the outline to his address, Snyder said the state needed a new bridge crossing between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. And while the outline touched on some of the critical selling points of the DRIC, it did not have Snyder endorsing the DRIC.

The dispute over the DRIC or a new bridge built by the owners of the Ambassador Bridge was a major fight for several years between former Governor Jennifer Granholm and legislative Republicans. And up to Wednesday’s address, Snyder had tread a careful line to not endorse the controversial crossing while saying the state needed greater access to its Canadian trading partner.

That was made manifest, he said, in last month’s blizzard in Ontario that shut down the critical Route 402 and closed the Bluewater Bridge at Port Huron to truck traffic, causing delays at the Ambassador Bridge.

With his endorsement, the current and last three former governors have all endorsed the DRIC.

But Snyder insisted the taxpayers would not be on the hook for debt on the issue. The Canadian government has already offered to front up to $550 million to help pay the state’s construction costs for access roads and ramps.

Snyder said he has brokered an agreement with the U.S. federal government that will allow those funds to be used as matching money to help finance road projects across the state. That pledge raised a cheer from lawmakers (and Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer later noted it was a Republican governor and Democrat presidential administration that brokered the deal).

Snyder also got a cheer, though slightly less enthusiastic, with his call to eliminate the item pricing law.

The law is a “relic” that should be repealed because it costs retailers and customers alike more than $2 billion a year, he said. Modern technology can provide adequate protection for consumers.

While retailers have called for years to end the item pricing law, it has remained popular with consumers.

And as he did throughout the campaign and in his inaugural, Snyder called for the state to adopt a positive attitude and be willing to accept “honesty, hard work and team work” to rebuild