When Britain’s Labour party took power in 1997 after 18 years of Conservative rule, their theme song was D:Ream’s “Things Can Only Get Better.” (You can even see Tony Blair “singing” it here.) The song served as Blair and New Labour’s version of “Don’t Stop (Thinking About Tomorrow)” that worked so well for Bill Clinton in 1992.

With the news filled not only with Michigan’s current woes, but also of our missed opportunities, I can’t think of a better summary of where we are as a state. Combined, the two songs provide some good advice for all of us who dream of (and are working towards) a brighter future for Michigan: Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow. Things can only get better.

On the economic front, former Public Service Commission official Martin Kushler, who currently directs the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, reported last week that the delay in enacting legislation to require that Michigan get a certain percentage of its energy from renewable sources could cost the state $300 million. “Michigan has to get ahead of the curve or it’s going to fall further behind,” said Kushler. And while the House Energy and Technology Committee passed RPS legislation yesterday, reports are that this was meant more as a public relations move ahead of the Governor’s State of the State speech next week, an impression that gained credence when committee member Jeff Mayes said that “This isn’t a finished product. … This is a work in progress.” More troubling, there is little action on the issue in the Republican-controlled Senate, which is unlikely to take action before March, if at all. It is this delay that Kushler reports could cost the state $300 million, in addition to all the other economic and jobs implications.

This week also brought us news from Mitch Albom that Michigan is doing “not nearly enough” to attract potential investment from the film industry. Albom, along with Michigan native and filmmaker Mike Binder, told the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee on Tuesday that Michigan could become a preferred site for the film industry “almost overnight” if the legislature were to boost their incentives to filmmakers. Albom also told the panel about his effort to have his newest film “For One More Day” made in Michigan. When the studio compared Michigan’s incentives to those in other states, they ultimately chose to make the film in Connecticut, a state that went from a $1 million film industry in 2006 to a $328 million industry last year. Importantly, these types of tax incentives are also fiscally responsible. After all, even a 40% incentive (such as the one being discussed) leaves the state with 60% of the tax, and 60% of $300 million in new investment is significantly more than 100% of nothing! A big move in attracting film industry investment is not only good for the state’s economy, it’s also sound budgetary policy.

This economic news is the same on the venture capital front, an area where I believe Michigan could do far better if our state government were to understand the opportunities and move to take advantage. According to the Midwest Health Care Venture Report, released earlier this week by BioEnterprise, health care start-ups in the region attracted $1.2 billion in venture investment in 2007. This represents a 55% increase, and far outpaces the national rate of growth. Michigan, however, was one of only two states in the region (Kentucky was the other) who saw a decline in both the number of deals (from 11 to 5) and investment (from $135.5 million in 2006 to $56.2 million last year). This reflects the same decline in investment we saw last year from the Great Lakes Capital Fund, which cut its investment in the state from $180 million to $40 million and asked “What in the world is going on in Michigan?”

In truth, we have real strengths in these areas, and local leaders are moving forward on plans to attract venture capital into the state (and into Northwest Michigan in particular), in areas that include medical device development and production, an area that represented 27% of the venture deals done in the Midwest in 2007. We also have strong local strengths on the cutting edge of renewable energy, an area that, according to my previous law firm attracted 10% of global venture capital in 2006. But we desperately need a legislature who understands these trends, and can move our state quickly to take advantage of these opportunities.

But while the economic issues are vitally important, there are other areas where we’re falling behind as well. I’ll just focus on two, but I think they’re representative of our underinvestment in education and protecting the natural resources so connected to our Up North way of life. The first is that, according to a study from the Grapevine Project, Michigan ranks 50th in state tax appropriations for higher education in terms of percent increase over the past ten years. That’s right: dead last. While other states are moving aggressively to educate and train tomorrow’s leaders in the New Economy, Michigan continues to fall further and further behind.

The same is true in protecting our natural resources. A joint report from the Heart of the Lakes Center for Land Conservation Policy and Michigan State University’s Land Policy Institute found that despite having some of the best natural resources in the country, Michigan ranked 47th our of the lower 48 states in terms of investment. Moreover, when researchers looked at what a state should be spending on environmental efforts, Michigan had the largest under-spending gap in the country!

What’s so frustrating out of all of this for me is not that Michigan doesn’t have opportunities to turn our state around. In renewable energy, opportunities to grow venture capital investment (even the possibilities of a homegrown film industry with national investment), the opportunities are there. Furthermore, with one of the best higher education systems in the nation, we have the educational infrastructure to compete with anyone in the world. And the quality of Michigan’s environment is breathtaking, and makes our state a destination for visitors across the country and around the world.

What’s frustrating is the lack of political engagement with these issues from too many in the legislature (on both sides of the partisan divide), who seemingly prefer political posturing to real progress. That’s the frustrating part. And that’s the reason I got in this race. I love this state. I was born here, grew up here, was educated here, and I live here. Michigan is my home. And our state – and our people – deserve better than what they’re getting out of Lansing.