LANSING (AP) - Gov. Jennifer Granholm plans to focus her 2006 State of the State address today on familiar themes: improving the state's economy to create more jobs and strengthening education so more workers can get high-tech jobs.

"The governor knows that our state is hurting," Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said yesterday. "The governor has a plan. She's working her plan. Citizens can expect to hear more steps of that plan tomorrow."

Focusing on jobs and education are nothing new for the Democratic governor, who gave her first State of the State address in 2003.

Since Republican Gov. John Engler left office in December 2002, Michigan has gained back nearly 95,000 of the jobs it lost in the recession and afterward.

But the state still has 180,000 fewer jobs than the 4.98 million it had during its mid-2000 peak, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Some of the initiatives Granholm will talk about Wednesday have been redrawn to make them more acceptable to the Republicans who control the state Senate and House.

Her plan to reward students who complete at least two years of college or technical training with scholarship money, for instance, now gives some of the money up front for use during those first two years to students who do well on standardized high school tests.

Under her plan, the Michigan Merit Award would give those students $1,000 each of their first two years of school - whether that's at a community college, university or other training - and give them another $2,000 if they earn a two-year associate's degree or become juniors at a four-year university while maintaining a minimum 2.5 grade point average.

If students didn't do well on the high school test, they could get the full $4,000 by finishing two years of college.

Granholm also will propose a $1 billion plan to provide health insurance to half of the million state residents who don't have coverage.

The Michigan First Health Partnership would be paid for with state and federal dollars.

It's designed to lessen some of the strain the uninsured put on the economy and businesses, Boyd said, and is part of the governor's broader efforts to improve the state's economic climate and quality of life.

Granholm also wants to use education programs at schools, offices and churches to help better promote healthy lifestyles and push for setting up an electronic network to consolidate health care information for providers.

Republican lawmakers also are pushing for more technology in health care recordkeeping.

The governor's main education initiative will be to urge lawmakers to support a plan requiring high school students to take four classes each in math and English, three each in science and social science, two in world languages and one each in physical education and the arts.

After-school programs to help middle-school students with math, science and computer technology also will get attention, with the governor proposing to use state money to get more
programs going.

Some House Republicans have proposed their own plan for stiffer high school requirements.

Under their proposal, high school students could, with their parents' permission, opt out of the college-prep curriculum and instead begin receiving vocational training in their freshman year. They would not need to take a foreign language class to graduate.

Senate Majority Leader Sikkema and House Speaker Crag DeRoche, both Republicans, will respond to the governor's hour-long address with a Capitol news conference following the speech.

The Michigan Green Party has taped a 20-minute response that will be shown on Michigan Government TV at 8:20 p.m. EST today.

"The governor has a plan. She's working her plan. Citizens can expect to hear more steps of that plan tomorrow."

- Liz Boyd
Spokeswoman for Granholm