Representative Mike Hoadley-MI 99th district responds to the Governor’s State of the State address given on 1/24/2024:
The Governor’s Speech sounded more like a showcase showdown from The Price Is Right game show than a serious assessment of the current condition and future of our state. Her speech, which was tailored to music themes of the 80’s, described a familiar list of radical social policies and big government spending. While the Governor’s loyal followers may have been entertained by the made for T.V. antics, the Democrat extremist prize package does not deliver for the people of Michigan, and the Price Is NOT Right!
The Governor’s “greatest hits” deserve a dose of reality:
Leading with abortion, the partisan, extreme “Reproductive Health Act” passed into law by Democrats disregarded what voters wanted when they passed Proposal 3. The RHA eliminated basic health and safety standards, and other common-sense, long-standing protections that were in place under Roe v. Wade. They repealed basic health and safety standards for abortion clinics, eliminated screening for coercion and legalized partial birth abortions. Fortunately, Democrats could only garner support for part of their far-left agenda. They failed to eliminate parental consent and could not pass taxpayer funding for abortions. But unfortunately, after the Governor’s victory lap, we expect they will keep trying to pass these extreme and unpopular proposals.
The Governor outlined her budget priorities. Michigan had a historic opportunity in 2023 to make strong, targeted investments in our infrastructure, improve our schools and increase public safety. Instead, Democrats spent our $9 billion surplus on political payoffs and endless government programs. That is nothing to celebrate as the governor did. It is a lesson we should learn from and prevent from happening again this year. Democrats spent more than $100 million on pork barrel projects like pools, theaters, boxing gyms, solar farms, and opera houses. They turned down Republican’s $100 million plan to recruit and equip new police officers. That’s not a real plan to make life better in our state.
Regarding Economic development, the Governor’s own population council recently highlighted Michigan’s lack of a coordinated economic growth plan. Gov. Whitmer’s ‘handout of the day’ band-aid approach to job creation is apparent to everyone, and it is a big part of the reason Michigan ranks 39th in personal incomes and 49th in population growth. It is well past time we had a real plan to improve Michigan’s economy and grow our state. In the same speech the Governor promised “big things” in economic development, she also patted herself on the back for raising utility rates across the state. It is hard to be successful in anything when the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. The Governor however did unveil one specific economic plan, and just like everything else the Democrats have introduced over the last year it is focused less on creating jobs and more on pushing a liberal social agenda. Specifically, the Governor plans to hand out our tax dollars to companies that promote DEI initiatives, buy into the green energy boondoggles she supports and promote unionization. Michigan can’t tax and spend its way to prosperity. Legislating personal politics will never lower unemployment. The Governor’s home loans won’t fix our housing market, help families afford rent or own homes in Michigan. It will spend significant federal dollars on the Governor’s political allies with artificially inflated costs due to prevailing wage. We need a real plan to make it easier to build, rent or own a home in this state, not a handful of subsidies for a select few.
When it comes to Energy, Gov. Whitmer’s green energy mandates are plainly wrong for Michigan families. The mandates will nearly double electric rates, shut down existing power plants and make our grid far more unstable than it currently is. Above all, Lansing Democrats stripped local control of green energy siting away for our local communities. Now, the Michigan Public Service Commission will be allowed to make decisions on your behalf, rather than those individuals you elected to make these decisions. Instead of celebrating the plan, we should be talking about how to repeal it to keep the lights on and the monthly bills low for the families we represent. Michigan families are already paying far too much for a grid that isn’t reliable. When you talk to people in our communities, you understand they are struggling to make ends meet and they are sick and tired of paying so much for power that goes out every time there’s bad weather. The last thing they want is a plan to increase rates and switch us over to more unreliable energy sources. That scheme was absolutely tone deaf, and I’m disappointed it was thunderously applauded on the House floor.
Again regarding road funding and fixing the damn roads, the Governor’s top campaign promise from 2018 is still undone. All signs appear that Democrats have simply given up on fixing Michigan’s crumbling roads and bridges. Over Republican objections, the Democrat budget last year sent no new funding to local road agencies. And now the Governor’s big announcement was simply ‘spending’ more money on state highways - again neglecting local infrastructure. It is clear “fix the damn roads” was nothing more than a campaign slogan for Gov. Whitmer. While she’s great at mentioning it in debates and in speeches for the cameras, she hasn’t attempted to work with Republicans to create a real plan to get it done. Our local roads and bridges are falling apart, and we need her to care as much about fixing the problem as she does about using it for applause lines. Gov. Whitmer and House Democrats rejected Republican proposals to spend more of our state’s budget surplus on local road and bridge repairs. Instead, the Governor announced taking another $700 million in loans that will put our kids and grandkids further into debt. That is no way to plan for our state’s future.
She bragged about historic school funding. House Democrats promoted their $21.5 billion school budget last June as “the largest educational investment in Michigan’s history” but the Governor claimed more is needed. You don’t have to hold an advanced degree in mathematics to see something doesn’t add up. Gov. Whitmer has all sorts of plans for political spending in schools, and last year’s budget included billions of dollars in pork barrel favors for political allies. But simply spending money isn’t a plan. We heard no plan that fixes the fundamentals and give students a path to a good-paying career. For all the record funding and new programs the governor chose to highlight, seven out of ten fourth graders can’t read at a proficient level. And seven out of ten sixth graders are not proficient in math. Instead of lowering standards and politicizing school funding, we need to get back to the fundamentals and work together on a real plan to raise student performance. Gov. Whitmer’s call for vast new spending plans in education rings hollow. Schools have record funding, increases in education funding outpace inflation, and the Democrats’ most recent budget spent millions on Zen Zone meditation centers for teachers, hip hop academies, and political payoffs. The problem remains in falling performance and test scores. I am incredibly disappointed that we heard nothing about addressing the real problem. The best the Governor could do on education was to promote a reheated plan that already exists to expand preschool. Michigan ranks 43rd in high school graduation and 44th in SAT scores. Our students and parents need real solutions and bold plans to fix our Schools.
Lastly regarding taxes, Gov. Whitmer highlighted all sorts of new small carveouts she put in the tax code to pick winners and losers, and reward political allies. What she didn’t say was that Michigan’s income tax went up for every single taxpayer and small business in the state earlier this month. After blowing through Michigan’s entire budget surplus, Whitmer and Michigan Democrats had to raise taxes on Jan 1st to get their new bloated budget to balance. People are struggling under the weight of inflation and a stagnant local economy. They need tax relief. Unfortunately, the governor only wants to give tax credits to a small handful of people she selects. We need a real plan that helps everyone keep more of their hard-earned dollars in their pockets. The Governor’s biggest victory last year was repealing the retirement tax and thanks to Republicans it includes more retirees. Her original proposal would have raised the income tax rate and treated thousands of seniors unfairly. Republicans fought to keep those provisions out and return more hard-earned dollars to more taxpayers. It is too expensive to live in Michigan, seniors and families are struggling to make ends meet. The governor loves to talk about growing our population, but she doesn’t have a plan to make life more affordable. She just says a lot of nice things about a budget that spent all our money and the tax changes that leave most tax payers out in the cold.
