Gretchen Whitmer Lies About Her Fiscal Record

Lansing, MI – A new report calls out Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s dishonesty when it comes to Michigan’s state debt. The governor has frequently exaggerated how much her administration has paid down the state debt, most recently bragging that she has paid it down by $28 billion. But the State Budget Office (SBO) tells a different story.

Rather than telling Michiganders the truth about how the state debt has increased during her tenure, Whitmer regularly cites a figure that represents payments on the state’s obligations and frames it as paying down the total debt, when, in fact, Michigan’s overall debt has gone up. When the governor took office, Michigan’s debt sat at $5.5 billion, and it has increased to $6.6 billion despite Whitmer’s repeated claims that the state’s “fiscal house is in order.”

To make matters worse, many of the debt payments Whitmer’s administration has made were required by law. Governor Rick Snyder made a plan in the early 2010s to pay for all of Michigan’s unfunded liabilities by 2038 and signed laws to that effect. Gretchen Whitmer is simply taking credit for following the law.

This report comes shortly after the governor’s most recent executive budget recommendation, which includes a massive increase in spending, raising more than $800 million in new revenue through taxes and fees, and raiding the state’s rainy day fund to the tune of $400 million dollars.

“Gretchen Whitmer is spending more than ever but telling Michiganders that she’s being fiscally responsible,” said Gabe Butzke, a spokesperson for Michigan Forward Network. “That couldn’t be further from the truth. Whitmer’s years in office have been a never-ending saga of waste, reckless spending, and dishonesty.”