ICYMI: The Detroit News Slams Gretchen Whitmer’s New Budget

Lansing, MI – Yesterday, The Detroit News editorial board released a scathing review of Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s final executive budget recommendation, and called on the Republican-led Michigan House of Representatives to continue the fight for fiscal responsibility.

They called out Gretchen Whitmer’s waste of the massive surplus she started with in 2023:

Just three years ago, Michigan was sitting on a $9 billion surplus thanks to a massive infusion of federal COVID-era grants and higher tax revenue. That money is all gone, largely spent on one-time projects and for increased education funding that has not paid off in better school performance. Almost nothing was done to improve Michigan's long-term financial structure.

The board also hit the governor on her horrible track record when it comes to fiscal responsibility and spending money the state does not have: 

The governor is setting the state up for structural deficits to extend well beyond her tenure unless future legislatures and governors continue to deplete the $2 billion emergency fund or pass broad tax hikes.

Notably, this executive recommendation comes with a price tag nearly $30 billion higher than Gretchen Whitmer’s first budget – a 52% increase. In order to pay for this massive increase, the governor is proposing to raise or create at least half a dozen new taxes, including raising hunting and fishing license fees.

In last year’s budget, House Republicans were able to find and cut hundreds of millions of dollars of waste, fraud, and abuse, while still funding the things that matter to Michigan families, like finally fixing the roads and supporting public safety.

“Gretchen Whitmer’s final budget recommendation is just another in a long list of examples of how out of touch she is with the average Michigander,” said Gabe Butzke, a spokesperson for Michigan Forward Network. “After spending seven years wasting billions of taxpayer dollars with little to show for it, the governor has the audacity to ask for even more.”