LANSING, Mich. — State Sen. Rick Outman, R-Six Lakes, issued the following statement on Wednesday in response to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s 2023 State of the State address:
“Like years past, I’m skeptical of how much she means of what she said tonight after her actions have shown us differently over the last few years. This is now the fifth time she has called for bipartisan efforts during a State of the State address, however throughout the last term, bipartisan legislation was met with veto after veto — including tax relief for families, seniors and veterans. She has had more vetoes than any other governor in the last 70 years.
“I hope we can move past everything being ‘my way or the highway’ and get these things done.
“I think the biggest thing we need to focus on is carefully looking at the state’s budget surplus and considering how to responsibly get some of that money back to the people who sent it here in the first place. We did it last term, and if the governor will live up to the words we heard tonight, we can get it done again.
“In my role as minority vice chair of the Senate’s Appropriations Subcommittee on Department of Health and Human Services, I look forward to picking up where I left off last term and focusing on Michigan’s vulnerable families and getting the assistance where it is needed most.
“People are really hurting and we’re in a unique position to be able to afford to provide some meaningful help. Washington overspending has exacerbated the problems with inflation and Michigan can be a model for how to combat that.
“I’m ready to provide relief to working families, but I won’t support measures that over-regulate and put undue burdens on Michigan businesses, especially those in the agriculture industry. These are the people we need to be standing behind, not regulating out of business.”
###