Today, MIGOP launched yet another bogus “bad faith” attack ad against Governor Whitmer, this time in an attempt to distract Michiganders from the total lack of solutions their entire gubernatorial slate has offered working families that address the critical issue of infrastructure. More than $4.5 million has been spent leveling false attacks on Whitmer’s leadership since the start of the 2022 cycle.
The ad is rife with blatant inaccuracies. Here’s the truth:
Governor Whitmer Has Delivered Historic Investments in Michigan’s Roads and Bridges
Since taking office, Governor Whitmer has remained committed to her campaign pledge to fix the damn roads, investing “nearly 4.75 billion” to date that has gone towards making critical repairs and replacements to nearly 13,200 lane miles of roads and over 900 bridges – a major undertaking that has supported nearly 82,000 jobs.
She secured $229M in the previous state budget for road and environmental infrastructure to improve or fully replace 100 local bridges.
And just last week, Governor Whitmer once again worked across the aisle to strike “a major budget deal” with legislative Republicans that secured “$4.7 billion in state surplus and federal stimulus funds to upgrade aging infrastructure.” This bipartisan infrastructure supplemental includes dedicated funding for local roads.
Ensuring these critical repairs can continue to be made to Michigan’s roads and bridges through the 2023 fiscal year, Governor Whitmer demonstrated that infrastructure remains a top priority by calling for a $6.3 billion dollar investment in new road and bridge funding, up 20% from the previous year.
Governor Whitmer Expedited Key Repairs Without Raising Taxes
To combat an “abnormal freeze-thaw cycle,” Governor Whitmer began this March by issuing an executive directive to speed up pothole repairs across Michigan, a move that clearly communicated to the state’s Department of Transportation that workers should be “prioritizing road maintenance” over other responsibilities – all without raising taxes.
Additionally in 2020, Whitmer initiated the Rebuilding Michigan Plan, a program focused on directing $3.5 billion in funding to 122 projects centered on Michigan’s most-traveled roads, including I-496, U.S. 127, and I-94. These investments were also secured without impacting taxpayers.
Republican Gubernatorial Candidates Have Either Actively Refused to Prioritize Michigan’s Infrastructure or Have Offered No Solutions to Do So
Out of the 12 Republicans angling to be Michigan’s next governor, not a single one has offered plans or solutions to build on the strides Whitmer has made to bolster Michigan’s infrastructure:
- Tudor Dixon dismissed the federal infrastructure bill as “fake.”
- James Craig used his failed campaign reboot to broadcast that infrastructure was not “one of my priorities.”
- Garrett Soldano gave a vague broad criticism of the infrastructure bill, failing to address the thousands of good-paying jobs it would bring to Michigan.
- Despite having an issue page that addresses relitigating the 2020 election, Kevin Rinke hasn’t bothered to acknowledge the importance of infrastructure to Michigan’s economy and workforce.
