LANSING — Yesterday in Howell, President Biden once again stressed the benefits Michigan stands to gain should his Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act get passed as part of his Build Back Better agenda. The bill has already passed the U.S. Senate with broad bipartisan support and is estimated to bring over $7 billion to Michigan and create thousands of good-paying union jobs focused on fixing crumbling bridges and roads.
Governor Whitmer recently signed a $70 billion budget that features $229M slated for road and environmental infrastructure to improve or fully replace 100 local bridges, aid local municipalities with future extreme weather preparation, and replace Benton Harbor’s lead water lines. The resources from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act would supplement these improvements.
Meanwhile, the 12 candidates running for governor have spewed more hyperpartisan attacks on Governor Whitmer’s leadership rather than substantive solutions to Michigan’s biggest problems. None of them named infrastructure as a top priority. Kevin Rinke couldn’t manage to name any top priorities, telling MLive in September, “I didn’t give you a priority, whatsoever.”
James Craig actively refused to consider making improving Michigan’s infrastructure a priority after weeks of avoiding opportunities to disclose how he would tackle any issue of importance to Michiganders.
And back in August, Tudor Dixon panned Biden’s infrastructure bill as “fake,” underscoring her inability to put partisanship aside and evaluate good policy that puts working families first at face value.
MDP spokesperson Rodericka Applewhaite issued the following statement:
“Not one member of this crowded field of Republicans running for governor wants to come up with a single thing they would do for Michiganders because they know it’s easier to hurl hyperpartisan attacks rather than offer actual solutions. It’s unacceptable for candidates like James Craig, Tudor Dixon, and Kevin Rinke to have no real answer on infrastructure – one of the most crucial components of Michigan’s economy. Our working families deserve a leader that will keep them first. Governor Whitmer has and will continue to work across the aisle to maintain that by fixing the damn roads.”
