Yesterday, Governor Whitmer announced the creation of a new state office to better distribute the billions of dollars Michigan is expected to receive as a result of the historic and bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act becoming law. The Michigan Infrastructure Office will work with the Legislature and other state departments to effectively utilize the billions of dollars in job-creating appropriations from the new law.
Meanwhile, Republicans running for governor in their crowded and messy primary have not indicated that they would take similar action to address this once-in-a-generation opportunity to tackle Michigan’s most critical issue:
- Tudor Dixon dismissed the federal infrastructure bill as “fake.”
- James Craig used his failed campaign reboot to broadcast that all aspects of infrastructure was not “one of my priorities.”
- Despite having issues pages that address relitigating the 2020 election, neither Garrett Soldano nor Kevin Rinke bothered to acknowledge the importance of infrastructure to Michigan’s economy and workforce.
In contrast, Governor Whitmer has worked to fix the damn roads. She secured $229M in the most recent state budget for road and environmental infrastructure to improve or fully replace 100 local bridges, aid local municipalities with future extreme weather preparation, and replace lead water pipes. And since taking office, Whitmer has delivered nearly $6.4 billion to make critical repairs and replacements to nearly 13,200 lane miles of roads and over 900 bridges.
MDP spokesperson Rodericka Applewhaite issued the following statement:
“Since taking office, Governor Whitmer has shown that she’ll work with anyone and set up the tools necessary to keep Michigan first and improve the infrastructure that maintains the strength of our economy and workforce. By contrast, James Craig, Tudor Dixon, Garrett Soldano and Kevin Rinke have remained entirely focused on relitigating the results of an election they didn’t like and have failed to offer – or even taken stands against – plans to invest in Michigan’s infrastructure.”
