State Rep. Ann Bollin, R-Brighton Township, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement today following the Whitmer administration’s budget presentation:

“While the governor paints a rosy picture with her budget, beneath the surface lies a stark reality: Most of the new programs she has proposed only benefit a select few. I don’t think there’s anything in there that benefits all Michiganders.

“Gov. Whitmer touts an expansion of free breakfast and lunch for Michigan students, but she’s excluded kids whose families choose alternative education options. Aren’t they hungry, too?

“The governor claims she’s fixing the roads but if you look deeper, you see she is taking out another $700 million in bonds, putting our state further into debt to put up more orange barrels on state highways. Meanwhile, the local roads that take us from driveway to highway continue to be ignored.

“While I appreciate her commitment to setting more money aside in the state’s rainy-day fund, the governor is straying from the path we have laid for paying off debt. She wants to shift money away from funding teachers’ retirement benefits in order to move up the goalpost for her free preschool program. We should continue paying off debt, instead of rushing into a program many schools don’t even have the staff to operate.

“We also heard a lot about free community college for all. Is this really the best investment of our tax dollars? We should be focused on improving student performance in our high schools and elementary schools, instead of putting people into two-year colleges to try to make up for learning loss during the Covid shutdowns.

“Thankfully, the presentation we heard today is just the start of the budget process. I’m looking forward to delving deeper into the budget and working on behalf of the people I represent to make sure their tax dollars are used effectively.”

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