Southwest Michigan lawmakers are reacting to Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s State of the State address, delivered Wednesday night.
Democratic state Representative Joey Andrews tells us he thought the address was a good recap of things accomplished over the last eight years, especially during the Democratic trifecta in Lansing. He was glad to hear the governor address housing, the issue on the minds of many leaders. Andrews noted the governor highlighted legislation just announced this week to reduce zoning restrictions and cut through permitting delays.
“Duplexes right in residential areas, reducing parking minimums, reducing setbacks, and increasing minimum unit sizes, and basically making it easier to build different types of and denser types of housing in residential areas,” Andrews said.
Andrews added Whitmer’s proposals to address medical debt could be a heavier lift in the Legislature, but are worth pursuing.
“I think a lot of that is really good policy because you get sick and then your whole life falls apart because you can’t afford the bill. You should get to focus on getting well and not having to worry about how you’re going to pay for it.”
As for childhood literacy, Andrews says that’s a pretty bipartisan issue and he believes bills are soon to be introduced.
Meanwhile, giving the official Republican response was state Senator Aric Nesbitt, who had a different take on Whitmer’s calls to improve education.
“Governor Whitmer finally wants to talk about solving the literacy crisis,” Nesbitt said. “About time. But what she won’t talk about is how she gutted standards with Lansing Democrats. Or how she vetoed millions and millions of dollars to help kids recover lost learning after her COVID lockdowns.”
Nesbitt called Whitmer out on what he said have been her failures.
“For eight years, Governor Whitmer has had a bad habit of saying all the right things and then doing all the wrong things. And she’s hoping you’ll forget. But we haven’t forgotten because we’re living with the consequences.”
Nesbitt said Michigan has been worse off under Whitmer by just about every metric. Andrews says Democrats will get to work on priorities she spelled out, telling us he felt the address had “something for everybody.”
This was Whitmer’s final State of the State.
