LANSING– The following statement is in response to Governor Whitmer’s budget presentation today:
“Hard-working Michigan families and seniors deserve these critical investments for schools, infrastructure, the environment, health, and housing outlined in the Governor’s budget proposal,” said MoReno Taylor II, Executive Director of the Fund MI Future coalition. “However, there is still much work to be done to remedy decades of underfunding by Lansing lawmakers. Michiganders from Detroit to the UP are clamoring for high-quality schools, clean air and water, accessible and affordable childcare, and the public services that help create prosperity for all.”
A recent survey by EPIC-MRA on behalf of the State Innovation Exchange (SiX) found overwhelming support from Michiganders for funding these types of priorities. For example, 87 percent of respondents support “providing additional state funding to provide assistance to the needs of different children, especially those in special education, learning English, living in poverty, or living in isolated, rural areas” and 84 percent support state officials using most of those funds to provide additional funding for road repairs, needed improvements to aging school buildings, and water infrastructure upgrades.
“When wealthy individuals and billion-dollar corporations start paying what they really owe, we will have the revenue we need to fully fund critical programs,” said Kermit Williams, Co-Executive Director of Oakland Forward, which is a member of the Fund MI Future coalition. “Students in special education will receive the one-on-one support they need. Parents won’t have to wait six months to get connected to mental health resources for their kids. Roads will be smooth and buses will run on time. Although these new budget investments have been framed as historic, they are in truth just the beginning. We look forward to having more substantive conversations with the Legislature and Whitmer administration regarding their plans to solve our state’s structural funding challenges.”
In this week’s State of the Union address, Williams noted that President Biden called on Congress to “finally” make the wealthiest and biggest corporations begin to pay their fair share. “Look, I’m a capitalist,” Biden said. “But pay your fair share. … The idea that in 2020, 55 of the largest corporations in America, the Fortune 500, made $40 billion in profits and paid zero in federal taxes? Zero? Folks, it’s simply not fair.”
Fund MI Future is a joint effort of community organizations, unions of working people, and policy experts. FMF is working to create shared prosperity for all Michiganders by fully and fairly funding our public services like schools, roads, and clean water.