Governor Gretchen Whitmer turned to a governor’s rarely used executive authority to finish up the new state budget. She then called for talks to resume on road funding.
Governor Whitmer used her veto pen to strike out 147 line items. She also asked for and got approval from a state board to move around almost 600 million dollars to better fit her budget priorities.
Whitmer says she struck one-time funds for roads from the budget because it’s not enough to fix the problem. And she says the Pure Michigan tourism campaign was a tough cut.
She says the actions were necessary to set the stage for new negotiations with the Legislature’s leaders.
“I want the people of Michigan to rest assured, this is not the end of the conversation. It’s just the beginning.”
Whitmer says she’s asked for a meeting this week with the Legislature’s Republican and Democratic leaders to begin anew bargaining on a new-and-improved version of this state budget.