This fall, I supported a bi-partisan budget that provided record funding for a number of initiatives and programs without a single tax increase. The budget provided record funding for roads and bridges, record funding for public schools, funding for services that would help veterans, farmers, and children with autism, and increased support for law enforcement and public safety.
When signing budget bills for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2019, we learned Governor Whitmer line item vetoed 147 budget items, totaling roughly $947 million. Included in those vetoes was $375 million for roads, $35 million in per-pupil funding for 150,000 public charter students, $4.25 million for veterans services, roughly $1.5 million for autism services, $13 million for the Secondary Road Patrol program, and $500,000 for programs that assist farmers in managing stress during difficult times. All of this was done in an attempt to get the legislature to negotiate a 45-cent gas tax increase, something Michiganders widely oppose.
In response, my colleagues and I introduced 23 separate supplemental appropriation bills to reinstate some of the vetoed funding. My bill, House Bill 5074, would reinstate $13 million for the Secondary Road Patrol program. This funding provides county sheriffs with the ability to hire additional personnel to patrol secondary roads throughout the state, and I know firsthand how critical the secondary road patrol program is for rural communities through my 19-year career as a sheriff’s deputy. The safety of our communities should never have been held hostage for a widely unpopular 45-cent gas tax increase, and I hope the governor reverses course and adequately restores funding to this vital program.