LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer delivered her second State of the State address in Lansing Wednesday night.
Noting that the presentation would be shorter than usual, Whitmer touched on topics such as roads, education, jobs and health care. During her speech, Whitmer touched on her new plan for repairing roads in Michigan.
“It’s time for Plan B,” Whitmer said. “For those of you who want to keep playing games, I’m going to press on without you. I’m going to use the power of my office to do what I said I was going to do, because for me, for Michigan, impatience is a virtue.”
Governor Whitmer’s new plan for fixing the roads will come in the form of the Rebuilding Michigan plan, which will add an additional $3.5 billion in road funding. It will also add and expand 122 major new road projects and nearly double the amount available to fix roads over the next five years.
The funds will come via road bonds.
“Tomorrow, I will ask the State Transportation Commission to issue state road bonds so we can start fixing the roads now,” Whitmer said. “My Rebuilding Michigan plan is financed without an increase at the gas pump, and it will do three things – save time, save money, and save lives. Since it doesn’t require the legislature to act, we can get started right away, and that’s important. Cutting down on the time we take to repair Michigan’s most frequently traveled trunk lines and state roads is fiscally responsible.”
Whitmer clarified that these bonds will only address “the worst of our most highly-traveled state roads,” noting that a long-term solution is still needed.
Whitmer then talked about employment in Michigan, noting the recent boost in automotive industry jobs including the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant.
“Our deal with Ford Motor Company will create 3,000 jobs, producing the first-ever fully-electric F150, securing Michigan’s pole position in mobility innovation,” Whitmer said. “And just this week, we worked with General Motors to announce more than $2.2 billion investment in their Detroit-Hamtramck facility. I know you remember a year ago that that plant was on the closure list, and now we’re adding 2,000 new jobs for Michiganders.”
Whitmer noted that many Michigan residents do not work in the auto industry, however.
“Many Michigan residents have a job, the problem is that many have to have more than one,” Whitmer said. “43% of our neighbors cannot afford basic expenses, like food and housing. That means on a block with five families, at least two are barely getting by. Michiganders need stability and better pay so we can save more.”
Whitmer also talked about overtime benefits being more accessible to citizens.
“Right now, only workers making $35,000 or less have overtime rights,” Whitmer said. “That threshold is too low. I’ve directed the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity to expand the right to overtime pay to tens of thousands of Michigan workers. If you’re on the clock, you deserve to get paid.”
Additionally, Whitmer talked about literacy rates for for public school students in the state.
“We’ve already tripled the number of literacy coaches in the state,” Whitmer said. “The next step is to have the literacy coaches train the educators to better identify and support struggling readers. We can get ahead of this problem if we start early, but our work cannot stop with early literacy. All Michigan students should have the opportunity to go to properly-funded schools. The ‘one size fits all’ approach does not work. Any teacher can tell you that every student has potential, but their needs are often very different.”
Whitmer added that she encourages all students to make a plan for after high school in addition to filling out their individual FAFSA forms.
Finally, Whitmer rounded out the evening with a discussion on various health care topics. Adding to her efforts to cut down the rate of opioid related deaths, Whitmer will take these measures a step further.
“In the coming months, I will create a task force that will focus on prescription drug transparency and lowering costs,” Whitmer said. “Because if you can’t afford to fill a prescription, you could wind up in the ER or worse.”
Her health care discussion also touched on better care for new mothers.
“My administration is working to ensure a safe healthy environment for all new moms, especially moms of color,” Whitmer said. “This year, my budget proposal will extend health coverage for low-income women who have had babies. We will extend postpartum care from 60 days to one full year after giving birth. We are going to ask a woman what she wants.”
Other topics touched in in the field of healthcare included access to treatment for substance addiction and mental health, as well as home visiting programs.
Whitmer also noted that efforts will be made to “eliminate the disparities in care for new moms of color.”
“Right now, black women in Michigan are three times more likely than white women to die of pregnancy-related causes,” Whitmer said. “That is a staggering disparity, so I’m working with Michigan’s medical community to address it.
Here’s the bottom line – the health of our state is only as good as the health of our residents.”
Whitmer ended her speech by reiterating that “impatience is a virtue,” and that waiting to act only makes things worse.
“In 2020, in Michigan, we can afford to be a little impatient…Let’s fight for [our children], not with each other,” Whitmer said.
Both Sen. Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, the GOP Senate majority leader, and House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R- Levering, are now expected to respond to the address on Thursday morning.
