(The Center Square) – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Growing Michigan Council includes no one under 25, no one from the Upper Peninsula, and the co-leader, John Rakolta Jr, lives and votes in Florida.
The Detroit News first reported the story.
Currently, the council is violating its own rules requiring one voting member to be under 25 years old. The council currently has just one person younger than 40.
More than 40,000 people have left Michigan since 2020. In response, Whitmer gathered what was promised to be a bipartisan commission of in-state experts to find strategic solutions to prevent population loss and attract new companies to Michigan
Rep. Angela Rigas, R-Caledonia, says Michigan’s dropping population is a “Trojan horse” for future tax hikes on working families statewide that must fund Democrat’s “ridiculous” record $82 billion budget for 2024.
To attract more population, Rigas said Michigan lawmakers should lower taxes and cut regulation to compete with population hotspots such as Texas, Florida, and Tennessee.
“It’s no wonder the commission co-chair lives and votes in Florida,” Rigas said in a statement. “Jobs and young families don’t tend to move where salaries are low, taxes are high and regulation is out of control. Everyone wants out of Whitmer’s lockdown-state, including the head of the team she assembled to bring people here.”
Whitmer’s 2024 budget will increase government workers by roughly 1,000, boost the Department of Education’s funding by 54%, and include about $1 billion in pork spending. Since 2020, Whitmer has created the Office of Future Mobility and Electricification, the High-Speed Internet Office, and others.
Instead, Rigas said every Michigan government could be cut by at least 20% “without any major impact on Michigan’s government.”
“The budget the Democrats just forced through is so overinflated it wouldn’t even be difficult,” Rigas told The Center Square in an email. “In recent years, Michigan’s line-items or ‘special projects’ have gotten out of control. It does not cost over $80 billion to run this state effectively. Democrats are overcharging citizens. They noticed. And they’re leaving because of it. If we focused our efforts on improving infrastructure and lowering taxes, our revenue stream and population count would skyrocket. But this Democrat trifecta remains completely unwilling to compromise or negotiate.”
Whitmer’s office hasn’t responded to a request for comment about the council and whether its composition represents all Michiganders. She previously indicated she would soon appoint a council member under 25, but it hasn’t yet happened.
