10 Promises Whitmer Has Made As Michigan’s New Governor

MICHIGAN — Democrat Gretchen Whitmer has been elected as Michigan’s 49th governor after she defeated Republican contender and current attorney general Bill Schuette in Tuesday’s general election.

During her campaign, Whitmer focused a lot of roads, healthcare and education, but a report by Bridge shows 10 promises she made if she were elected governor.

Here’s an overview of what Whitmer’s focus areas will likely be and where she stands on them, plus helpful links to her full plan, according to the report:

Roads
Infrastructure arguably became Whitmer’s signature campaign issues with her “fix the damn roads” slogan.

She has pitched an infrastructure bank with $2 billion in state funds that would offer loans and grants to help local governments pay for infrastructure repairs, and Whitmer also said the bank could be used to leverage an additional $1 billion from the federal government.

Read Whitmer's plan to fix Michigan roads here.

Preschool and K-12 education

Whitmer wants all 4-year-olds in Michigan to be eligible for state-funded preschool. Just about a third of 117,000 Michigan 4-year-olds receive that instruction now.

Read Whitmer’s plan for better schools here.

College affordability

Whitmer wants the state to offer scholarships worth about $3,000 per year to Michigan high school graduates so they can attend two years of community college, university or postsecondary vocational education debt-free.

Read Whitmer’s plan for the MI Opportunity Scholarship here.

Jobs

Whitmer supports a $15 hourly minimum wage, phased in over three years. Michigan’s minimum wage is $9.25 per hour today and is set to rise with inflation in January 2019, though lawmakers recently adopted a citizen-initiated law to raise it to $12 an hour by 2022.

Read Whitmer’s plan to create jobs here.

Taxes

Whitmer has said she wants to eliminate a controversial tax on some retirement income, including pensions, that Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law in 2011 as part of a broader tax package that included roughly $2 billion in tax cuts for businesses.

Clean water

Whitmer has said she intends to create a Department of Great Lakes and Freshwater within state government and create a state infrastructure bank that could help fund replacement of lead drinking water pipes.

Read Whitmer’s plan for clean drinking water here.

Health care

Whitmer has touted her work as Senate Minority Leader in 2013 to help create a Medicaid expansion program in Michigan. That program, called Healthy Michigan, since has helped nearly 680,000 adults in the state get health insurance.

Read Whitmer’s plan for health care here.

Women’s reproductive health

Whitmer vows to repeal a state law that makes abortion criminal in the event that the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that legalized abortion. She also said she intends to increase state funding for family planning services.

Read Whitmer’s plan here.

Government transparency

Michigan ranks among the bottom of states for open-government laws, Bridge reported. Whitmer said she would expand the state Freedom of Information Act to the governor’s office and the Legislature, among other things.

Read Whitmer’s plan to increase transparency in state government here.

Urban policy

Whitmer’s plan to combat urban poverty contains few specific funding details, but has identified three main goals related to employment, housing and ending racial disparities.
She has said her priorities include: Lowering Michigan’s highest-in-the-nation auto insurance rates and expanding regional transit in metro areas.

Read Whitmer’s plan to improve Michigan’s cities here.

Read the full story at Bridge

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