Michigan Republican lawmakers express some concerns following Whitmer's State of the State address
LANSING, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer laid out some big plans during her State of the State address on Wednesday.
Although some of those plans are being celebrated, one Republican lawmaker tells CBS News Detroit that there won't be any movement on them as long as the Michigan House has an even split.
"She mentioned three different times the Detroit Lions but one thing I didn't hear in her speech was how she's planning to pay for all of these billions of dollars in programs, she announced," said state Rep. Bryan Posthumus.
Whitmer outlined plans to invest more than a billion dollars to increase and renovate housing across the state, and she announced plans to make community college tuition free. Republican lawmakers said they are very concerned about the cost of her plans.
"This proposal is going to cost billions of dollars," Posthumus said. "Where's the money going to come from? If the governor can put in front of me a feasible plan on how we can afford this, then yeah, we can have that conversation. Until she can do that, then there's there's no conversation to be had."
The Michigan Education Association was one of the groups applauding Whitmer's announcements following the speech.
"What's even more expensive is the cost of doing nothing," said Thomas Morgan a spokesman for the association." This really is a massive development to have universal free preschool for every 4-year-old in our state, as well as universal free community college for every high school graduate. If we want our kids and our kids to be able to compete for the jobs that haven't even been invented yet, we need to make sure that we have an educated and trained workforce."
But Posthumus said he doesn't see any of these proposals moving forward while the House is split 54-54.
"I can tell you none of the grand plans that the governor put forward in her state of the state is going to be addressed while we are in an equally divided house," he said. "I have no hope that any of those things will be even discussed over the next couple of months."
