Governor Whitmer Speaks About the State Budget

According to the Detroit Free Press, Governor Gretchen Whitmer defended her extraordinary use of line item vetoes to slash close to $1 billion from the 2020 state budget at a news conference Tuesday.

Whitmer also called on Republican leaders to meet with her to restart negotiations on the spending plan.

The Governor said we have an opportunity to negotiate things back into the budget if the Legislature avails themselves of that opportunity.

Whitmer also defended many of the cuts as what she said were examples of pork barrel spending inserted into the budget by Republican lawmakers and said she had to make hard decisions to protect public health and safety.

Governor Whitmer also said, "I do not relish using these powers, but they were absolutely necessary because the budgets they sent were fatally flawed."