Alliance Issues Statement On Whitmer Budget Vetoes

The Northern Michigan Chamber Alliance released the following statement on the State of Michigan’s Fiscal Year 2019-2020 budget which included 147 vetoes from Governor Whitmer.

“Our organization is here to serve the interests of our region, and we are very concerned about the status of the FY 2019-20 budget with the Governor’s vetoes.  

The current budget harms our Four Pillars for Rural Prosperity agenda in many ways:

1. Rural Business Development

• Restore Pure Michigan funding to FY 2018-19 levels – the efforts of the tourism industry are vital to the economy across northern Michigan.
• Restore funding for Going Pro training program – this program has proved highly effective for training much needed talent in rural areas.
• Business Attraction and Community Development funds – these serve as the core business attraction and development funding used by rural communities.

2. Attracting Talent to Rural Areas

• Fully restore funding for rural healthcare – rural healthcare professionals and facilities face enough challenges already, and this would be a further blow to the health and welfare of northern Michigan families.
• Restore funding for northern Michigan schools – whether it’s critical funding for small and isolated schools, or new programs to assist with non-traditional learners, a cutting edge rural education system is paramount for educating the next generation of leaders for our region, and for attracting working-age families. 

These priorities are serious issues for northern Michigan, and we are disappointed to see them used as bargaining chips for budget negotiations.

We urge our legislative leaders to go back to the drawing board to find an agreement that will fund these critical rural programs – all of which were included in either the FY 2019-20 Executive Budget proposal, and the legislative budgets passed at the end of September.”

Questions can be directed to Kent Wood, Director of Government Relations at kentw@tcchamber.org.