This column originally appeared in the Detroit News.

Does anyone in Lansing care about taxpayers and working families?

Politicians like Gov. Gretchen Whitmer want a massive $2.5 billion tax hike to fix roads and fund other special interests. Democrats want working stiffs to foot the bill with a $0.45 per gallon gas increase.

The purpose of the class action process is to compensate specific victims of misconduct.  However, there is a proposal before the court that would amend the Michigan Court Rules and redirect class action settlement funds from class action members to fund public and civic programs of third parties who may not have even been injured by the defendant’s conduct.

Because this proposal would allow the court to redirect funds to third parties – often advocacy groups – chosen by class counsel and approved by the judge, it raises serious First Amendment concerns. Similar to the recent Janus case before the United States Supreme Court, it is possible that class action plaintiffs and defendants could be compelled by the court to support speech through organizations with which they disagree.

Governor Whitmer remains insistent that she cannot “fix the damn roads” without raising taxes on Michigan citizens, or as she likes to call it, “new revenue.”

Unfortunately, it seems some in the legislature are starting to agree. While they balked at her proposed 45-cent gas tax hike, they’re entertaining the notion of a smaller, 20-cent gas tax hike.

Those who were hoping for a big summer as Governor Gretchen Whitmer looked to drive the state forward could be forgiven for feeling… stuck in neutral.

This column originally appeared in the Detroit News.

“Nobody on the road, nobody on the beach. I feel it in the air, the summer's out of reach.” – Don Henley

August will soon be in our rearview mirror, and along with it the first summer on the job for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Like Henley in his 1984 classic, Michiganians may have a little voice inside their heads screaming don’t look back.  

Whitmer reversed course on campaign pledges and wasted summer months on a dilettante roadshow promoting a tax hike that was dead on arrival when there was still snow on the ground.

Bad enough that Jocelyn Benson failed her own “transparency” test, making headlines for attaching expensive price tags to FOIA requests. Her department has consistently refused to answer FOIA requests in a timely or complete manner. (The department estimated one of our requests would be completed in 2-3 weeks… and that has now grown to 2-3 months. We’re still waiting!)