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Cameron Pickford
· January 24, 2020 9:00 AM
After vetoing $375 million in new road funding late last year, Governor Gretchen Whitmer next week is expected to roll out her new “plan” to fix Michigan’s crumbling roads.
She’s finally acknowledged that her absurd 45 cents per gallon gas tax hike won’t fly. (Her top Democratic allies in the legislature calling it “extreme” and refusing to even sponsor her bill might have had something to do with that.) So what’s next?
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Cameron Pickford
· December 06, 2019 3:37 PM
In the nine months since Governor Whitmer unveiled her 45-cents per gallon gas tax hike, the legislature has done a tremendous job holding the line. They recognized the damage this wildly unpopular proposal would do to the pocketbooks of Michigan taxpayers and protected them from this pathetically unserious idea.
When she walked away from budget negotiations, they again did their job, passing a budget that funded Michigan’s priorities – including more money for our damn roads and bridges – all without raising taxes. Which, of course, Governor Whitmer vetoed.
That’s why it’s so disappointing that now, mere days before the legislature breaks for the holidays, some in the legislature have moved to make it easier for others to raise taxes.
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Cameron Pickford
· November 15, 2019 10:00 AM
We’re working hard to hold Governor Whitmer accountable for her broken promises, and it’s getting lots of attention.
Our billboard featuring the governor’s road funding veto was covered by WLNS, Fox2 and WXYZ, with stories airing ELEVEN TIMES on local TV over the weekend. In addition to television audiences, hundreds of thousands of motorists have seen the billboards, and many more have seen news articles online at the Detroit News, Fox47, WDIV and others, and through our social media channels.
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Cameron Pickford
· November 08, 2019 2:25 PM
The Michigan Freedom Fund today launched a major new public awareness campaign, unveiling billboards on major Michigan highways reminding Governor Gretchen Whitmer of her campaign promise to “fix the damn roads.”
Instead of fixing the roads, Whitmer just weeks ago took her veto pen to huge new funding items in the state budget, slashing $375 million in funding earmarked to repair the state’s crumbling roads and bridges, including 4 bridges she personally toured, claiming their condition ‘keeps me up at night’ and are ‘a catastrophe in the making.’
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Cameron Pickford
· October 17, 2019 1:42 PM
Posted
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Cameron Pickford
· August 30, 2019 10:00 AM
Labor Day; a time to celebrate Michigan workers, to enjoy one last taste of summer, to take that last family outing before the kids head back to school, to navigate orange barrels and never-ending lane closures.
This holiday weekend may be more frustrating than ever for motorists as work sites on local roads and highways remain behind schedule amidst a month-long strike by the Operating Engineers union. Worse, there appears to be no end in sight.
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Cameron Pickford
· August 23, 2019 11:36 AM
It’s been said that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. Here in Michigan, the debate over road funding is going back to a familiar, off-key chorus.
In October, Bill Schuette accused Gretchen Whitmer of supporting a 20-cent gas tax hike to “fix the damn roads.” She called that claim “ridiculous,” “nonsense,” and swore that he was making it up. She won the election and went on to reveal her big, bold plan to fix the roads… which was nothing more than a 45-cent gas tax hike!
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Cameron Pickford
· August 22, 2019 9:35 AM
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.
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Cameron Pickford
· August 16, 2019 10:24 AM
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.
Instead of fixing the damn roads, Whitmer has demanded the legislature do her work for you.
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