LANSING, Mich. — Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, on Wednesday issued the following statement, blasting a series of 2025 fiscal year state budget bills passed by the Michigan Senate:
“A year ago, Democrats celebrated their new majority by blowing through the state’s $9 billion budget surplus in record time. Now, they plan to continue their spending spree by picking the pockets of Michigan taxpayers to the tune of a $700 million tax hike, raiding $670 million from the teacher pension fund and a garbage 1,200% tax increase on trash. Michigan residents simply cannot afford the higher taxes and crippling debts that will come from this Democrats gone wild party-now-and-make-them-pay-later disregard for our state’s future economic prosperity.
“Senate Republicans offered more than 70 amendments to make better use of Michigan’s tax dollars. We tried to redirect outrageous corporate welfare handouts, irresponsible DEI dollars and other politically motivated pet projects to more commonsense areas of real need, such as infrastructure investments to fix crumbling bridges, proven training for teachers and students to bring fourth graders out of the bottom national percentages for proficiency, greater public safety to crack down on the fentanyl crisis, protecting vulnerable children by filling a 280-employee hole to hire more Child Protective Services caseworkers, and this list goes on.
“Democrats shut every single Republican amendment down, taunting the minority party with their majority muscles to irresponsibly spend other people’s money. Sadly, Michigan taxpayers will not be able to afford the bill when the party’s over.”
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