LANSING — State Rep. Jon Hoadley (D-Kalamazoo) offered support this evening for certain points made by Gov. Rick Snyder during his 2017 State of the State address, while also expressing disappointment that the governor did not dig deeper to speak to the concerns of Michigan residents regarding a number of key issues across the state.
“As always, I appreciate the governor’s input and the opportunity for him to share his priorities with the Legislature,” said Rep. Hoadley. “While there were many points I agreed with, including his emphasis on addressing infrastructure issues across the state, a lot of important topics were left undiscussed. In an era of heightened partisanship and a pervasive distrust of government, it was surprising to me that he didn’t mention things like nonpartisan redistricting reform, dark money in politics, or student debt relief, as we know these to be important issues that unite people on both sides of the aisle. With the start of this new session, the Legislature is responsible for crafting policy that will help to tackle these tough, complex topics, and I had hoped that the governor would have shown more leadership in initiating the conversations that such problem solving will require.”
With Rep. Hoadley in attendance was his guest Larry Bell of Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo, a nationally recognized, landmark small business whose success helped give rise to the craft beer industry in Michigan.