LANSING — Yesterday, the House of Representatives approved the state budget for fiscal year 2018-19. In response, state Rep. Fred Durhal III (D-Detroit), Democratic vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement:
“Despite their claims otherwise, the only thing truly record breaking about this budget is that for seventh straight year in a row it’s turned out to be a failure. A budget is a values statement, and it is clear based on the glaring absences in this budget what Republicans do and do not value.
“Despite claiming to be the party of small government, the majority created yet another budget that fails to increase revenue sharing by a meaningful amount. They certainly don’t value the thousands of families falsely accused of unemployment fraud, or they would have allocated money to their relief fund. They certainly don’t value the people of Flint, otherwise they’d be acting today to ensure every family there had access to clean water. And they certainly don’t value the wallets of everyday Michiganders, which take a beating every day thanks to car repairs caused by our ridiculous and pothole-filled roads. We had a chance to do better this year, and instead what we got was this. This budget does not reflect the values of Michigan’s working families. No matter what may have passed today, those are the values I’m going to keep fighting for.”