LANSING — Gov. Rick Snyder gave his final State of the State address tonight. In response, state Rep. Henry Yanez (D-Sterling Heights) issued the following statement:
“Like a broken record, the governor tried again to take credit for what he calls, ‘Michigan’s Comeback.’ The reality is that it was President Obama rescuing the auto industry that helped turn our state around, not the governor’s policies. Everybody knows that but the governor. What the governor doesn’t want to take credit for is what he deserves blame for: failed trickle-down economic and infrastructure policies that failed to attract companies like Amazon; increased taxes on the middle-class and stagnant wages; crumbling roads and bridges; giant tax breaks for corporations while taxing senior citizen pensions; cutting funding for local governments; attacks on teachers, cops, firefighters, and emergency responders who serve our community; enabling polluters like Enbridge who were responsible for the Kalamazoo River oil spill — one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history; and poisoning an entire city of residents through the failed Emergency Manager Program. The Republican record of the past seven years is one of failure. They’ve had complete control of Lansing for seven years and this is the best they can do. We need a change in leadership in Lansing and to start investing in people again.”