HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — The wrangling over 147 line-item budget vetos by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer continues.
She told reporters the cuts are aimed at getting Republicans back to the bargaining table, but Repbulican Senate Leader Mike Shirkey and House Speaker Lee Chatfield won’t budge, saying “the budget is done.”
Republican Representative Luke Meerman of Coopersville agrees with his party’s leadership, to a point.
“There was a lot of things in there that many people like, on both side of the aisle,” he said. “I was glad that there wasn’t any overall veto, for a government shutdown. But I think the line items are a problem going forward. One way to attack those is on a case-by-case basis.”
One of his colleagues, Park Township Repbulican Representative Jim Lilly feels differently, more upset over the cut of $13 million needed to repair and reopen the now-closed Smith’s Bridge in Ferrysburg — something the governor promised to fund when she visited in July.
“To say I’m disappointed with the 147 line-item vetoes that the governor pursued here, I think, is an understatement. It seems the governor vetoed these, not necessarily for policy ideology differences, but based on politics,” Lilly said.
