Today the House of Representatives voted on a package of bills aimed at resolving Detroit’s bankruptcy. The package basically had 2 components to it… (1) New restrictions and limitations on Detroit’s ability to hand out certain types of benefits or agree to contracts over a certain size all overseen by an oversight committee and (2) state funding to be part of the settlement package. I certainly support the new bills that will limit Detroit’s ability to offer benefits they can’t afford and I also support a new oversight committee to continue to monitor Detroit’s finances. However, I had to VOTE NO on spending 194 Million dollars of taxpayer money to bail out Detroit. The fact is, this move sets a dangerous precedent that cities and municipalities who are not good stewards of their tax payer’s money will be bailed out by the state. My obligation to the people of Northern Michigan is to make sure that their tax dollars are being used wisely, and spending 194 million out of the state’s rainy day fund on Detroit, with no guarantees that this will solve all of the problems in Detroit, is not good public policy.
Posted on: Thu, 22 May 2014 19:56:29 +0000
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