Issue Position: Cut Wasteful Spending

Issue Position

I will fight to make sure our taxpayer dollars are spent more efficiently on the priorities that matter to the people of Grand Rapids -- like education and police and fire services. It's unacceptable that taxpayers have to pay for lifetime health care benefits for state lawmakers after six years of service, while schools and local governments are being slammed by budget cuts. I will fight to end this outrageous perk.

As County Commissioner, I voluntarily cut my own salary, and I will bring that same fiscal responsibility to Lansing. Lawmakers must share in the sacrifices being made by families across Grand Rapids and Michigan.

I also voted against every tax increase for basic services during my time on the County Commission. Times are tough and our state government must become more efficient. Now is NOT the time to raise taxes. Instead, we need to go through the state budget line by line and reduce spending. We also need to re-bid state vendor contracts to save taxpayers millions of dollars.

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