She has the experience, practical skills and know-how to make important compromises on behalf of MSU in the Michigan House of Representatives and her social agenda is on par with ours. On Nov. 2, make Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, your choice to represent 'U' in the 69th District.
Point blank, Whitmer has the experience in making sure that MSU stays as funded as it can despite Michigan's economic struggles. Her goal was closing the funding gap between MSU and other state universities, but now it's in keeping the state's higher education funding as secluded as possible, keeping higher education money specifically for institutions of higher education.
When MSU was accused of violating an agreement it had with the state to restrain tuition levels, Whitmer said she was a key player in levying the decision for MSU, and avoiding a $15 million fine which would have made any university-wide "belt tightening" become a much more harsh economic consequence. Essentially, Whitmer knows how to keep MSU as funded as it can be, and that passes along the savings to students.
Furthermore, she's pragmatic, a positive trait in politics if there ever was one. She wants MSU officials to wait and fully collect all the facts before moving the College of Human Medicine to Grand Rapids. Even then, Whitmer would only support the move if it benefited both Mid-Michigan and Grand Rapids.
Whitmer strongly opposes Proposal 2, which if accepted could likely end domestic-partner benefits provided by MSU and other large employers across the state. She also opposed the partial birth abortion ban, two social issues that The State News strongly supports her sentiments.
Whitmer and challenger Angela Lindsay, R-Okemos, have similar concepts of what a balanced state budget means to the East Lansing area. Whitmer supports a plan to tax services, which would tax consumers more, but would allow the state sales tax to flex to 5 percent. Lindsay hopes to solve Michigan's budgetary ills with a statewide budget audit, to reevaluate funding. The idea of supporting more taxes as means of revenue growth is unpopular, but out of these two options, Whitmer's approach is the most feasible.
Lindsay would push for tax breaks for small businesses to spur economic growth, instead of relying solely on the cultural incentives provided for under Gov. Jennifer Granholm's "Cool Cities" initiative. In line with Lindsay, Whitmer also believes that small business would fare better with assistance in providing workers with benefits. In this regard, it's comforting to know that both candidates seem to have a vested interest in keeping East Lansing's small businesses in East Lansing.
Both candidates pride themselves on accessibility, and for that, they deserve commendation. They both strive to represent the MSU community in our state Legislature, which is certainly a complex task. When both candidates are like-minded in Spartans-centric ideals, though, we must give the edge to the candidate with experience in defending MSU.
