South Kent News

State Representative Angela Rigas has expressed strong opposition to the budget proposals put forth by Democrats, which she argues would significantly alter state governance with policies she describes as far-left. One contentious proposal involves the Michigan State Police budget, HB 5510, which requires communities to prove that severe storms were caused by climate change in order to qualify for relief.

Rigas criticized this measure, stating: “If Democrats aren’t smart enough to figure out what climate change is themselves, how are local municipalities supposed to do it?” She referenced a recent storm in Portage and questioned the logic of withholding resources until proof of climate change was provided. "Firefighters would never withhold aid from a family whose house is burning down until the family proves how the fire started," Rigas remarked.

Another debated item is a $5 million allocation in the Michigan Department of Transportation budget aimed at developing a road usage tax. This proposed tax would involve installing trackers in vehicles to monitor mileage for taxation purposes, potentially replacing the current gas tax. Rigas commented on this proposal by saying: “We used to joke about the government trying to secretly track us. Well, now they’re saying the quiet part out loud and it’s definitely not funny.”

The budgets also propose removing disclosure requirements for high-ranking employees receiving severance packages and eliminating metric reporting obligations. Michigan's transparency ranking could be affected negatively by these changes, according to Rigas. She stated: “Democrats control everything at least until next January...how will the public know when all these liberal department heads are conveniently fired with huge severance packages?”

Rigas contends that these proposals demonstrate an effort by Democrats to implement unpopular policies while creating safety nets for officials before potential political shifts occur.