Lansing, MI – This week, Michigan Senate Democrats voted on their state budget recommendations, proposing to spend tens of billions of taxpayer dollars on party-line votes.
Senate Republicans proposed dozens of common-sense amendments, all failing on party-line votes. However, two amendments were missing a vote from frontline Democrat Senator Kevin Hertel, who’s up for reelection in a district President Trump won by over 7%.
The amendments that Hertel refused to take a stance on include:
- An amendment to the Higher Education budget from Senator Thomas Albert, which would ban funding to student organizations that support terrorist groups or threaten physical violence toward others.
- An amendment to the Department of Labor & Economic Opportunity budget from Senator Jonathan Lindsey, which would prohibit financial assistance to companies tied to hostile foreign adversaries.
“Out of political cowardice, Senator Kevin Hertel is refusing to take a stance on common-sense measures that would protect our state, our communities, and our taxpayers. Hertel is trying to keep his partisan handlers in Lansing happy without paying a political price back home, but he can only hide his true colors from his constituents for so long,” said Zach Rudat, Advocacy Director for Michigan Freedom Fund. “It’s bad enough that Senate Democrats blocked common-sense measures to keep our state safe, all in the name of appeasing their activist base and mega-donors. But Hertel’s refusal to take a stance adds insult to injury, and his community deserves to know: Where does their Senator stand on these common-sense measures to keep us safe?”
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