State Rep. Beth Griffin, of Mattawan, today issued the following statement in response to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s veto of particular items in the state budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year:

“Gov. Whitmer is completely contradictory when it comes to the resources needed to educate our children. First she labeled the Legislature-approved, bipartisan school aid budget as ‘not going far enough’ despite the budget including record funding for K-12 schools. Now she’s chosen to remove vital funding for classrooms across Michigan.

“Through line-item vetoes, the governor has erased $128 million in the school aid budget. This includes funding for career and technical education programs and equipment, school safety grants, literacy intervention for struggling students, and healthy cafeteria meals using local produce. The Governor also chose to veto $2 million for a much-needed statewide mental health hotline.

“These actions go hand in hand with her contradiction on fixing our roads. Rather than continue to move our state forward on this issue while discussions on long-term solutions persist, she chose to veto $375 million for road and bridge repairs.

“I’m not sure what the Governor is trying to accomplish by slashing programs and decreasing funding in areas that she herself has said need more funding. Her ultimatums and unwillingness to negotiate on these issues show she is short-sighted and out of touch with the people of Michigan.”