State Rep. Phil Green said heavy-handed approaches that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer laid out in her annual State of the State address Wednesday night take decisions away from local areas that are capable of handling them themselves.

“Large-scale solar and wind siting laws that took local control away from rural communities showed clearly last term that aggressive, more centralized policy is not responsible governing,” Green said. “In this address, we heard about big government ideas to fund more preschool programs, push large-scale public transit projects, and impose where our children can’t use cell phones. This is not the role of state government.

“We must focus on returning more money to taxpayers who help fund state government and use resources we do have to sufficiently fund schools, emergency response and local road agencies so they can make repairs.”

While the overall dollar amount the governor wants to put towards a new road funding plan is now closer to an existing House Republican plan, the governor has set the stage for additional taxes in order to raise the revenue necessary to get to the total number. The House Republican plan would provide $3.145 billion to roads each year without relying on any new taxes or taking on additional debt.

Green also underscored the governor’s comments about affordable housing. She highlighted several existing programs, including the MI Home Loan Program, First-Generation Down Payment Assistance Program, and others while noting the state is still short 140,000 homes statewide.

“Many of these programs are artificial stopgaps. We can lower the actual cost of housing through reforms,” Green said. “New houses have $95,000 in costs built in just for government regulations. That’s crazy, and it makes it incredibly expensive for those who are looking to buy a home in Michigan. How do we provide lasting solutions? Less costly and burdensome regulation is the answer.”