State Rep. Dave Prestin, R-Cedar River, today announced his vote in support of the bipartisan budget agreement reached last week. The budget includes a massive road funding deal; eliminates taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security income; cuts state government bloat; and stops fee increases on hunting and fishing licenses.

“The people of the Upper Peninsula sent me to Lansing with a clear mission: Get government under control and ensure that it works for the people,” Prestin said. “With this budget, we’re quite literally forcing state workers back to their desks and out of their pajamas. With only the House under our control, we knew we were never going to get everything we wanted. But we were able to hold the line and deliver big wins for the U.P.”

The budget includes record K-12 funding for our schools and a $2 billion roads plan. For the remainder of this year, every county in the U.P. will receive an increase of more than 35% in road funding. That means that this year, Delta County will get $2.7 million additional road dollars, Menominee County will receive $2.4 million, and Schoolcraft County will get over $1.3 million.

“We were able to deliver a budget that included record per-pupil funding and the most ambitious road funding increase in a decade,” Prestin said. “Our plan ensures that every penny in tax paid at the gas pump is spent on improving our roads. Many people said we couldn’t get it done without raising taxes on working people, but we got it done and we ensured schools get the funding they need.”

The budget also made significant cuts to the size of state government and passes savings on to taxpayers.

“Going through the budget line-by-line, we realized that taxpayers were paying for thousands of jobs that the state never even bothered to fill. Instead, departments were using funds dedicated for salaries as slush funds,” Prestin said. “This budget cuts those so-called ‘phantom employees’ and passes savings onto taxpayers. We passed those dollars on by cutting taxes for working families and seniors on fixed incomes by eliminating taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security. We also stopped the Department of Natural Resources from forcing families to purchase recreation passports on each of their vehicles. We also rejected their proposed fee increases for hunting, fishing, and boating licenses.

“We delivered big wins that we can build on in the years to come. I am proud to support a bipartisan budget that puts people, not government, first.”

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