North Kent News

The president of the Small Business Association of Michigan, Brian Calley, is accusing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of sending a message that the state doesn't care about the survival of its small businesses, according to reporting by Bridge Michigan.

Calley, who formerly served as a Republican lieutenant governor between 2011 and 2019, made his claims in the wake of Whitmer's vetoing $652 million in proposals from the Republican-led Legislature, including $405 million that was targeted for small businesses that have been particularly hard-hit during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On that same day, the governor signed off on a COVID-19 spending plan that is expected to consume almost half of the roughly $5 billion the state was recently granted by the federal government, and she rejected a bill that would limit her own power to make decisions about the COVID-19 pandemic. Republicans in the Legislature would like to leave those decisions in the hands of each of Michigan's local health departments and school districts.

Brian Calley, SBAM | LinkedIn

Whitmer later defended her actions by saying, “The bills I received were not negotiated with me or my administration, and I continue to call on the Legislature to ensure that we work together to ensure we maximize every penny that is available. There were problems in the bills that I had to veto, and I expect the Legislature to step up to fix the bill to allocate all of the money so we can get back to normal as soon as possible," reported Bridge Michigan.

Many Republican lawmakers see things differently.

“This desperately needed assistance was not tied to any other measure or condition in the relief plan -- yet the governor vetoed it anyway, and with it, she is killing off whatever hope struggling families and job providers had left,” House Appropriations Chairman Thomas Albert (R-Lowell) told Bridge Michigan.