State Rep. Pat Outman, chair of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, issued this statement following the governor’s false claims about the Republican road funding plan in her comments to the Detroit Economic Club earlier today:  

“One moment she’s claiming her commitment to working in a bipartisan fashion to fix the roads, and the next, the governor attempts to spread false facts about our Republican plan.

“As one of the sponsors of this plan, I want to set the record straight and make it clear that our plan will not affect funding for public safety or for housing. In fact, we introduced two specific amendments to hold those two things harmless in our plan.

“It’s bold to make a claim that can so quickly be refuted. Hiding behind false facts will work out for her just about as well as hiding behind those blue folders did.

“We understand the importance and necessity of a bipartisan effort to get anything passed through our divided Legislature and ultimately signed into law without a veto from our Democrat governor. We believe there is a compromise out there, and we are eager to find it before one more tire falls victim to a Michigan pothole. The people are counting on us to get it done – but these kinds of false narratives are a step in the wrong direction.

“House Republicans are proud to have produced a plan to fix the roads without raising taxes, simply by better prioritizing existing revenues and getting rid of government waste and politically-motivated corporate handouts that have failed to create the jobs they promised. Ours is also the only plan that has been put forward. Democrats controlling the Senate have yet to produce anything, and the governor has produced nothing more than rhetoric.”