Vice President Kamala Harris praised Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s handling of federal funds Saturday, saying money from various pieces of federal legislation could have gotten caught up in bureaucracy.
“The work we do in Washington, D.C., only hits the roads when the state leaders and the local leaders are committed to seeing it through,” Harris said.
Harris said the administration of President Joe Biden has allocated over $10 billion to Michigan, referencing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. That’s in addition to COVID-19 relief funds and funds from the CHIPS and Science Act and Inflation Reduction Act.
“But it won’t be real if you don’t have a real leader in place like Gov. Whitmer to make sure that it does hit the roads, that families do feel it, and that we don’t take our time getting bogged down in bureaucracy,” Harris said.
Harris made the comment at a fundraiser for the Michigan Democratic Party in Detroit. She was joined at the event by Whitmer, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, Attorney General Dana Nessel and others.
“That is one extraordinary leader that you have in this governor. You’re always about just, like, real talk. You don’t mince words. You are clear about what you care about, as a reflection of what they care about. You’re fixing the damn roads,” Harris said, ending with a laugh as she referenced the governor’s signature campaign slogan from 2018.
Nessel took a similar victory lap, saying that while “yes, our opponents are terrible, and radical and extreme and want to destroy the state and destroy the country,” she also believes the Democrats who currently run the state “have done a pretty darn good job.”
Still, Nessel warned that this year Democrats will face a new brand of Republican.
“We want to have clean water to drink and fresh air to breathe, and they want to do whatever their corporate overlords tell them to do, even if it means poisoning our environment. Basic things like that, we’ve always had differences,” Nessel said. “But I don’t know what to say about this brand of today’s Republican Party.”
Nessel addressed Republican gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon’s Friday comment that Whitmer’s dream is “single women working,” which she called a “pretty lonely life.”
Vice President Kamala Harris departs Romulus, Mich. on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a “MI First Vote” rally Southfield, Mich. on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a “MI First Vote” rally Southfield, Mich. on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a “MI First Vote” rally Southfield, Mich. on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a “MI First Vote” rally Southfield, Mich. on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a “MI First Vote” rally Southfield, Mich. on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a “MI First Vote” rally Southfield, Mich. on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a “MI First Vote” rally Southfield, Mich. on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist tour Focus: HOPE in Detroit on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris departs Romulus, Mich. on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist speaks at a “MI First Vote” rally with Vice President Kamala Harris in Southfield, Mich. on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist speaks at a “MI First Vote” rally with Vice President Kamala Harris in Southfield, Mich. on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist tour Focus: HOPE in Detroit on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist tour Focus: HOPE in Detroit on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist tour Focus: HOPE in Detroit on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist tour Focus: HOPE in Detroit on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist tour Focus: HOPE in Detroit on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a “MI First Vote” rally Southfield, Mich. on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist tour Focus: HOPE in Detroit on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist tour Focus: HOPE in Detroit on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris arrives in Romulus, Mich. on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist tour Focus: HOPE in Detroit on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist tour Focus: HOPE in Detroit on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist tour Focus: HOPE in Detroit on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist tour Focus: HOPE in Detroit on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist tour Focus: HOPE in Detroit on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist tour Focus: HOPE in Detroit on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist tour Focus: HOPE in Detroit on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist tour Focus: HOPE in Detroit on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist tour Focus: HOPE in Detroit on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist tour Focus: HOPE in Detroit on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris arrives in Romulus, Mich. on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist tour Focus: HOPE in Detroit on Oct. 15, 2022. (Andrew Roth/)
“She has an objection to women being single and working or something,” Nessel said. “It’s funny, I didn’t know that she was so opposed to being single because she spent so much time trying to dissolve my marriage.*
Nessel, who is Michigan’s first openly gay top official, is married with two children.
Nessel said the road to losing or saving democracy runs through Michigan, telling the crowd that her GOP opponent, Matt DePerno, has “one job, and it’s not to represent the people of our state; it’s to make sure that Donald Trump becomes president again in 2024.”
Michigan has seen a flurry of interest from national figures this election. Trump was in Warren campaigning for Republicans earlier this month. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey stumped for Dixon on Friday, following Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin headlining a Michigan Republican Party rally in August. Former President Barack Obama announced he will do a get out the vote rally for Democrats in metro Detroit on Oct. 29.
Harris also toured Focus: HOPE in Detroit to promote the CHIPS and Science Act and held a “MI First Vote” rally with students at Southfield High School.
Whitmer said that in the last year Michigan has secured manufacturing projects from LG, Ford, General Motors, Pfizer, Stellantis and others.
“I’ve got to be honest, I am proud that we are beating other states to locate those investments here in Michigan. I know the vice president can’t weigh in on that one, but I am thrilled about that,” Whitmer said.
“I love all the states,” Harris responded to laughter.
Harris said at the rally with students that some high school graduates are making decisions about where to go to college based on state laws around abortion access in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Harris said the students hold officials accountable on issues like climate change and the economy. The vice president’s trip to Michigan came just 24 days before the midterm elections, when voters will decide whether to reelect Whitmer and the fate of an abortion rights ballot initiative, Proposal 3.
“I’m here to say our nation needs you. We need your voices of clarity,” Harris said. “We are counting on you to use your voices, to know your voice is critical to everything we will ever be.”
authored by Andrew Roth
First published at https%3A%2F%2Fmichiganadvance.com%2F2022%2F10%2F16%2Fvp-harris-whitmer-ensured-federal-funds-didnt-get-bogged-down-in-bureaucracy-in-michigan%2F
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