I am the father of three girls, and I think about their future whenever I head to the state Capitol. I want to do everything I can to make Michigan a safe, thriving, and beautiful state that they might someday choose to call home. I also want them to be confident in the leaders of the state; to see us as strong role models who work with integrity. And I'm afraid too often we're falling short.
So, as I anticipate the governor's State of the State address, my thoughts aren't so much on the policies I'd like to hear her discuss as they are about the tone and example she must set to bring unity and hope to the people of this state, and to get Michigan back on track.
I don't remember more politically divisive times in this country than we're facing today — and, unfortunately, Michigan is leading the way. There is too much political infighting, too much posturing, too much wanting to be right rather than to do right. That's not why we were sent to Lansing. And it leads to a distrust of elected officials and of our systems that's discouraging—and understandable.
To change that, the governor must be unafraid to lock arms with the Legislature, and be willing to take responsibility herself, give credit to others, and work with people of all thoughts and backgrounds toward a better state. That would be leadership. And it would create a culture of respect and cooperation that Michigan desperately needs.
Absent that, it will be politics as usual and stalemate in state government.
For our part, the Legislature is ready and eager to partner with the governor. It will mean tough work. It will mean compromise. It sometimes will mean forgoing our own ambitions for the greater good. But if progress and a healthy, united Michigan are important, it's the only answer.
Of course, there are critical issues that I'd like to hear her address – like a specific long-term and data-driven strategy for reopening Michigan, a plan for providing all Michiganders with access to quality, affordable health care, and ideas for repairing and building our aging infrastructure, to name just a few.
But the only way we will get things done and earn the trust of the people we represent is with a spirit of cooperation and a true desire to work together. It's how we worked to reform car insurance, pass billions of dollars in COVID relief, and safely reopen our local schools. We have done it before, and we can do it again.
But to achieve results like that, the governor needs to show that she has fortitude, wisdom, and level-headedness to work together, handle disagreements, and get things done. That's what the people expect of us. And it's what, more than anything, the governor needs to communicate to the people of Michigan. That would be true leadership, it would signal a new era of productive partnership, and it would allow Michigan to lead the way not in discord, but in true bipartisan progress.
House Speaker Jason Wentworth, R-Farwell, represents the 97th House District in Arenac, Clare, Gladwin and parts of Osceola counties.
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Jason Wentworth: Time for Whitmer to stop posturing, work with Legislature on data-driven economic reopening - Crain's Detroit Business
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