Michigan Governor Rated No. 46 By Center-Right Legislator Group

A limited-government nonprofit that helps state legislators produce model bills has ranked Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer as the nation’s fifth-worst governor.

The American Legislative Exchange Council, ALEC, ranked governors on their policies on taxes, spending, government employee unions, education, welfare and their use of COVID-19 federal relief funds.

Whitmer’s worst performance came in education policy (43rd out of 50); her best ranking was in tax policy (24th).

Michigan’s governor received the lowest one-star rating from ALEC, along with nine other governors. The only other one-star governor from the Midwest was Illinois’ J.B. Pritzker.

On the 50-state rankings, one-star governors from West Virginia, New Jersey, Alaska and Rhode Island were the only ones who ranked below Whitmer’s 46th-place finish.

Greg Abbott of Texas was ranked as the top governor in the country. Rhode Island Democrat Gina Raimondo was last.

ALEC’s summary of the Michigan governor stated: “Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s led the most draconian COVID-19 response of any governor, and her state’s finances were among the least prepared nationwide. Gov. Whitmer’s propensity to rely on shutdown orders to fight the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in one of the most acute revenue shortfalls of any state and made it much more difficult for the Michigan legislature to close their budget deficit. Gov. Whitmer’s actively anti-business approach will only make it more difficult for businesses coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, as Michigan’s economy was already struggling. Michigan’s economy was in trouble prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Gov. Whitmer’s anti-business approach does Michigan small businesses and workers no favors.”

The report also stated: “Michigan Governor Whitmer’s high spending levels and policies, coupled with lacking reserves and the Governor’s reliance on a federal bail-out, will place significant stress on future Michigan budgets. The Governor has also proposed tripling Michigan’s gas tax.”