(WXYZ) — As inflation continues to impact the finances of people across the state, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Republican challenger Tudor Dixon weighed in on the issue on Tuesday night during the final Michigan gubernatorial debate before the November general election.
The question surrounding the economy and inflation was one picked from more than 200 submitted by viewers for the debate.
“With high levels of inflation hurting our pocketbooks, what step would you take with state legislators to help relieve the weight of inflation for Michiganders?” asked viewer Mason Spence.
“We know that there is global inflation, it is not unique to Michigan, it is not unique to the United States. A governor cannot fix global inflation, but what I can do is put more money in your pockets and that’s exactly what we’ve done working in a bipartisan way with a Republican legislature, we were able to help 150,000 families get free or low-cost daycare, money in the pocket. We were able to expand opportunities to have the state pick up a third of the cost of daycare for working families and we also have put 170,000 Michiganders on the path to tuition-free skills — that’s how we keep money in the pocket. I put our fiscal house in order by paying down debt. And we’ve got our credit rating upgraded and that’s how we can eliminate the retirement tax, triple the earned income tax credit, and pause the sales tax on gas — all proposals I have made that are sitting in front of the legislature," said Whitmer.
A related question was posed to Dixon, asking how she would have done things differently as governor during the last few years to improve the economy and what she wants to do now.
“I’ve heard several times from Gretchen Whitmer that she’ll work with anyone on anything and that she is bipartisan, but she has actually vetoed quite a bit of opportunity to put money back into the pockets of the people. She vetoed a child tax credit, she vetoed two opportunities to reduce the income tax, she also vetoed retirement help for retirement income. So when she’s had the opportunity to actually do that, she’s vetoed it. In fact, even a gas tax holiday came to her and she vetoed that but we know that part of her policy was to raise the gas tax by .45 cents per gallon, so you’d be paying $5 a gallon for gas right now. This governor has not done anything to help inflation. But I would put money back into your pockets, I would make sure we have that child tax credit, I would make sure that we reduce the income tax, and I would make sure that our seniors who are on a fixed income are not receiving more taxes than they should and we can put more money back in their pockets,” said Dixon.
“We never raised the gas tax, number one, in fact, we have cut taxes. Number two, the bills Miss Dixon refers to were a gimmick,” noting they didn’t take effect until spring of next year.
“What I would like to know is how Miss Dixon plans on balancing a budget,” she added.
“She can work with anybody but now the bills from Republicans are a ‘gimmick,’” Dixon shot back.
Watch their full responses on inflation and the economy in the player above.
