Whitmer: McConnell Bankruptcy Comments ‘Incredibly Dangerous’

Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) criticized Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for saying states struggling to cope with the coronavirus pandemic should declare bankruptcy instead of getting a federal bailout.

Host George Stephanopoulos said, “The next battleground in Congress is going to be about aid to states. I know you’ve projected about a $3 billion hole in the budget in your state coming out of this crisis. You’ve heard Senator McConnell, the Republican leader that in the Senate, suggests some states should consider bankruptcy. Is default an option for the state Michigan?”

Whitmer said, “No, and it’s outrageous for Senator McConnell to even suggest that. The fact of the matter is our general fund budget when adjusted for inflation is the same size it was when Richard Nixon was our president. We have been incredibly smart stewards. We have not made some of the investments I think we should have as a state because of you know, this artificially low number that we’ve been working of the with. But the fact matter is that for Senator McConnell to suggest that is incredibly dangerous, I don’t think that the vast majority of governors in this country, Republican and Democratic, would agree with him. He’s wrong and we need Congress to step up and help states because of this pandemic, it’s because of this global pandemic that we are all having to make tough decisions. We need the federal government to have our backs.”

Follow Pam Key On Twitter @pamkeyNEN