Governor Gretchen Whitmer pledged more support to rural communities during a roundtable discussion today. Earlier this week, the governor created the new “Office of Rural Development” through executive directive.
Whitmer says she wants to make the office a permanent position. "I want to get this codified. I want to get a statute so that this isn’t an office that goes away at the end of the administration, right? This is something that I think needs to transcend the politics of the day or the office holder of the time," she says.
Whitmer says the three main concerns she hears from rural community leaders involve population loss, broadband access, and affordable housing.
She says she’d like to work with the legislature on a supplemental spending bill to get housing projects going this spring.