GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Harris Poll conducted in June found 95% of Americans believe the country is facing an affordability crisis. From gas prices to utility bills to groceries, Michigan families are feeling the pressure. Come January 2027, the winner of November's gubernatorial election will face the challenge of making Michigan more affordable.
I sat down with all four candidates to hear their plans.
Republican candidates John James and Perry Johnson both focus on eliminating the state income tax and cutting regulation, but with different strategies.
"We're going to be bringing insurance reform, lowering insurance costs, and we're also going to be bringing regulatory reform that will reduce the chokehold that organizations like Egle have on everything from our farms to our factories, driving up our energy costs and all of our grocery bills and everything else in between. So again, by having a government that is fair, efficient, and limited, will absolutely lower the burden, lower your costs, increase affordability, and quality of life for people of the state of Michigan," James said.
Johnson said he believes eliminating the state income tax is achievable without congressional action.
"I want everybody to understand that what I'm talking about is a very practical thing. Can be done when Gretchen took office. The total budget was 56 and a half billion. If we had gone up at the rate of inflation, we'd already be at a point where we could eliminate 13 point 5 billion in income tax. So what I'm talking about is something that I could do. And when I say that, I don't need Congress to eliminate the income tax through executive order; when I have the money saved, I can just stop collecting income tax, and little by little," Johnson said.
Democratic candidates Jocelyn Benson and Chris Swanson take a different approach. Benson focuses on streamlining state departments and lowering healthcare costs. Swanson emphasizes reducing everyday expenses and growing the state economy.
"I have actually a number of ambitious goals in my first 100 days, but it starts with streamlining, among other things, the Department of Health and Human Services, so that we're making those healthcare premiums go down, creating a prescription drug affordability board, which has been shown in 12 other states to actually immediately decrease the cost of prescription drugs and medicine, which I know is critical as families every day are trying to choose between literally whether to eat or pay for medicine. And we also want to take on the energy companies that are driving up costs and stop those rates from going up unless we see dramatic improvements to our energy grid," Benson said.
"In order to reduce the amount of costs, do what you can at the state level, even, you know, park passes and, and, you know, family passes for hunting, little stuff. If I can save people 200 to 300 bucks a month. And we do that 12 months of the year, that $2,000 to $3,000 that's going to make a difference. And on top of that, we're not taxing as much because we're growing the GDP $700 billion. If we can continue to do that because I'm a business owner and I understand strategies, if we can do that, then over time you'll see that affordability when it comes to houses," Swanson said.
The primary election is August 4th. To find your polling place, click here.
