AFP-MI Condemns Gov. Whitmer Using Tax Dollars to Help Politically Connected Ally

Mar 20, 2023 by AFP

LANSING, MI – Americans for Prosperity-Michigan (AFP-MI) today condemned Governor Gretchen Whitmer and her administration for using taxpayer funds to issue a $20 million grant to one of her campaign donors and political appointees.

First reported by the Detroit News, Fay Beydoun, the grant recipient and Whitmer appointee, is receiving millions in taxpayer funds to “attract international start-up businesses” to Michigan through her Oakland County based non-profit. She also sits on the Michigan Economic Development Corporation Board, which oversees the grant awarded to Beydoun’s nonprofit.

This is after Governor Whitmer and the Democrat-led Michigan Legislature wasted over $8 billion in progressive pet projects and corporate welfare and gutted Michigan’s right to work law, making Michigan less competitive for future generations.

AFP-MI State Director Annie Patnaude issued the following statement:

“Governor Whitmer has a long track record of rewarding her political allies. Whitmer and her cronies blew out the state’s budget on corporate welfare and left-wing pet projects to the tune of $8 billion—this is just one of those projects.

“The apparent self-dealing and oblique legislative process for this grant signal at best a lack of awareness on behalf of the governor and her administration—or at worst indicate a wider web of cronyism and corruption.

“Americans for Prosperity is committed to fighting for Michigan taxpayers and holding our elected officials accountable for their reckless policies that hurt working Michiganders.”