SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — Cementing her legacy, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer opened up in a one-on-one interview with me about her final State of the State address.
She told me Michigan’s future is bright but that education, our roads and many other areas are at risk of not improving further without ongoing support from both sides.
Watch Simon Shaykhet's video report below:
After delivering her final State of the State speech, where she emphasized what she considers to be key achievements in various areas, Whitmer told me a lot of work on education remains.
“First of all, we've got a literacy problem all across the country. We had over 400 different methods of teaching reading happening across the state of Michigan — that’s crazy. So what we've done is adopted science of reading, which is out phonics-based strategy. But it doesn’t happen overnight. It doesn't happen in a couple of years. This was a part of my message last night: enhanced training for our teachers... and making sure our students have tutoring after school, before school,” the governor said.
Watch the full interview with Whitmer below:
On roads, she says progress doesn’t mean the work is over.
“We have made the biggest investment in our road infrastructure in decades and we did it in a bipartisan way. There will be a lot more orange barrels out there, lots of people hard at work,” Whitmer said.
Related video: Have we 'fixed the damn roads'? Experts, Michiganders weigh in on progress
I asked the governor where are people being let down on health care and what can the state do.
“I can’t stop the cuts coming out of D.C., but what we can do to try to help people in Michigan is working together like we did in last year’s budget. We got to do it again,” she said.
Watch Whitmer's final State of the State address below:
She told me our economy is stronger seven years later and she stands behind thanking President Donald Trump for supporting Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township.
“I’m grateful that the president got us that fighter mission. We've grown our defense sector in Michigan. A lot of people don’t really realize that, but Michigan has airspace that we control. We’ve got water that is great for training as well. So I think it's a great extension of our manufacturing prowess and mobility,” Whitmer said.
Watch our coverage after Whitmer's address below:
Hitting the streets to hear from people on both sides, I also talked to voters about what’s important to them.
“Good public education is important to the state and will also drive economy and people wanting to live here,” one voter told me.
Another voter is concerned about literacy rates.
Whitmer says she is extremely proud of the work to uphold women’s rights, the passage safe storage gun laws and she believes a strong budget will pass by the June 30 deadline.
