JAMES TO DEMOCRATS: MICHIGANDERS NEED RELIEF, NOT MORE TALK

“Stop stonewalling and start serving the people who sent you there.”

SHELBY TOWNSHIP, MI — As Michigan families continue to feel the pain of high gas prices, John James is calling on Jocelyn Benson and her running mate, Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, to stop playing politics with Michiganders’ money and use the power they have to provide relief.

James posted on X, “Michigan families want relief at the pump and I will do whatever I can to deliver it. Thank you to the Speaker for being willing to bring a gas tax suspension to a vote. Now it is time for Lansing Democrats to stop stonewalling and start serving the people who sent them there. Come together. Find common ground. Do your job.”

While Jocelyn Benson points the finger at Washington and called only for suspending the 18 cent federal gas tax, James has called for the immediate suspension of BOTH the state and federal gas taxes to lower prices at the pump.

Now, Benson’s running mate, Winnie Brinks, says suspending Michigan’s state gas tax could be on the table. House Speaker Matt Hall has said that if Brinks sends over legislation suspending the state gas tax, the House will put it up for a vote.

The ball is in Brinks’ court. But, as James said on Monday, “Your pain is their plan. They just want the issue to campaign on.”

If Brinks really wanted to provide relief, she wouldn’t just be “open” to it. She runs the Senate. Send the legislation.

The pain Michiganders are feeling at the pump is only part of the problem. Michigan families are paying some of the highest gas prices in the country, the highest electricity rates in the Midwest while facing the WORST reliability.

This is a Michigan problem that requires Lansing leadership to fix it.

James has laid out a broader energy agenda focused on lowering costs and improving reliability, including repealing Democrats’ green energy mandates, holding the Public Service Commission accountable, and protecting ratepayers from subsidizing new data centers, like the one Jocelyn Benson’s husband lobbied for in Saline.

Democrats are focused on fixing the blame. John James is focused on fixing the problem.

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