The Tragedy of Martin Howrylak

You may have heard that Troy City Council is spending $10.5 million dollars for comprehensive concrete pavement replacement on County roads. It's worth digging into the numbers to understand where this outlay is coming from. Troy is the biggest contributor to the total amount, allocating $5,100,000 from the General Fund Balance. $2,338,000 is being contributed by the Oakland County Road Commission, while the Federal Government is contributing $1,891,000. The entity contributing the least to these absolutely essential repairs is the State of Michigan, tossing in $1,000,000.

Seeing these numbers, there is one question that should leap immediately to mind: Why is the State of Michigan contributing less than the Federal Government?

The answer is simple: Martin Howrylak.

You see, Martin Howrylak is a member of the Tea Party, and doesn't believe that government is good for much. When Martin ran for the House seat, he promised a few of things. First, he wanted cut salaries for all the legislators. Next, he wanted to make the State Legislature part time. Finally, he wanted to eliminate the state income tax.  

Do any of those strike you as the promises of a guy who believes that governing is a good way to protect our roads and schools? I would argue, “No.” These are the ideas of a person who believes that government should be sold to the highest bidder for scrap.

So just how is Martin doing in his quest to plow the Michigan government into a pylon on crumbling Michigan roads?

Has Martin introduced any bills that would reduce one dime from the $71,685 he receives as a Representative? Nope. Why would he? Would anybody willingly give themselves a pay cut?

Has Martin introduced any bills that would make the State Legislature part time? Nope. That might affect his salary, plus, the job of Representative is easy when you don't take it seriously.

Has Martin introduced any bills that would eliminate the state income tax? Actually, yes.

Martin is co-sponsoring a bill that would repeal the Michigan individual income tax. The only problem is that it would blow a $8.3 BILLION dollar hole in the State budget, leaving little for the repair of roads, schools, and extra police protection.

Now, compare Martin's goal of blowing up the State budget with a fact he recognized in his March 2014 newsletter: The extra monies Michigan has allocated for road repair is a temporary fix, and “larger solution” is necessary to repair our roads. (And isn't it interesting how little Troy is getting out of the extra money the State is spending?)

So Martin Howrylak believes that we need a “larger solution” to repair our roads, but he also wants to blow up the state budget. Does that make any sense? And does anybody believe that Martin Howrylak wants to be part of a larger solution for Michigan's crumbling infrastructure?

Of course not. And understanding why is quite simple. Martin Howrylak is just another Tea Party politician who will say what he needs to say to keep his job. And that's just the tip of the tragedy.

The larger tragedy of Martin Howrylak are the opportunities Troy loses. A good Representative would work hard to ensure that our children get the best schools. A good Representative would find funding in the state budget to get more police on Troy's streets in order to improve safety. A good Representative would work to return the $20,000,000 that Lansing plundered from Troy's budget.

So ask yourself: Do you believe that Martin Howrylak is up to the responsibility of making sure Troy is safe and secure? Because when you look at the evidence, all Martin Howrylak has accomplished is fiddling while the everything crumbles.

Cross posted at Keep Troy Strong.