State Rep. Jason Woolford today released the following statement after Gov. Whitmer announced that Elizabeth Hertel will step down from her role as Director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on June 30:

“Today is a victory for government accountability and for every Michigan taxpayer who has demanded better from Lansing.

“As Chair of the House Oversight Subcommittee, I refused to accept the excuses and uncovered a pattern of mismanagement, weak internal controls, and a public assistance system operating with an error rate approaching 10% meaning roughly one out of every ten determinations was wrong. That level of failure would never be tolerated in the private sector, and it should never be tolerated in state government.

“For too long, bureaucrats operated without meaningful accountability while hardworking Michigan families paid the price. Seniors, parents, and vulnerable residents were forced to navigate broken systems, while taxpayers watched billions of dollars flow through programs riddled with waste, fraud risks, and administrative failures.

“Leadership matters, and accountability matters. The resignation of Director Elizabeth Hertel is an opportunity to restore both.

“My message to the next MDHHS director is simple: the days of rubber stamps and excuses are over. Every taxpayer dollar deserves protection, every public assistance program deserves integrity, and every agency should expect aggressive oversight.

“This is exactly why legislative oversight exists to shine a light on government failures, demand answers, and force change. We will continue exposing waste, fraud, and abuse wherever it exists until Michigan families can trust that their government is working for them instead of protecting bureaucracy.

“Today is not the end of accountability it is the beginning of it.”

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