A Republican candidate for the Michigan House of Representatives announced that, if elected, he would introduce legislation modeled on a Florida measure known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill
Gretchen Whitmer
A $2.5 billion tax relief plan put forward by the Republican-led Legislature drew out the veto pen Friday from Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who said it would “blow a recurring, multi-billion-dollar hole in basic state government functions from public safety to potholes.
A coalition of education groups launched a new ballot question committee, For MI Kids, For Our Schools, Wednesday to oppose the Betsy DeVos-led proposal to create a school voucher-style system that would use public tax dollars to fund private education.
Monique Stanton writes, “Broad tax cuts, such as the Legislature’s move to reduce the personal income tax rate from 4.25% to 3.9%, are inequitable and funnel most of the benefits to the wealthiest Michigan residents.”
With the midterm elections looming, tax cuts are shaping up to be a major fight this year between Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the GOP-controlled Legislature.
In Michigan, Sunshine Week is often marked by promises of more transparency from our lawmakers in Lansing. But if the past is an indicator of the future, the Michigan Legislature won’t get too far past the talking phase.
The Michigan House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to pass a bill suspending the state’s “gas tax” until Sept. 30 in an effort to combat skyrocketing gas prices amid inflation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
From people who have lost those they love most in the world to COVID-19 to health care workers once hailed as heroes and now being spit on by patients angry over mask requirements and those known as “essential workers” who made poverty wages while having to endanger their own well-being to work in-person when others were isolating during the stay-home orders, people have dealt with a lot over the past two years.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s new budget plan will include a 5% funding hike for Michigan’s 15 public universities and 28 community colleges — the highest increase in decades. Universities would have to cap tuition increases.
Ten million free KN95 masks are now available to Michiganders as they continue to face the fast-spreading omicron variant of COVID-19, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Thursday.
The federal government launched a website to order free at-home tests for COVID-19 Tuesday, one day ahead of schedule. Here’s how to get your free at-home tests now.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) reported Wednesday an additional 15,385 COVID-19 cases and 351 COVID related deaths since Monday.
David Hecker writes, “This latest push to defund public schools began in the Legislature, where Republican lawmakers passed bills that would create tax credits for “scholarship funds” that could be used at non-public schools, which is just a more roundabout way of taking public money that should be spent on public education and putting it into private schools. Thankfully, Governor Whitmer continued to stand on the side of public schools and vetoed the legislation, but the fight to stop this latest DeVos-backed initiative isn’t over.”
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive directive Monday ordering state agencies to ready plans to quickly replace lead pipes using an influx of federal dollars from the new Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Thursday signed into law the first bill in a package eliminating the tax on menstrual products.
Homelessness in Michigan dropped 19% in 2020 from 2019, according to a new report. Michigan” was created in collaboration with several state government departments and agencies. It outlines a combination of factors contributing to 2020’s reduction in homelessness, including the implementation of eviction moratoriums.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law Wednesday the nearly $70 billion Fiscal Year 2022 budget, while axing Republicans’ cuts to abortion access and noting that budget language restricting COVID-19 mandates is unenforceable.
With just over a week before the start of Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, both chambers of the Legislature finished on Wednesday passing remaining spending plans worth about $53 billion. They now head to the desk of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has said she’ll sign them.