Michigan in Focus

 House Republican Leader Matt Hall called on Democrat House Speaker Joe Tate of Detroit to “address major issues” including criminalizing fertility fraud. The Richland Township lawmaker called for “balanced committees” to vet bills and claimed the speaker reneged on promised actions on five bills in October. Hall claimed Democrats “rejected” collaboration proposals after adjourning in November. Jo...

The Michigan Court of Appeals will decide the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s lawsuit challenging an income tax rate increase by March 11. Any appeal to that decision would be due to the Michigan Supreme Court by March 25. The lawsuit challenges the Michigan Department of Treasury’s decision to raise the personal income tax rate back to 4.25% in 2024. The rate was lowered to 4.05% last year tr...

A letter urges an investigation into suppliers of a Ford electric vehicle plant in Marshall, Michigan. Republican U.S. Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisconsin, chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Washington, chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, signed the letter. Lawmakers urge an investigation into four companies allegedly supplying goods and...

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer targeted lowering household costs for Michiganders in her sixth State of The State address. Whitmer called on lawmakers to offer free preschool for all 4-year-olds, two years of free community college for all high school graduates and an Innovation Fund to subsidize Michigan companies. “Every single Michigander can count on a free public education from pre-K through...

Michigan’s Growing Together Council was funded partly by private groups – a detail omitted in the final report which one lawmaker called an “abuse of the public trust.” State Rep. John Roth, R-Interlochen, told The Center Square in an email Republican concerns continue to grow. “The governor chose to keep over $900,000 in non-profit payments hidden even after strong-arming $2 million in taxpayer f...

Days of freezing temperatures and falling snow have knocked out power for more than 150,000 Michiganders and canceled school at multiple districts. The Detroit Public Schools, Livonia Schools, Plymouth-Canton Community Schools and many other districts canceled school on Tuesday and Wednesday. The storm tested Michigan’s infrastructure that is ranked worse than the national average. Support this po...

School districts in Detroit, Lansing and Pontiac will each receive $5.9 million in federal funding to buy 15 clean-powered school buses apiece. The funding flows from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Clean School Bus Program grants. Funding through third-party multi-state grantees First Student Inc. and Highland CSB 1 will help buy electric buses in five additional Michigan public...

Over the weekend, the Michigan GOP State Committee said it voted to expel its chair Kristen Karamo. Karamo, elected in February of 2023, posted on social media Saturday the meeting was "illegitimate." Last week, eight of 13 GOP congressional chairs called for her to resign. Get your Audible Membership today! (As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualified purchases) Support this podcast: https://p...

 Applications are open until Jan. 21 to fill 30 seats on the new MI Healthy Climate Corps program. The Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s Office of Climate and Energy program will field 30 AmeriCorps members to help communities fight climate change in March 2024. Projects will be specific to the community, but could include connecting residents to clean energy or energy-efficient...

Since the pandemic began, Michigan has embarked on an "unsustainable" spending spree, says James Hohman, the Director of Fiscal Policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Hohman said Michigan's five newly created agencies since 2020 aren’t as consequential as the "sheer spending." Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/michigan-in-focus/support Hosted by Simplecast, an...

The Capital Area Transportation Authority wants to use zero-emission vehicles by 2035, following a statewide effort to use 100% renewable energy by 2040. The group hopes to start driving its first 40-feet, battery-electric, fixed-route bus the board approved April 20, 2022 around 2024-2025 in the city of Lansing since the current lead time for order and delivery is between 20 to 24 months. In Augu...

 A fifth and final audit of the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency found the agency “undercounted fraud penalties by at least 49.4%” because it didn’t fix programming issues with the Michigan Integrated Data Automated System. The  audit  from the Office of Auditor General Doug Ringler marked two “material conditions” – the most severe rating finding that the agency didn't protect agency funds....

When the city of East Lansing excluded someone from a farmer’s market because of his religious beliefs, they violated his right to free speech and freedom of religion. The exclusion of Country Mill Farms owner Stephen Tennes from the farmers market because he refused to play host to same-sex wedding ceremonies at his farm, detailed in a 2017 lawsuit, will cost East Lansing $825,000 in damages and...

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed $625M of supplemental bills clearing some school debt, funding colleges and universities and her secondary education department. Whitmer signed House Bill 4292 and Senate Bill 174 to fund capital outlay projects from the Fiscal Year 2024 state budget, which was a record $82 billion. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/michigan-in-focu...

Michigan will give a nearly 2-year-old company a $10 million Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant to support a facility for Scout Motors expected to employ 200 people. Scout Motors, a Volkswagen-backed, independent American auto manufacturer headquartered in Virginia, is establishing a new research and development facility in Novi with support from the Michigan Strategic F...

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced arrests from two investigations into alleged criminal rings operating in the metro-Detroit area. Three Chilean nationals -Jeremy Martinez, 19, Ignacio Ruiz-Saldias, 29, and Tamara Ruiz-Saldias, 36, allegedly targeted expensive homes in Oakland, Wayne, and Kent Counties. They each face eight counts of second-degree home invasion, a 15-year felony, and...

A farmer who co-owns Soil Friends Hard Cider Co. is suing Comstock Township alleging constitutional and civil rights violations after local officials shut down a new barn “instrumental” to its business. The local government shut down the 22-acre farm during peak season for selling Christmas trees, pumpkins, squash and hard cider “with no warning and no chance for correction,” co-owner Ben Martin t...

After the Michigan Public Service Commission approved the permit for Enbridge Energy to move the Line 5 oil pipeline into an underground tunnel, Republicans welcomed the decision. The MPSC found “there is a public need for Line 5 products and a public need for the replacement project to protect the resources of the Great Lakes.” Enbridge’s Line 5, a 645-mile oil pipeline, runs 4.5 miles across the...

After 11 weeks on strike, the United Auto Workers announced a tentative agreement with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network. The agreement includes the reduction of the wage progression from 22 years to five, significant general wage increases, a $6,500 ratification bonus for Blue Cross Blue Shield workers, a $5,000 ratification bonus for Blue Care Network workers, and inflatio...

 Michigan state Rep. Steve Carra, R-Three Rivers, says he will introduce a bill next year aiming to prohibit legislators from signing non-disclosure agreements. The plan follows a Detroit News report revealing that nearly one in five Michigan lawmakers have signed “secrecy pacts” gagging them from sharing their knowledge of taxpayer-funded projects. Carra encourages economic expansion but says the...

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed bills into law that ban those convicted of domestic violence from buying, owning or transporting firearms for eight years after sentencing. House Bill 4945 updates the sentencing guidelines to prohibit those convicted of domestic violence from buying or owning a gun or ammunition for eight years. Senate Bill 471 prohibits the possession or use of firearms and ammunitio...

Ford Motor Co. will slash 800 jobs from its planned electric vehicle plant in Marshall subsidized by more than $1.7 billion of taxpayer money. Ford said it is "re-timing and resizing" the BlueOval Battery Park Michigan in Marshall.” The news brought bipartisan criticism from Michigan lawmakers. Ford originally announced the plant as worth $3.5B and estimated it would employ 2,500 workers.  Support...

Michigan announced that three companies will receive $178,000 in total funding through the Michigan Mobility Funding Platform to deploy mobility projects. The projects aim to deliver life-saving medications, maximize environmentally-conscious travel experiences, and create more walkable, bikeable and accessible streets. The funding will flow to three companies – $90,000 to Bedestrian in Dearborn,...

Michigan House Republicans introduced House Concurrent Resolution 9 aiming for lawmakers to adjourn in late December. The resolution notes, according to session schedule, that House lawmakers are to meet until Dec. 21 and the Senate is scheduled to meet until at least Dec. 14. The plan follows as the Democratic majority in the House and Senate plan to stop legislative business and break for the ye...

As Michigan aims for 100% clean energy by 2040, a new plan aims to ensure that child slaves aren’t mining the rare earth minerals and assembling the solar panels. Michigan House Republicans proposed a package aiming to stop taxpayer money from funding projects using child or forced labor for solar panels and electric vehicle battery parts. Phil Green, R-Millington, and others sponsored House Bills...