by Bruce Walker
In her second inaugural address on Sunday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer indicated her administration’s priorities for her upcoming four-year term.
Although she said she would provide more details in her upcoming State of the State and budget addresses, Whitmer hinted Sunday she would work on “common sense” gun control measures, advocate for abortion rights and same-sex marriage, and promote climate change measures.
“I’ll have a lot more to say in my upcoming state of the state and budget addresses, but I want to share the vision with you here today. Let’s ensure that our hardworking seniors can keep more of what they’ve earned,” Whitmer said. “Let’s bring supply chains home to Michigan from China and become an epicenter of innovation from clean energy to batteries to chips.”
Whitmer continued: “Let’s empower every child no matter where they live so that they can pursue their potential by continuing to make record investments in education from preschool to postsecondary. And let’s fight for our workers to ensure they can earn a good living, have great benefits, including time with their families and quality affordable health care and let’s reduce gun violence the number one killer of kids in this country by pursuing common sense reforms here. Let’s repeal outdated laws that limit our freedom to control our own bodies or who we marry. Let’s tackle climate change head on while creating jobs lowering costs and protecting our air and our lakes great and small.”
Whitmer is Michigan’s 49th governor. She defeated Republican challenger Tudor Dixon by 11 points in last November’s election, which also saw Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, all Democrats, win reelection. Additionally, for the first time in nearly 40 years, Democrats won control of both the State House of Representatives and Senate.
Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II, Nessel, Benson, and Supreme Court Justices Richard Bernstein, Kyra Harris Bolden, and Brian Zahra also were sworn in at Whitmer’s inauguration ceremony.
“It is a privilege and honor to have the opportunity to serve the good people of the great state of Michigan for another four years,” Nessel said. “I look forward to continuing the many initiatives and ground-breaking cases started by the department in my first term and working to discover new and innovative ways to provide justice and equal protection under the law to as many Michiganders as possible in the next term.”
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Bruce Walker is a regional editor at The Center Square. He previously worked as editor at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s MichiganScience magazine and The Heartland Institute’s InfoTech & Telecom News.
Photo “Gretchen Whitmer” by Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
