Michigan Democratic lawmakers want mass transit between Grand Rapids, Detroit and Ann Arbor but don’t know how to pay for it.
State Sen. Dayna Polehanki, D-Livonia, majority caucus chair & Education Committee chair, posted on social media that mass transit would prevent young people from leaving the state.
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by Carly Moran Michigan plans to send $219 million in tax credits back to taxpayers over the next few weeks, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recently announced. Whitmer said a supplemental Working Families Tax Credit will be sent to Michigan families who already received a 2022 tax year Michigan Earned Income Tax Credit for Working Families. The checks should arrive over the next few weeks. Once sent, qualified Michigan households will have received an average of $550 each, totaling more than $219 million statewide. “With the Working Families Tax Credit check now making its way into the mailboxes of Michiganders, many families will feel a great sense of relief,” Whitmer said. The Michigan Earned Income Tax Credit is a tax benefit for those below a certain income level. Since 2022, it represents a 30% match of the federal income tax credit. “My team is working hard to ensure that 700,000 Michigan households receive their supplemental checks while simultaneously processing tax returns,” State Treasurer Rachael Eubanks said. “These checks are being sent in batches due to seasonal mailing demands. We anticipate this mailing will be completed in the next few weeks and ask eligible taxpayers to be patient as we work as…
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The White House and Biden 2024 reelection campaign are concerned that President Joe Biden is hemorrhaging support from voters in Arab and Muslim communities in Michigan amid his support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, Politico reported Tuesday.
Biden has publicly backed Israel’s war effort against Hamas even as many of his supporters and voters demand he call for a ceasefire in favor of protecting the Palestinian population in Gaza. Multiple uncommitted voter campaigns have sprung up against Biden as he continues to lose support from Arab and Muslim communities threatening not to back him in the state’s Tuesday primaries, according to Politico.
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Days before Tuesday’s primary election, more than 700,000 Michiganders have already cast a ballot thanks to new voting laws.
More than 18,000 votes were cast in the first three days of in-person early voting statewide over the holiday weekend.
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The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from Sidney Powell, a lawyer aligned with former President Donald Trump who challenged the 2020 presidential election results in Michigan.
The nation’s top court included no comment with the Tuesday rejection.
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A voter-led petition seeks to repeal a Michigan law that allowed the state to seize local control of large-scale wind and solar projects.
The Michigan Farm Bureau and the Michigan Townships Association say Public Act 233 of 2023 strips local siting authority in 1,240 townships and gives it to the Michigan Public Service Commission – three people appointed by the governor.
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says the proposed 2025 budget wouldn’t raise taxes but it would dump a 1,200% increase in trash fees onto local taxpayers.
The budget aims to raise the landfill tipping fee rate for state landfills from 36 cents to $5 per ton – a 1,288% increase.
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s 2025 budget includes $5 million for a car repair program.
The program would fund vehicle repairs, purchases and other services to obtain and retain employment not to exceed $2,000 in the past year – the same cap as last year’s budget but more than double from the $900 cap in the year prior.
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The mother of a shooter who killed four students at a high school in Oxford, Mich., in 2021 was found guilty Tuesday on all charges of involuntary manslaughter.
Jennifer Crumbley, 45, had pleaded not guilty to four involuntary manslaughter counts, and the jury found her guilty after 10 hours of deliberation, per CNN.
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Michigan Senate Republicans on Thursday announced their plan to improve childhood learning and support teachers in the K-12 schools.
They proposed a MI Brighter Future plan they said would help students gain access to additional resources and learning opportunities, require proven training methods for educators, give parents more control over their child’s progress, reinstate accountability in teacher evaluations and provide for performance-based bonuses.
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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.
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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer proposed expanding the Michigan government by at least new five programs costing an unknown amount.
In a video talking to a potato, Whitmer proposed that taxpayers fund two years of community college for all high school graduates.
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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 pubic trust.”
State Rep. John Roth, R-Interlochen, told The Center Square in an email Republican concerns continue to grow.
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Former Michigan GOP Rep. Justin Amash said Thursday that he is considering running for Senate in 2024.
“Today I’m launching the Justin Amash for Senate Exploratory Committee as I consider entering the race,” Amash wrote on the social media platform, X, on which he cites himself as a libertarian.
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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.
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A Michigan couple has sued Brooks Township for refusing to allow them to open a cemetery on private land.
Peter and Annica Quakenbush filed a lawsuit against Brooks Township in Newaygo County, challenging its blanket ban on opening any new cemeteries.
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The University of Michigan’s (UM) spending on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) increased about 66% from the 2022-2023 school year, according to an analysis by Mark Perry, a senior fellow at Do No Harm.
The school’s DEI payroll for the 2022-2023 school year came in at $18 million, but increased to over $30 million for the 2023-2024 academic year, according to Perry’s analysis. UM’s DEI department had 132 full-time diversity employees in the 2022-2023 school year and now has over 300.
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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,
“Michigan lawmakers will spend every dollar that they receive in revenue and state taxes have increased faster than residents’ ability to pay since the pandemic began,” Hohman said in a statement. “This is fundamentally unsustainable and lawmakers should practice restraint. Spending less would protect taxpayers, stabilize the budget and ensure that lawmakers have flexibility to meet unexpected needs.”
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Michigan State Police have given 1,563 citations and written warnings for the new distracted driving law over about five months.
From July through late November 2023, MSP issued 720 citations and 843 verbal warnings for the law to keep drivers focused on the road to prevent distracted driving and road deaths, according to documents obtained through records requests.
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Detroit has become overwhelmed by a surge in migrants needing shelter, according to The Detroit News.
Shelters supporting migrants in Detroit say they’re working long hours with little resources to help, according to The Detroit News. The city is experiencing a surge amid record encounters of migrants crossing the southern border illegally.
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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.
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A new law in Michigan means that inmates leaving prison will be registered automatically to vote, among other election-related measures signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat.
Michigan is one of 23 states that already allow those with felony convictions to reclaim their voting rights, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
However, under the new law inmates will be preregistered while still incarcerated, so that they will be on the state’s voter registration rolls upon release.
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A lawsuit claims a Michigan school district began treating a middle-school daughter as a boy for more than six months without their knowledge or consent.
The lawsuit, filed this week by Dan and Jennifer Mead, claims Rockford Public School District employees secretly treated their 13-year-old daughter as a boy, referring to her by a new masculine name and male pronouns and tried to conceal these actions from the parents.
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The Satanic Temple (TST) unveiled a new display at the Michigan State Capitol Monday, just days after its statue in Iowa was torn down, according to a post on X.
TST’s display of Baphomet in the Iowa State Capitol building was destroyed after a Christian veteran beheaded the statue, claiming that he would not stand by as Christians continue to “submissively accept the legitimization of Satan.” TST unveiled a new display that can be found outside Michigan’s capitol building on the lawn, according to a post on X.
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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 attorney fees.
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Authorities have charged a man with the murder of Detroit synagogue President Samantha Woll, who was found stabbed to death on Oct. 21 outside of her home.
Detroit man Michael Jackson-Bolanos was charged with Woll’s murder, along with counts of lying to the police and home invasion, the Associated Press reported. Detroit police announced they had arrested a person of interest in the case earlier this week, though it remains unclear whether Brown was that individual.
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A Michigan-based energy group says recent layoffs and leadership changes don’t change plans to build a $1.6B battery factory in Van Buren Township called ONE Circle.
Michigan taxpayers bet $200 million on Our Next Energy Inc., a technology company that laid off 25% of its staff amid leadership changes.
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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order to transition the state’s fleet to zero-emission vehicles by 2040.
Whitmer says the move will reduce air pollution, help boost demand for Michigan-made electric vehicles and lower fuel and maintenance costs.
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Ford Pro, the commercial division within Ford Motor Co., and Xcel Energy, a clean energy company, will deploy 30,000 electric vehicle charging ports in Xcel Energy service territories nationwide by 2030.
Ford Pro and Xcel Energy are launching the 30×30 initiative within Xcel Energy’s broader Electric Vehicle Supply Infrastructure program to scale EV adoption and increase access to charging infrastructure.
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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law a commitment that the state will have 100% of electricity generation coming from carbon dioxide-free sources by 2040.
The Clean Energy and Jobs Act, according to NBC News, contains bills to increase energy efficiency and expedite the permitting process for wind and solar projects, in addition to mandating 100% greenhouse gas-free electricity generation by 2040.
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Nine Michiganders face chargers of unemployment insurance fraud and operating as unlicensed builders in a sweep that involved the attorney general’s office, along with several local agencies.
The Michigan Department of the Attorney General, alongside the Detroit Police Department and other law enforcement agencies arrested nine on charges of operating as unlicensed builders and unemployment insurance fraud.
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Is the Line 5 pipeline an essential source of energy or is it an environmental hazard?
Since 2019, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel have sought to shut down Line 5, which has been pumping about 540,000 gallons of hydrocarbons daily across the lakebed of Lake Michigan since 1953. Whitmer and Nessel say they fear a spill similar to the 2010 oil spill near the Kalamazoo River – the largest inland oil spill in U.S. history.
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the Reproductive Health Act into law.
The bills include Senate Bills 474, 476, and 477, and House Bills 4951, 4953, 4954, 4955, and 4956.
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After 34 days, strikes have ended at two of three Detroit casinos after union members at Hollywood Casino and Motor City voted to ratify five-year contracts.
The strike continues at MGM Grand Casino where members rejected a tentative agreement.
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University of Michigan police arrested 40 people on campus Friday after breaking up a pro-Palestinian protest of hundreds, some of whom had forced their way into an administrative building.
“At least 200 people gathered Friday, calling for the university to divest from Israel,” Michigan Live reported Saturday. “Around 4 p.m., the demonstrators moved from the central campus Diag area to the Ruthven Administration Building.”
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United Auto Workers members have voted to ratify a tentative agreement with Ford Motor Company, marking the possible end of the first simultaneous UAW strike against the Big Three.
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The Detroit Casino Council has reached a tentative agreement for a new five-year contract with MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino, and Hollywood Casino at Greektown after a 32-day strike.
The unions will continue to strike until the members ratify the proposed settlement.
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Michigan has reimbursed $119,000 worth of food stamps reported stolen from March through August 2023.
The food stamp program is a federal program operated by state health departments serving as a social safety net. Criminals steal food stamps via credit card skimmers, compromised logins and stolen identities sold on the dark web.
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Former President Donald Trump’s campaign is celebrating the dismissal of a litany of cases in Michigan challenging his eligibility to run for president again.
Trump has struggled to fend off challenges to his appearing on the ballot in multiple states. The litany of challenges have largely asserted that he was ineligible to hold public office under the 14th Amendment for having led an “insurrection” against the nation in the form of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Riot. He recently notched a win at the Minnesota Supreme Court allowing him to appear on the GOP primary ballot.
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Big Three automaker Stellantis seeks 6,400 buyouts – nearly half its 12,700 total non-bargaining unit – as it accelerates into an electric future.
Citing “challenging market conditions”, Stellantis’ Media Relations Director Jodi Tinson said the offer is open to non-bargaining unit U.S. employees with at least five years of corporate service.
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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 December 14.
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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.
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Right-to-Life and other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit on federal constitutional grounds challenging the enactment of Proposal 3, an abortion rights amendment voters enshrined into the Michigan Constitution.
The American Freedom Law Center and Great Lakes Justice Center sued in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan on behalf of 16 plaintiffs challenging the abortion rights law voters passed Nov. 8, 2022.
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The Michigan House will be deadlocked 54-54 after two Democratic House members won local mayoral races.
After Reps. Lori Stone of Warren and Kevin Coleman of Westland won their respective mayoral races, House Democrats will still craft legislative agendas but won’t have the votes required to enact legislation without Republican votes until a special session is called to fill those seats.
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Days after the Michigan House and Senate passed a plan for the state to use 100% clean energy by 2040, Rep. Dylan Wegela, D-Garden City, said a goal of reaching 100% green energy by 2040 is “simply too late.”
“The problem is this legislation [SB271] is going to be billed as 100% clean energy, and that’s just false,” Wegela said in a statement. “This legislation had carveout exceptions for natural gas, carbon capture and even a trash incinerator. None of these are carbon free or clean, and all of them disproportionately impact communities of lower income and communities of color. 100% green energy by 2040 is simply too late. We need a Green New Deal.”
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Former Republican Rep. Peter Meijer announced his candidacy Monday for outgoing Democratic Michigan Rep. Debbie Stabenow’s seat in 2024.
Meijer already had an exploratory committee for the seat that he launched in late August, where he was able to raise funds ahead of an official run. The former congressman wrote in a campaign press release that he believes he is the Republican with “the best chance” of winning the Democratic-held seat, where he will face several opponents in a crowded GOP primary.
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After a record $82 billion budget that nearly depleted a $9 billion surplus, two bills aim to make Michigan’s budgeting process more transparent.
Reps. Tom Kuhn, R-Troy and Donni Steele, R-Orion Township, introduced House Bills 5296 and 5297 that aim to require that lawmakers can’t change existing laws through an appropriations bill.
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Michigan lawmakers approved a spending bill that aims to pay off $114 million of school debt in five districts.
House Bill 4292 is a supplemental bill aiming to pay $42 million of debt for Ypsilanti Community Schools, $31 million for Muskegon Heights School District, $18 million for Pontiac City School District, $12 million for the former Inkster School District and $10 million for Benton Harbor Area Schools.
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The Michigan Senate passed financial disclosure bills voters approved in November 2022 through Proposal 1 to expose conflicts of interest but one lawmaker says the rules are all “smoke and mirrors.”
Senate Bills 613, 614, 615, and 616 aim to require lawmakers and candidates for public office to disclose assets and income above certain thresholds. The bills seek to require candidates and officeholders to disclose their spouse’s employment, including their status as a registered lobbyist.
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Michigan plans to hand out more than $200 million in federal taxpayer funds for grants to provide high-speed internet access to underserved areas.
The Michigan High Speed Internet Office announced the first round of the Realizing Opportunity with Broadband Infrastructure Networks grants, awarding $203 million to more than 70,000 Michigan homes and businesses to connect them with faster internet.
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