Michigan Democrats have little time to take action on outstanding policy priorities before they lose their majority in the state House, but what they plan to tackle remains unclear and their wish list is long.
In 2022, Democrats made history when Michigan voters re-elected Governor Gretchen Whitmer and wrested the House of Representatives and Senate from Republican Party control, creating the first Democratic trifecta in four decades. But in last Tuesday’s election, some Democratic incumbents in the state House lost to Republican challengers, ushering in a new era of divided government in Michigan starting in January.
But before then, Democrats are gearing up for a busy lame-duck session to push through policies that Republicans oppose before their majority disappears.
“Michiganders expect their elected officials to work with Governor Whitmer to continue lowering costs in the face of inflation, bringing good-paying jobs to our state to grow the economy, building more affordable housing to to keep prices down, and to protect our rights and freedoms. said Bobby Leddy, Whitmer’s communications director. “We hope Republicans will join us in getting a head start on next year’s agenda.”
Lame duck is the period between an election and the new legislative session in which outgoing lawmakers still hold power. This year’s lame-duck session gives Democrats one last chance to assert their legislative majority and overcome Republican Party opposition. But the Democrats’ agenda for the rest of the year is still taking shape.
House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, is working with Senate Majority Leader Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, and Whitmer to set priorities, Tate spokesperson Amber McCann said. Brinks told reporters last Thursday that she is looking at a long list of priorities. “It’s the art of what’s possible. I can’t say that enough. That’s really been the real lesson of being in the majority as well. There’s a long list of things that a lot of people would like to have done at the end of the month.” During the day, it’s not as easy as it looks from the outside,” she said.
Last summer, Whitmer praised Democrats for fast-tracking bills to expand business subsidies and launch a new transit fund. Whitmer has repeatedly made economic development a key pillar of her administration. Several bills to create a new innovation fund and a tax credit for research and development were on the agenda of the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
Democratic lawmakers also shared a laundry list of their own top priorities for bills covering a range of issues: water affordability, policing, driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants, school charter transparency, polluter accountability, community solar, voting rights, lobbying and financial support. disclosure laws, guardianship, human trafficking, consumer protection, updating the legal name change process and more.
The last lame-duck session in which the party that lost the trifecta of power in Michigan provided a final burst of activity occurred in 2018. That year, Republicans introduced and passed bills that would establish voter-initiated paid sick leave and the minimum wage legislation watered down in a Move the Michigan Supreme Court illegally this year. Now business groups and Republicans in Lansing want lawmakers to intervene to stop a court-ordered increase in the minimum wage for tipped workers and changes to the state’s sick leave law.
“I think this is the biggest lame-duck problem facing the state right now,” said incoming Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Matt Hall, R-Richland Township. It’s unclear whether Democrats will turn their backs on their political allies in the labor movement — who don’t want lawmakers to touch the bill — and take Hall up on his offer to work together to pass future changes to Michigan’s minimum wage and paid leave policies. prevent. .
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The fate of other major legislative proposals remains unclear. In the summer of 2023, Whitmer called on lawmakers to pass a paid family and medical leave policy that would allow employees to take time off to care for a newborn or sick family member. Democrats have introduced paid leave legislation, but it has not yet received a hearing. Whitmer also previously called on lawmakers to create a prescription drug affordability council, a proposal that has passed Senate Democrats but not yet the state House.
One major bipartisan package has also stalled in the state House: legislation to expand Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act to the state Legislature and the governor’s office. Lawmakers in the Senate approved the legislation, but it was referred to the House Government Operations Committee, known as a place where bills often disappear.
Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @clarajanehen.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan Democrats have a long list of policy priorities left
