Michigan Municipal Leauge Review Magazine March/April 2023

Attorney General Dana Nessel

Governor Gretchen Whitmer

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson

Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks

Speaker of the House Joe Tate

the President's agenda. It remains to be seen if a similar dynamic will play out in the Michigan Legislature. Republicans seem to have learned that same lesson as they cautioned their colleagues on the opposite side of the aisle against overreaching. New Republican House Leader Rep. Matt Hall told Bridge Michigan that Democrats will be in for a rough ride if they try to jam their priorities through the Legislature without bipartisan support: “If they come right out and start doing their partisan wish list…they’re going to unite the Republicans against that really fast, and it’s going to make it harder for them to do their job. If they start moving down the road of some of these extreme policies, they’re going to have a very hard two years, and they’re going to lose the majority.”

There already has been a flurry of bill introductions to start off the new session, with Gov. Whitmer and legislative Democrats signaling that they will move forward with reinstating tax exemptions for retirement income as well as expanding the tax credit for lower-wage workers. They also aim to codify LGBTQ anti-discrimination protections in the state civil rights act and repeal Michigan’s century-old, near-total ban on abortion. The issues do not stop there, however, as lawmakers will face matters of how to spend a multibillion-dollar surplus, and whether to significantly change K-12 funding policies, boost renewable energy requirements, and fund a year-old economic development incentives account.

MARCH / APRIL 2023

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THE REVIEW