Major takeaways from Michigan’s State of the State Address 

On Jan. 25, Governor Gretchen Whitmer conducted Michigan’s State of the State Address. Some of the primary topics that Whitmer focused on were inflation, education, economic growth, climate change and gun control.   

With democrats holding the majority rule of both chambers of the MI legislature, Whitmer said she wanted to continue to work with minority leaders in order to work to solve issues within the state. 

Some policies that were presented by Whitmer to help lessen costs in Michigan included the announcement of a plan called “Lowering MI Costs” which would reduce the retirement tax and includes expanding the current Working Families Credit. It’s estimated this plan would save 500,000 homes about $1,000 a year and that expanding the credit would bring a refund of $3,000 to approximately 700,000 families. 

Lowering MI costs also includes the proposal of state funded pre-K for all Michigan families. Whitmer said the base of a good education starts young and would be beneficial to Michiganders’ future success. She also addressed funding for programs that help kids make up for resources and gaps in their education from the COVID-19 pandemic such as “MI Kids Back on Track.” 

Whitmer’s economic growth plan focused heavily on what Michigan can do in terms of “economic opportunity and personal freedom.” Whitmer said the “Make it in Michigan” plan would help recent graduates by setting up Michigan to be a place of economic development and expanding upon advanced manufacturing. 

This related to Whitmer’s call to expand clean energy at a local level both to help create jobs and to address the issue of climate change. Additionally, she said the MI Healthy Climate plan will help to preserve and protect the state’s natural resources.

Whitmer said public safety and gun control are a top priority. With democrats holding both chambers the passage of gun reform bills seems more probable. Some of the ideas Whitmer had about further preventing gun violence include safe storage laws, universal background checks and extreme risk protection orders, often known as “red flag laws.”