LANSING, Mich. – Wednesday was Lansing’s biggest night as powerbrokers and politicos from across the state descended on the capital for Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s State of the State address.
The event was the first in-person address since the start of COVID, and the first with a major shakeup in the Legislature. Whitmer will give her budget presentation in two weeks, which will offer more details on what she’s looking for.
“I’m honored to stand between speaker Joe Tate and majority leader Winnie Brinks,” Whitmer said.
During her speech Wednesday, Jan. 25, Whitmer’s top priorities were education, including free pre-K and millions of dollars for individualized tutoring for all students.
“I know we might have different perspectives here, but I sure hope we can all get around supporting 4-year-olds across Michigan,” Whitmer said.
Targeted tax cuts like ending the tax on retiree public pensions and boosting the Earned Income Tax Credit and gun control, including universal background checks and safe gun storage laws, were also mentioned.
“Hunters and responsible gun owners from both sides of the aisle know that we need to get these commonsense gun safety proposals across the finish line,” Whitmer said.
Post address was bipartisan support for many of those education and tax proposals.
“We’re very excited to work with the governor,” said Senator Micael Webber. “We think there’s a lot of priorities that overlap with our agenda.”
“I think what we are seeing from the first bills that House Democrats have introduced was around tax relief,” said Tate. “So, I was very excited to hear about the governor and her proposals for working family tax credit.”
There are going to be details that will need to be worked out.
“We have the money to provide savings right now,” said Mark Tisdel. “It doesn’t have to spread out over three or four years. We don’t need different tiers or different formulas. If you got some retirement income, give the people a break.”
The Michigan Senate will take up repealing the pension tax and public pensions as well as boosting up the EITC on Thursday, Jan. 26.
Watch: Michigan Gov. Whitmer’s 2023 State of the State speech addressing her 2nd term