LANSING, Mich. – Governor Gretchen Whitmer will deliver her final State of the State address on Wednesday night, focusing on early literacy, affordable housing, and protecting health care.
Whitmer, who first addressed the state as governor in 2019, is expected to highlight Michigan’s struggle with fourth-grade reading.
The state ranks near the bottom nationally in reading scores for that age group.
State Sen. Dayna Polehanki, a Livonia Democrat who chairs the Senate Education Committee and is a former English teacher, said she’s looking for Whitmer to build on recent gains.
“I expect, and I hope, she is going to talk about building upon the successes for early literacy in the past few years,” said Polehanki.
On housing, Whitmer is expected to propose an affordable housing tax credit for builders as part of an effort to increase supply and ease costs for residents.
In health care, she is pushing for new revenue streams to avoid cuts to benefits.
Whitmer is also backing protections that would block home liens or foreclosures tied to medical debt.
What she can accomplish in her final year will depend heavily on Republicans who control the Michigan House.
House Speaker Matt Hall, a Republican from Richland Township, said he wants to see the governor aim higher than symbolic measures.
“My hope is we won’t see Governor Whitmer propose small solutions, safe things, and talk mostly about her legacy,” Hall said. “My hope is that we can work together and make a deal in this last year to get real cost-of-living reform and really bring lower costs for Michigan families.”
Whitmer’s address will also be watched closely beyond Michigan. She’s frequently mentioned as a potential future presidential contender.
“I do think the speech will be written in such a way that she knows all national eyes are on her, political eyes, those people running for presidents, those people who will be funding a presidential campaign are going to be watching her, they are going to be listening to her,” said Mario Morrow Sr., CEO of Mario Morrow & Associates. “They’re going to see how she performs.”