LANSING, Mich. – In her first ever “What’s Next Address,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Wednesday shared the state’s plans to establish paid family and medical leave, a clean energy standard, more election security, and more in the coming months.
Lawmakers are set to begin the second half of their legislative session on Sept. 5 after breaking for the summer. The several goals outlined by Whitmer on Wednesday, Aug. 30, highlight the Legislature’s objective to make the most of their Democratic majority before 2023 ends.
Currently, Michigan Democrats have control of the state House, state Senate and the governor’s office for the first time in 40 years -- but control of the state House could shift in 2024. In the first half of 2023, Democratic lawmakers have taken advantage of their majority by passing several pieces of legislation on their agenda, including gun safety laws and LGBTQ+ protection.
In the second half of the year, Democrats are expected to execute an equally ambitious agenda that addresses several areas relating to health care, the economy, the environment and democracy, Whitmer said Wednesday.
Here’s a breakdown of the roadmap for the rest of 2023 laid out by Gov. Whitmer during her speech.
Health care
The Michigan governor is calling on lawmakers to soon codify key provisions included in the Affordable Care Act, known as “Obamacare,” within the state. The push comes as preventative care, one of the most popular touchstones of the ACA, is being threatened in federal court.
Democratic lawmakers are expecting to protect that provision, which requires insurers to cover preventive services, in addition to others, so that the rules remain in place for people in Michigan. Whitmer is calling on legislators to ensure:
- Children can stay on their parents’ insurance until they’re 26 years old.
- People with preexisting conditions are protected and covered by insurance.
- The removal of annual or lifetime caps on health care.
- Insurance plans cover essential services, like ambulances and birth control.
Parental, medical leave
Whitmer says legislators are prioritizing establishing paid family and medical leave for the state of Michigan. According to the governor, 77% of workers in Michigan don’t have access to paid family and medical leave.
“Even with help, raising a child, caring for yourself and juggling your work is hard, and that’s why we need paid family and medical leave,” Whitmer said. “It helps workers be there for their families. It gives you breathing room to get better when you’re sick, to bond with your baby, or care for a family member.”
Few details were offered about what that plan might look like, but Gov. Whitmer did highlight the 12 weeks of paid parental leave established for all state employees during her time in office. So far, 3,500 people have used that family leave, she said.
Because small businesses “often can’t afford” to offer such paid leave, a state-level rule would “help small businesses attract and retain workers,” and encourage more people and their families to live in Michigan, the governor said.
Clean energy standard
Democratic Michigan lawmakers are expected to prioritize establishing a 100% clean energy standard for the state this year. The ultimate goal would be to ensure all energy produced in the state are from “wind, solar, and any other common sense sources,” Gov. Whitmer said.
The effort is particularly important in the state, which “will be a destination for people seeking clean water, air and opportunity” in the coming decades, according to Whitmer.
The governor introduced the MI Healthy Climate Plan in 2022, which is meant to help bring the state toward carbon neutrality. To help propel the climate action plan, lawmakers are expected to provide more tools to the Michigan Public Service Commission to allow them to permit clean energy projects and help such projects progress at a quicker pace.
Election security
While elections are more secure in the U.S. today than they’ve ever been, Gov. Whitmer said Michigan Democrats are prioritizing election integrity this year.
“Threats against the integrity of our elections are alive and well,” Whitmer said, referring to the 2020 presidential election in which former President Donald Trump and his supporters attempted to overturn the election results declaring now-President Joe Biden the winner. Trump and his supporters claimed there was widespread voter fraud across the U.S., despite several official investigations identifying no widespread fraud whatsoever.
Trump is now facing charges in connection with the attempt to overturn the 2020 election results.
Lawmakers’ plans would focus on election security to prevent votes from being “tossed out or overturned,” and politicians from staying in office “despite being voted out,” Whitmer said. The governor did not offer many more specifics, but did say that Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson have been leading in this space.
In the November 2022 election, Michigan voters passed a proposal that expands voting rights to make it easier to vote, though “in a secure way,” the governor said.
Then and now
For the remainder of the year, Whitmer said Democrats will be focused on building projects, revitalizing places, and helping people.
In addition to the priorities listed above, the governor also said the state will prioritize rolling back additional abortion restrictions, such as a 24-hour wait period for the procedure, in addition to correctional facility upgrades and keeping automotive workers and facilities in Michigan.
So far in 2023, Democratic policies have passed in the state along party lines, with Republican lawmakers claiming the first half of the legislative session lacked bipartisanship.
In the first half of this year, Democratic Michigan lawmakers approved several measures from their agenda, including the following:
- Repealing the state’s 1931 abortion ban, though abortion access was codified in the state’s constitution by voters in 2022.
- Passing several gun safety laws that Democrats call “common sense gun laws,” including red flag laws and safe storage laws.
- Repealing the state’s right-to-work law that prohibited unionized workplaces from requiring employees to pay union dues and fees.
- Expanding the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include legal protections for sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.
- Passing an $82 billion budget prioritizing education, infrastructure, public safety, and the environment.