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Joey Cappelletti, Associated Press
33 minutes ago
FILE – Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer delivers the State of the State address to a joint session of the House and Senate at the State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, on January 25, 2023. Whitmer will call for increased investment in education through initiatives such as: The State of the State address on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, focused on reducing costs for residents with free community college for all high school graduates and free kindergarten for 4-year-olds. (AP Photo/Al Gordis, File)
LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer touted initiatives such as free community college for all high school graduates and free preschool for 4-year-olds in her State of the State address Wednesday night. The plan is to call for increased investment in education. He focused on reducing costs for residents.
The second-term Democratic governor’s speech comes ahead of a legislative session that could require lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to work together for the first time since Democrats took full control of state government last January. The state House remains tied 54-54 until at least April, when special elections will be held for two vacant seats.
Whitmer’s speech focused on urging lawmakers to invest more than $1 billion in housing construction and rehabilitation and pass tax credits of up to $5,000 for long-term care costs such as counseling, transportation, nursing and respite services. be done.
“We will build a Michigan where people have the support they need to get back up when they fall. We will reduce costs on the biggest line items in our budgets, improve education so our children can thrive, and build our own.” It’s about making sure that no matter who you are or what you’ve been through, you can ‘make it,”’ Whitmer said in prepared remarks provided to The Associated Press.
The governor also plans to use the opportunity to highlight the policies Democrats have implemented in 2023, the first year in which Democrats have full control of the agenda in more than 40 years. Democrats worked to repeal laws restricting labor unions known as “right to work,” overhaul gun laws in the state, and further protect both LGBTQ+ and abortion rights.
Many of the initiatives highlighted in Whitmer’s speech align with key issues that national Democrats are emphasizing ahead of the November election. Voter sentiment about the party’s policy agenda in Michigan could be crucial to the upcoming presidential election, which could hinge on the outcome of battleground states.
“I can’t solve global inflation alone. No one can do it, not even the president,” said Whitmer, co-chair of President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign.
Before the speech, Republican leaders criticized Whitmer for failing to make real improvements to education, infrastructure and economic development in the state in five years. House Minority Leader Rep. Matt Hall described Whitmer’s agenda as a “short-term idea designed to get a lot of coverage and attention, presumably for national political ambitions.”
Hall and Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt each pointed to a report released in December by a bipartisan commission focused on the state’s population growth that Whitmer created last year. According to the report, Michigan ranks near the bottom of all states in population growth, median income and new housing construction.
Whitmer is focused on addressing these issues through economic development. On Wednesday, he proposed introducing research and development tax credits and an innovation fund to invest in high-growth startups.
Many of the proposals would require funding in the next state budget, including plans to make community college free and Whitmer’s call to make preschool free for 4-year-olds by the end of the year.
It remains to be seen how quickly, if at all, Whitmer’s initiative will be brought to the state Legislature. The state House of Representatives is expected to remain deadlocked until a special election in April, and questions remain about whether each party will pursue bipartisanship. The 2024 legislative session began on January 10, but so far very few votes have been cast.
A special election for the seats will be held on April 16 after the two Democratic members who won the mayor’s race at the end of last year vacated their seats. Democrats are expected to easily win both seats, which would allow them to push through their late-game agenda. April.
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