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Question 1): Michigan’s Democrat-controlled Legislature voted last week to repeal the state’s Right to Work (RtW) law, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed it Friday. Michigan enacted RtW in 2012, when the GOP held a majority in both chambers and Republican Rick Snyder was governor. Over the past decade, RtW gave workers the choice of toiling […]

Question 1): Gov. Gretchen WHITMER last week signaled that she would sign the Right to Work (RtW) repeal bill that contains a token appropriation, despite signing an executive directive in 2019 that says she intends to veto any policy bill that includes an appropriations to circumvent the right to a referendum.The RtW $1 million appropriation […]

Question 1): If there was any doubt that Michigan Democrats would move quickly and boldly to enact an agenda that many of them didn’t talk much about in last year’s general election campaign but could have been expected to support if their candidates won (most of whom did), it has been dispelled. Republicans’ worst fears […]

Just posted on Thursday, March 9, on the Michigan Political History Society website, this 2-hour-and-45-minute interview joins 41 other interviews representing many if not all the state’s political icons over the past seven decades. All are archived on the site. Here is the link: James J. Blanchard Living Library Of Michigan Political History | Governor […]

Michigan’s 2024 U.S. Senate Election; Tax Relief; and Immediate Effect Last week, U.S. Rep. Elissa SLOTKIN (D-MI 7) made it official. She announced she will run to fill the seat of U.S. Sen. Debbie STABENOW (D-Lansing), who will retire at the end of 2024. Slotkin, who won a third term in the House last November, […]

Question 1): The new Michigan Republican Party chair is conservative activist Kristina Karamo of Oak Park, the first person of color to lead the state GOP. She  lost her race for Secretary of State last fall to incumbent Democrat Jocelyn Benson by 14 percentage points but recharged her batteries and defeated 10 Republican opponents at […]

Will There Be A Senate ‘Quick Gavel’ On Immediate Effect for Whitmer’s Tax Plan? Michigan’s Senate Democratic leadership is poised to trigger the ‘nuclear option’ — a change in Senate rules to ensure that Governor Gretchen Whitmer will get immediate effect (I.E.) on her massive makeover of Michigan’s tax structure (HB 4001). Without I.E., Whitmer’s […]

Question 1): Last Thursday, the Michigan House of Representatives approved a wide-ranging plan to lower taxes for lower-income workers and retirees and funnel more money into business “incentives.” The Democrat-sponsored legislation also includes a $180 onetime check for Michigan tax filers. But that could be in jeopardy if Senate Republicans block the legislation from taking […]

BATTLE OF THE BOARDS: REPUBLICANS MADE UNUSUAL GAINS AT THE COUNTY LEVEL LAST FALL In an historic first, Michigan Republicans actually gained seats on County Boards of Commissioners statewide last Nov. 8, even though the GOP got wiped out at the top of the ticket, losing every statewide office on the ballot, some by double […]

Question 1): Was anything about Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s State of the State address last week memorable or significant? This was her fifth such speech, and the first since her Nov. 8, 2022, re-election. How did it compare with her previous S.O.S. performances? Was it in any way different? Answer 1): Of course, it was different, […]