Michigan businesses could get more help from the state with getting off the ground and with research and development under new laws signed Monday by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

One of the new policies allows companies to write off a portion of their R&D expenses on their taxes.

Businesses with at least 250 workers could receive a tax credit of up to $2 million per year. Smaller ones could claim a credit of up to $250,000 annually.

Michigan has been the only state in the Midwest that didn’t offer some sort of R&D tax credit.

State Rep. Alabas Farhat (D-Dearborn) said the new laws will help keep entrepreneurs from leaving the state.

“It’s causing a brain drain. It’s causing our best and brightest to start somewhere else. And what we’re doing is we’re creating an opportunity for our homegrown talent here in Michigan to stay in Michigan, to employ in Michigan, to invest in Michigan,” Farhat said during a bill signing in Detroit Monday.

Another new policy would form a new state fund to invest in other funds that, in turn, invest in start-up businesses.

$60 million in returns from those investments would then get funneled back toward the Michigan Innovation Fund Program each year to restart the cycle.

Whitmer called the Michigan Innovation Fund Program “fiscally responsible” and “great for taxpayers.”

“When we invest in an entrepreneur and their business makes money and creates jobs, it’s the people of Michigan who benefit. We’ll also put the money we invested right back into the innovation fund so we can help even more startups in a sustainable way,” Whitmer said.

Both policies received bipartisan support on their journey through the state Legislature. But they also received criticism from both sides of the aisle.

Critics argued the state shouldn’t be giving profitable companies money.

Monday also marked Whitmer’s first time taking questions from media at an event since the last legislative session sputtered out.

The messy end in the Michigan House left a handful of bills still waiting to be sent to her desk by the time Republicans took control of the chamber last week.

They deal with topics like retirement plan options for corrections officers, insurance premiums for state employee health plans, and tax millages for history museums.

Republican House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp) told reporters last week that he instructed the House clerk to hold off on forwarding the bills to Whitmer once he took charge, saying he wanted to make sure there weren’t “technical problems” with them.

Whitmer, a Democrat, said she’ll wait to see what Hall decides what to do.

“I’m not going to prejudge what is happening with the bills. I know that Speaker Hall has said they’re doing a legal review that’s in his purview. He’s now the speaker of the House. But we’ll continue to wait and expect those bills shortly I would imagine,” Whitmer said.

The state constitution requires bills passed by the legislature go to the governor. But it doesn’t say anything about a timeline.

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A date has now been set for a hearing on proposed rules to close a potential loophole around lobbyist gift laws in Michigan.

Michigan law bans lawmakers and other public officials from accepting gifts, like concert and sports tickets, from lobbyists if the value is above a certain amount determined each year.

For 2025, that amount is $79 per month.

The concern, however, is that officials have been accepting those gifts anyway with the promise of reimbursement for the difference between the actual gift value and the legal limit.

“If a public official wants to pay the Detroit Lions, Tigers, Pistons, Red Wings, or Fisher Theatre, etc., directly for a ticket out of the public official’s candidate committee by finding a way to categorize that payment as an incidental expense, maybe legal, however, the lobbyist or lobbyist agent shouldn’t be allowed to play Ticketmaster, by delivering the ticket to the public official and be the one reimbursed,” mid-Michigan attorney Bob LaBrant wrote in a request for the state to step in.

In August, state elections officials answered requests from LaBrant and the Michigan Association of Health Plans.

The interpretive statements moved to end the reimbursement practice and add more guidance to lobbying groups that seek to pay for officials to travel and attend conferences.

Christina Hildreth Anderson is chief of staff for Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.

“Allowing the cost of a gift to be allocated across multiple parties, be they lobbyists or public officials, cannot circumvent the gift ban and in doing so would frustrate the purposes of the Lobby Act,” Hildreth Anderson wrote in a response to LaBrant.

Now, the state is trying to codify that stance into an official administrative ruleset, to further cement it.

The next step in that process is a public hearing set for Tuesday, March 18.

The new Republican speaker of the Michigan House says he’s not sure if or when he’ll forward the final bills passed during the previous legislative session to the governor’s desk.

The issue came up when Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp) took over as House Speaker during the start of the new legislative session Wednesday. At that point, the process of sending the governor bills passed during the last session hadn’t yet finished.

Hall said he told the House clerk’s office to pause once he took charge so lawyers could look through them first.

“Can a new Legislature even present what an old Legislature did? I don’t have answers to all this stuff. I just know that I have a duty to — I don’t like to rush. I stopped. I said we need a legal review, we need to look at this very carefully,” Hall told reporters during a press conference Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Gongwer News Service reported those nine bills included ones dealing with history museum millages, expanding access to the state police pension system, and health insurance premiums for public employees.

The state constitution says “every bill passed by the legislature shall be presented to the governor.” But it doesn’t outline a timeline for that process.

Hall argued Democrats have sat on bills for weeks in the past before sending them to the governor.

“So, you can hold these things a long time and then you can present. I’m just saying that I wanted to do a legal review and we’re going to do a very thorough legal review to look at these bills. I mean, there could be a lot of technical problems with the bills,” he said.

The bills in question were passed in mid-December.

As far as policies for this year go, Hall predicted minimum wage and sick leave bills will pass within “the next few weeks.”

The state is set to see the minimum wage for both tipped and non-tipped workers jump in February.

Meanwhile, most Michigan workers could start earning at least 72 hours of guaranteed sick leave a year, depending on how much they work.

Business groups have shared concerns about both plans.

Hall said he created a special committee this week to deal with the topic, alongside other policy committees.

“These committees are going to be talking to people across Michigan and understanding the impact of these policies, taking these introduced bills and making sure they work. That’s one of the reasons committees matter. When you have committee hearings, you learn things and you say, ‘We’ve got to make some adjustments,’ and that’s what’s going to happen,” Hall said.

House Republicans and Senate Democrats have both introduced bills to allay some of the business community’s fears.

As of Thursday night, the Select Committee on Protecting Michigan Employees and Small Businesses is the only House committee with assigned membership.

Traditionally, the House Appropriations Chair has at least been named by this point, with budget season beginning in earnest this week.

Hall said the lack of assignments was a mix of having to find placements for everyone and “taking on the responsibility of looking at a lot of the Democrats’ assignments too.”

When asked to explain further why he had concerns about Democratic placements, Hall referenced a belief that committees shouldn’t be used to “instill party discipline.”

Jess Travers, a spokesperson for House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri (D-Canton), rejected the idea that Democrats were making committee assignments inappropriately.

“Leader Puri has not created any obstacle to committee assignments. He is unaware of what the Speaker might be referring to – the insinuation is simply nonsensical,” Travers said in a text when asked for comment.

In other policy areas, Hall warned not to expect “fast action” on Senate bills to expand the Freedom of Information Act despite him voting for similar bills in previous years.

Instead, Hall pointed to transparency in spending and stopping lawmakers from immediately becoming lobbyists as bigger priorities this time around.

Those could be topics to work out through the what Hall predicted would be “growing pains” of building relationships with leadership in the Democratic controlled Senate and governor’s office.

Hall, who served as minority leader in the House for the past two years, said he hopes to loosen some of what he perceives as the governor’s influence in the chamber.

New House rules remove department heads and liaisons from the governor’s office from the list of people who have access to the House floor.  

“People have asked me, ‘Do you think this is going to be combative two years or do you think it will be a productive two years?’ I think it’ll be both. It’ll be combative and productive because we’re going to get a lot done. That’s what happens when you have strong leadership,” Hall said.

Bills to expand Michigan open records laws to apply to the governor’s office and lawmakers were among the first introduced at the start of the new legislative session Wednesday.

The policies were among the many that had passed the Michigan Senate last session but died in the House of Representatives during the final days of last year.

Package co-sponsor Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) has worked on the Freedom of Information Act expansion for years.

Moss said he feels optimistic about its chances despite party control in the Michigan House switching from Democrats back to Republicans this session.

“This is now something that has only passed out of a Democratic controlled Senate and only passed out of a Republican controlled House. I’m hopeful that maybe this is the right mechanics that are in place now to get it done,” Moss told reporters.

Between Moss and Sen. Ed McBroom (R-Waucedah Twp), the policy has bipartisan sponsorship.

The bills were set up Wednesday to skip the committee process in the state Senate, meaning they could potentially be voted on as early as next week if lawmakers chose.

Moss said there’s little more to add to discussions about the matter.

“This has got to be the most vetted policy that’s still lingering in this town. And I think that by not only prioritizing it as Senate bills one and two, but by sending it directly to the floor, we are signaling how important this is,” Moss said.

Senate Democrats also unveiled their plan Wednesday for the future of the state’s minimum wage and sick leave laws.

That’s ahead of a policy shift scheduled for February.

Both the scheduled increase and the Democrats’ plan would gradually increase pay for both tipped and non-tipped workers.

The bills would gradually bump the overall minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2027, quicker than the scheduled timeline. But it would cap the minimum wage for tipped workers at 60% of what non-tipped workers make, instead of the current plan to create parity by 2030.

Business groups had pushed lawmakers to scale back the increase.

Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Twp.) said he hasn’t fully looked at the Democrats’ proposal yet. But he said keeping the tipped wage credit is a top priority.

“Over the last several decades, over the last 70 years, we’ve had a whole industry built around this. And my No. 1 priority is how do you save the 50,000 restaurant jobs in the state of Michigan? And so I’m willing to work with anybody anyhow to find that solution as we go into it,” Nesbitt told reporters.

In the Michigan House, Republicans are also naming minimum wage and sick leave as top priorities.

Now that 2024 is over, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will have to decide what to do with the dozens of bills heading her way.

Though the 2023-2024 Michigan Legislature never officially set an adjournment date for a ritual known as adjourning sine die, Latin for “without day,” the session effectively ended with the end of the year.

That means every bill from the previous Legislature that now reaches her desk has 14 days to either receive Whitmer’s signature or die.

Stacey LaRouche is a spokesperson for Whitmer.

“We will review legislation sent to our desk,” LaRouche said in a text message.

Many of the bills are caught up in the process of sending passed legislation from the Capitol across the street to the governor’s office. But there are dozens of them for Whitmer to consider.

Some outstanding items include bills to support Whitmer’s economic priorities.

One potential new policy would allow businesses to write off a portion of their research and development costs on their taxes.

Another would create a Michigan Innovation Fund Program to help invest state money in business startups.

The list, however, does not include legislation to reshape a major business incentive program known as the SOAR Fund that had seen negotiations fall apart last year. With a funding mechanism set to expire in October, that could see a push from Whitmer in the coming months.

More bills set to reach Whitmer’s desk deal with issues related to reproductive health care.

They would increase access to hormonal birth control, to mental health care for new mothers, and allow for the licensing of free-standing birth centers.

The state legislature also passed a bill to repeal work requirements for the Healthy Michigan Plan Medicaid-expansion program. Enforcement for those is currently blocked by a federal judge.

Michigan lawmakers did not pass — however — a bill package meant to curb racial disparities in maternal health. Those policies could come up again in the new legislative session that starts next week.

Still, Whitmer will also have to consider public safety-related bills in the coming weeks.

For example, one would create commissions to evaluate criminal justice policies and prison sentences.

Whitmer will also have to decide what to do with bills to update the state’s hate crime laws and to expand access to the state police pension system to corrections workers and other law enforcement-adjacent positions.

The new legislative session starts Wednesday.

Within a couple months, Michigan workers will start earning an hour of sick time for every 30 hours they work.

Places with 10 or more employees will have to provide at least 72 hours of paid sick time each year.

Smaller businesses would only have to offer 40 hours of paid sick leave annually. The other 32 hours would come as unpaid sick leave.

The new policies are taking place because of a court ruling that restored a 2018 law to its original form.

Business groups have been pushing lawmakers to make some changes to that restored law before the ruling takes effect Feb. 21.

Small Business Association of Michigan President Brian Calley said he’d like to see lawmakers scale back some of the law’s reporting requirements.

“This law requires extremely precise and detailed accounting of accruals for actual time worked. And so, what a lot of employees are going to find under this law is that employers are going to require that the employee report to them exactly when they are in and are not working,” Calley said Monday. “It’ll be a big cultural shift for flexible work environments.”

The court ruling has sparked discussion over how to interpret the new requirements and what they could mean for businesses. Some raised questions about how it would impact current benefits packages that businesses may offer.

In response, the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity hosted a webinar in August. LEO Deputy Director of Labor Sean Egan tried to allay concerns it would be too much of a shift for some.

“As long as they meet that 72 hours and certain accruals, and you allow that use for the same use as allowed under the Earned Sick Time Act, you may not need to add anything to your plan,” Egan said.

Under the policy as planned, workers would be able to use their sick time if they or a family member feel unwell, or experience domestic or sexual violence.

Calley said it could lead to workers no-call/no showing, adding he’d like to see more accountability of employees using their sick time.

“It’s not until the fourth consecutive day of absences that the employer can require any documentation as to why the person was absent and that they’re absent for a reason covered under the law,” Calley said.

Some lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have expressed interest in taking another look at the policies. But compromise would have to pass both the Democratic-controlled Senate and Republican-controlled House of Representatives, as well as get the signature of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Calley shared his doubts as to whether lawmakers could reach an agreement by February.

Michigan workers can expect two increases in the minimum wage next year.

The first raise will be a modest $0.23 hourly increase on Jan. 1 for non-tipped workers. The first bump for people who make tips comes out to an extra $0.08 an hour.

The first set of changes will put Michigan’s minimum hourly wage at $10.56 an hour and $4.01 per hour for tipped workers.

Less than two months later, on Feb. 21, the minimum wage is scheduled to go up again. This time, non-tipped workers would make at least $12.48 an hour. Tipped workers would get $5.99 per hour.

That’s as the state begins a phase out of special lower minimum wage tipped workers currently receive, with the tipped wage ending altogether in 2030.

How that plays out, however, is still in the air.

Restaurant industry groups are calling on state lawmakers to maintain the tip credit.

The state legislature failed to take up the issue this month, punting the question into next year when Republicans assume control of the Michigan House of Representatives.

Incoming House leadership has already named it as a top priority.

Candidates in the race to become the next leader of the Michigan Democratic Party are jockeying for position ahead of next year’s party convention. Former state Senator Curtis Hertel is among them, boasting a recent endorsement from the state party’s Black Caucus. Hertel said everyone in the party needs to feel listened to if it’s to recover from steep losses in this year’s November general election. “We need to be the big tent that we are, which means that everyone feels listened to and that everyone has a seat at the table and is part of the decision making process. So that’s what I think building, you know, moving forward, that’s how we get buy in from everyone,” Hertel said Monday.

Listen: Curtis Hertel speaks with WDET’s Russ McNamara about why he is running for MDP chair

Most recently, Hertel unsuccessfully ran to replace Senator-elect Elissa Slotkin in Michigan’s Seventh Congressional District.

When asked what concerns him about the direction of the party, Hertel said he worried things have become too focused on the top of the ticket instead of the down ballot races.

“It’s got to be recruiting great people to run for county commission so that your grassroots is strong. Making sure that we win both the House and the Senate so that it’s not just the governor, but someone that can actually get a working people’s agenda done,” Hertel said.

That’s something Hertel and his challengers have in common.

MDP Rural Caucus Chair Mark Ludwig is also seeking the party’s top spot. He said the party has been unresponsive while he believes money used for the party’s statewide coordinated campaign efforts should have been spent more wisely this past election cycle.

Ludwig noted the large fundraising haul national efforts brought in and decisions to spend a lot of it on marketing for the top races.

“I just really question whether your 15th showing of a commercial to somebody on legacy media is an effective use of campaign dollars, as opposed to just cramming it down the ballot. You know, I think—If all of our 110 state House candidates had just had ten grand dropped on them, which in a rural area, that’s a respectable campaign,” Ludwig said.

Both Ludwig and Hertel said another place the party went wrong was bringing in too many campaign operatives from outside of Michigan who may not have fully understood the state’s political landscape or how to pronounce town names.

The candidates said they’re taking their campaign pitch for party chair across the state.

Ludwig argued what he described as the “activist middle” has felt abandoned and frustrated. He proposed using party leadership positions as one place to help people feel more included.

“We’ve got to use these officer positions as more than, you know, a holding place for career politicians that are, you know, on their way from here to there. We need to do something with, you know, the first, second, third, fourth, fifth vice chair of the Democratic Party,” Ludwig said.

Another candidate in the race for party chair is Detroit-based social justice advocate Al “BJ” Williams.

On his website, Williams proposed focusing more on local organizing efforts about precinct delegates, building community partnerships, candidate recruitment, and bringing on new donors.

More people could still join the fray ahead of the party’s spring convention next year.

Whoever does win party chair will be tasked with leading Michigan Democrats through several high-profile contests in 2026, including for governor.

The Michigan Senate sent a flurry of bills to the governor as it met Thursday night and deep into Friday morning.

Thursday’s overnight session was likely the chamber’s last time voting on bills this year. The Senate votes followed a disappointing day for anyone hoping to see the Michigan House accomplish anything.

In the House, attendance issues among Republicans and one Democratic lawmaker prevented the chamber from reaching a quorum this week that would have allowed it to take up bills. In a surprise move, leadership adjourned session until New Year’s Eve after failing to bring missing members onto the House floor.

The decision effectively rendered every bill the Senate had sent over to the House in an overnight session a week ago, dead.

“I am deeply disappointed that the House of Representatives called it quits while so many great pieces of legislation were ready for the green light,” Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) said in a press release. “Legislators are tasked with the responsibility of using every tool available to advocate for their constituents and communities, and ‘frustrated’ is too light of a word to describe my dismay that the House failed to meet its obligations in this historic moment.” 

Brinks and other Senate Democrats channeled their frustration into dozens of votes on bills the House did successfully send to their chamber. Here’s how a few of them broke down as of 7 a.m. Friday morning:

Health care

Some of the bills now heading to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer concern what health insurance should require.

There was legislation to improve health for new moms and their babies and having insurance cover mental health screenings. Other bills concerned access to hormonal contraception.

Lawmakers also voted to get rid of the state’s work requirements for Medicaid.

Economic development

Senate lawmakers OK’d to a plan that would allow businesses to write off a portion of their research and development on their taxes. The policies had been long in the making but ran into trouble in the House earlier this year.

Supporters argued Michigan should join the rest of the Midwest in having an R&D tax credit, while opponents said it would be a case of “corporate welfare.”

Education

The Senate took up a handful of House bills concerning charter school management. One package would require schools to publicly display information about their operators. Another bill would have public school academies post salary information.

Senate bills meant to be part of the package that were before the House all but died when the House left Thursday.

The Senate also sent bills requiring schools to notify parents of Michigan’s safe storage gun laws to the governor.

Public safety

A little after 1 a.m. Friday morning, Democratic Senate leadership discharged dozens of bills from their committees to set them up for votes.

One of those bills would require the state health department to facilitate access to community violence prevention services for people on Medicaid.

Other bills would let corrections workers join the Michigan State Police retirement system. Supporters say it would help address staffing shortages. Opponents say it would add more stress to an already overtaxed system.

As of 7 a.m., the Senate had not taken up votes on bills at the center of some of the House controversy. That includes a plan that would benefit the Detroit Public Schools Community District and another one to create a public safety and violence prevention fund.

Michigan House Republicans walked out of session early Friday afternoon shortly after voting began.

They said they wouldn’t come back until the chamber holds votes on bills dealing with road funding, sick leave policy, and the minimum wage for tipped workers.

House Minority Leader and Speaker-elect Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp.) accused Democrats of wasting everyone’s time through three late night sessions this week.

He said there’s no point in Republicans sticking around further.

“We’re not doing anything serious here anyway. I mean, we’ll just stand around for the next eight hours and then they’ll put up some bill that, you know, what will it do? It’ll do something that nobody even cares about. You know, it’ll be like defining the state mouse,” Hall said during an impromptu press conference called in the state Capitol.

Democratic leadership said it’s willing to negotiate but that it can’t with Republicans gone.

“How can we have a conversation if they’re not here and decided to, you know, go in and make snow angels out in front of the Capitol, I guess,” outgoing House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit) told reporters.

While Hall’s press conference was happening, Democrats who stayed behind in the chamber began passing bills by themselves. Those include bills that would ban using sexual content to extort someone, and giving corrections officers access to the state police pension system.

On the topic of roads, sick leave, or minimum wage, Tate suggested a desire to pass those in a bipartisan manner when asked if those issues could still see a vote Friday.

Meanwhile, House Majority Floor Leader Abraham Aiyash (D-Hamtramck) said the Republican minority leadership is playing games.

“Leader Hall has indicated on many occasions that he was serious about road funding, but we don’t demonstrate that seriousness by walking off of the floor in the middle of a vote on sexual extortion. So that does not demonstrate a level of seriousness in doing the job. That is political grandstanding,” Aiyash said.

The first vote of the day had appeared to be on housing zoning bills but that was pulled in favor of the sextortion package after Rep. Kristian Grant (D-Grand Rapids) had already given a speech on the housing package.

Friday, a day when lawmakers typically don’t meet at the Capitol, was among the last scheduled days for bills to pass the Michigan House and still make it to the Senate in time for a vote this year. That’s because of the state’s constitutional rule that a bill must be before a chamber for at least five days before it can be voted on.

Hall noted that during his press conference.

“We’re saying put it up today and then we’ll come back out on the floor, and we’ll vote for it, and we’ll vote for other bipartisan ideas, too. But if all they’re going to do is sit up there in caucus, strategize, keep us here till 10 p.m. and then put up some bill about changing people’s gender identity on their driver’s licenses. We don’t need to be here,” he said.

Democrats could invoke a tactic known as a ‘call of the House’ that would force Republicans back in the chamber. But it’s unclear if they will. Tate told reporters he’d need to think about it Friday afternoon.

Bills to apply open records laws to the Michigan Legislature and executive branch got past another hurdle Wednesday. The House Government Operations Committee advanced the bill package to the House floor.

The legislation would allow the public to use the state’s Freedom of Information Act to access information like communications between officials, meeting schedules, or other records.

State Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) is a package co-sponsor. He said the state needs stronger government transparency laws to hold public officials accountable — and those officials should be ready.

“This will be intrusive. This will be disruptive. You will be subject to FOIA. And if you served on the local unit of your government, you were subject to FOIA. You know how that can work. But at the same time, I don’t think it disrupts the core functions of our government. In fact, I think it enhances the core functions of our government,” Moss told the Government Operations Committee Wednesday.

The bills passed the state Senate back in June, the first time a similar policy has made it out of that chamber. Wednesday’s vote from the House committee marks the first time the policy has ever received a committee hearing in both houses of the state Legislature after years of attempts.

Despite the fanfare, the bills would create several exceptions to open records requests of lawmakers and executive officials.

Under the bills, there would be exemptions for communications from constituents, policy recommendations, and around appointments to government positions.

Some have raised concerns that exempting constituent relations would possibly allow influential Michiganders to freely share desires with their elected leaders from the shadows.

But Sen. Ed McBroom (R-Waucedah Twp), who co-sponsors the package with Moss, said it would be hard for lawmakers to use those exceptions around constituent communications to hide important information from the public.

“They’re still going to have to go talk to their other colleagues and those communications are very likely to also then flow to ones who aren’t that constituent’s member, and so, the chances that you can mask those kinds of things are pretty low,” McBroom said.

Overall, open government advocates seem enthusiastic about the bills getting as far as they have and are encouraging the full House to take them up for a vote.

Sam Inglot is executive director of the group Progress Michigan. He said the bills are a start to fixing flaws within Michigan’s government transparency laws.

“Michigan isn’t dead last in ethics and transparency just because our FOIA law is terrible, there’s a lot of other reasons for that. So, if we’re able to pass FOIA, that’s one hole in the Swiss cheese that we’ve plugged. And I think we’re going to have to see how that plays out and look for other opportunities,” Inglot said.

If the bills succeed in getting voted out of the House, Moss’s bill in the package would head to the governor’s desk. McBroom’s bill saw some changes in committee, meaning it would come back to the state Senate for a concurrence vote first.

The bills wouldn’t take effect until January 2027. That’s after the next state Legislature and governor take office.

Michigan residents could see their unemployment benefits grow under bills that passed the state Senate Thursday.

The legislation would extend the amount of time someone can claim unemployment benefits to up to 26 weeks in a year. That’s six weeks more than what’s currently available to Michigan residents.

Over the next three years, the legislation would also gradually raise the maximum amount someone could receive.

State Senator John Cherry (D-Flint) said it’s been too long since those numbers have seen an update.

“We are extremely low. If you look at like the we are below federal poverty rate. So that’s a tough situation for people to be at. If they lose their job for two months before they get a new one, being able to make sure they’re providing food for their kids and all that,” Cherry said.

Some business groups are criticizing the legislation as raising costs for employers.

In a statement, the Michigan Manufacturers Association called the legislation a “dramatic increase.”

“Increasing the weekly maximum benefit with an undefined cost to Michigan job providers is irresponsible and will threaten the state’s competitiveness compared to neighboring states. In addition, this large increase will threaten the solvency of Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund which will trigger even higher tax increases placed upon the backs of employers. Michigan manufacturers will be facing a powerful disadvantage,” MMA Director of Employment Policy David Worthams said in a press release.

Other bills in the package would require the state to take more steps before reclaiming unemployment benefits that may have been wrongly paid.

They’re part of an attempt to improve the unemployment filing experience and cut back on the state wrongly accusing people of fraud.

“Government’s done great work on nailing down fraud. But we’ve seen settlements, court settlements in which the department has had to pay millions upon millions of dollars to folks who were falsely accused of fraud. And this helps make sure that that those folks are not getting caught up in the system,” Cherry said.

But Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Twp) said lawmakers should focus on other issues with the state’s unemployment system instead, like fraudulent claims and delays in checks going out.

“There’s huge problems at the Unemployment Insurance Agency, what they passed today doesn’t do anything, doesn’t fix the problems that’s there,” he said.

The legislation would still need to make it past the Michigan House and receive the governor’s signature to become law.

Some Michigan lawmakers are trying to get a bill package aimed at water affordability passed before the end of the year.

The legislation would create a new fund to help low-income residents avoid water shutoffs.

State Rep. Abraham Aiyash (D-Hamtramck) said the bills are a response to concerns residents share with lawmakers.

“It’s a crazy thing to think about in Michigan. Imagine that you have people right now in this winter who don’t have water to cook, clean, bathe, and just to keep their hands clean, to stay healthy,” Aiyash said during a press call Monday.

Money for the new Low-Income Water Residential Affordability Fund would come from a $2 monthly charge on retail water bills. There are provisions in the bills to potentially up that by an increment of 10% annually, to a maximum of $3 per month.

Monday, supporters of the package promoted some proposed changes they said would ensure the program would serve everyone across the state. Those changes include limiting how much water participating households could use, creating a task force to help with implementation, and ensuring the fee collected to pay for the fund would be spent regionally.

State Sen. John Damoose (R-Harbor Springs) said that’s important because residents in his northern Michigan district often fear money for these programs would be mainly spent in other parts of the state.

“Some people might be hesitant about the $2 monthly fee, but let me be clear. This small investment will generate $65 million annually. Funds that will directly benefit families and communities across our state. And the utilities that provide them with clean water. And as we’ve seen, the cost of our inaction is far greater,” Damoose said.

The bills were last heard in committee in October of last year. At the time, some real estate and small business groups opposed parts of the package that would allow renters to put water bills in their own name instead of the property owner’s.

The Apartment Association of Michigan opposed that element, arguing it could cause trouble for landlords.

“Unpaid water bills become a lien on the rental property. If a resident does not pay their bill, it is the rental property owner who will suffer this consequence. Given this, the rental property owner should have the control of water bill payment for the property,” the organization wrote in a letter to the Senate Housing and Human Service Committee.

There are only a few session days left to get the bills to the governor’s desk. Once the state Legislature adjourns for the year later this month, all bills that haven’t made it out will die and need to be reintroduced next year.

Package co-sponsor Senator Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) said everyone understands the urgency.

“We recognize how important it is that we get this bipartisan, common-sense solution passed for the good of all Michiganders, but also because we recognize that we if we don’t pass this in a few years, we will very much be in a crisis,” she said.

The bills are not on the agenda for a second hearing during tomorrow’s meeting of the Senate Housing and Human Services Committee, where they haven’t yet been voted on.

Several priorities remain on the table for Michigan legislative Democrats as the clock ticks down on their time in charge of both the state House and Senate.

That puts extra pressure on lawmakers to get things done this current lame duck period before the legislative session ends and Republicans take control of the state House.

Outgoing House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit) said he sees the focus of the last few weeks taking shape after the Thanksgiving break.

“Everything from, you know, how are we working or supporting working families, you know, access to health care. I know there have been conversations around road funding, along with economic development,” Tate said.

That economic development piece could include bills to reshape a state business incentive program known as the SOAR Fund.

An automatic funding mechanism for the program is set to run out next after next year and Democrats will likely need at least some Republican support to get anything passed to replace or modify it.

But House Minority Leader Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp) said the automatic way of funding development projects should expire.

“Every community should be represented in those votes. And if they’re such great projects for the state, then they’ll pass the House, they’ll pass the Senate, the governor will sign it. But they need to make that case on the individual projects,” Hall said during a press conference Monday.

Hall, who will serve as House Speaker next term, said he wants to focus on a road funding plan his party proposed. It would redirect some business and sales tax on fuel revenue to road repairs. 

Democrats are willing to negotiate on that plan. But they could face other obstacles.

In a razor-thin majority, some Democratic caucus members could protest if more ambitious policies don’t see votes.

Tate said constituents still want lawmakers to work together.

“I think it’s for us to find those solutions not always perfect and not always ideal, but that, you know, forgive the analogy, that moved the ball forward for us to improve people’s quality of life,” he said.

Attendance among Democrats could be a factor to watch during the year’s remaining House session days.

Lawmakers are set to return to Lansing on Dec. 3.

Some of Michigan’s Black lawmakers and policy advocates are sharing their frustration with Democratic leadership in the state Legislature and governor’s office.

A group gathered for a news conference Monday morning at Detroit’s Coleman A. Young Municipal Center to lay its case.

Advocates said the Black community helped deliver Democrats a legislative majority in 2022 but haven’t received much in return.

And after a presidential election in which Republican Donald Trump made significant gains among Black voters in Detroit, advocates said Democrats risk losing the Black community’s support more broadly if things don’t change.

“We’ve seen people walking away from the party already. Certainly, those of us who have been in there, have been loyal to a fault almost will not continue to carry their water,” said former state representative and current Detroit school board member Sherry Gay-Dagnogo.

“We will speak out for those who have not stood with us. We will not forget that they did not stand with us. We will not forget that they did not address the systemic barriers and issues that impact our community. We will not forget,” she said.

Gay-Dagnogo and other advocates are looking for policies in areas like utility affordability, justice reform, and economic advancement, encouraging legislative leadership to hold votes on bills from the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus.

And after a presidential election in which Republican Donald Trump made significant gains among Black voters in Detroit, advocates said Democrats risk losing the Black community’s support more broadly if things don’t change.

They’re looking for policies in areas like utility affordability, justice reform, and economic advancement, encouraging legislative leadership to hold votes on bills from the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus.

Attendees also mentioned a desire to repeal the state’s emergency manager law and address issues with the state’s auto no-fault law.

State Sen. Sylvia Santana (D-Detroit) said it’s time for Black lawmakers to take a stand to ensure their priorities move.

“I think we’re at a point where it’s do or die. And if that means that, strategically, that there has to be leverage to hold off on votes to support bigger issues that matter to our communities, then that’s what we have to do,” Santana told reporters following the press conference.

Santana said she feels some of the blame for the perceived lack of action belongs with legislative leadership and the governor’s office.

House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit) said he gets the anger and agreed there’s a need for more action.

“There has been quite a bit of disinvestment over time in the black community. And that’s something that is real and something that’s significant. I think that’s also something that’s happened over time. And, in terms of trying to move the needle, we’ve certainly done quite a bit of it, but we know that there’s a lot more that needs to be done,” Tate said in an interview with Michigan Public Radio.

But Tate emphasized he believed that the Democratic trifecta of the House, Senate, and governor’s office control did deliver wins for the Black community. He listed out an expansion of the earned income tax credit, gun safety and violence prevention legislation, and budget spending on housing as examples.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) provided a statement painting an optimistic picture for activists.

“There are a lot of solid policies in this list and the good news is that we’ve already made great strides on a number of these issues and we look forward to getting them to the governor’s desk. One set of bills that I’m particularly excited about is the ‘Momnibus,’ led by Sen. Erika Geiss, which is aimed at improving health outcomes for Black pregnant women and their babies,” Brinks’ statement said.

There are fewer than 10 voting days left in the schedule this year for lawmakers to pass any more bills this legislative session.

Next year, Republicans will regain control of the state House of Representatives.

That’s a problem for Democrats when it comes down to finding enough support to pass legislation, especially in the House where Democrats can’t afford to lose a single member of their outgoing 56-vote majority.

Representative Donovan McKinney (D-Detroit) said the math doesn’t always shake out for bills that the Black community supports to move forward. He noted some Democrats may come from communities who don’t support the legislation on the table, meaning it could take some Republican support to get a policy across the finish line.

“We’ve got Republicans on the other side that are playing games because they know they’re going to get the gavel back, at least in the House, and that split government starting in January. So, they don’t have the urgency to do anything to at least give us some votes,” McKinney said following the press conference.

The next major election for Black Democrats could be in February, when the Michigan Democratic Party is expected to pick a new leader. 

Advocates in Detroit are warning party members against picking someone behind the scenes without an open process.