Democratic control of the state Capitol for the first time in four decades fizzled to a close Thursday, as House leaders were unable to muster a quorum to conduct business and adjourned until next year — when Republicans will take over the House.

Fifty-four Republicans plus one rogue Democrat, Karen Whitsett of Detroit, brought the House to a standstill.

House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit) made a last-ditch attempt to force Republicans and Whitsett to return by issuing a “call of the House,” requiring lawmakers to be in attendance.

“Sergeants, please bring members back to the chamber and bar the doors,” said House Speaker Pro Tempore Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia), who was presiding over the chamber. The order was approved on a voice vote and with no Republicans on hand to object.

But the effort to bring in the recalcitrant Republicans was for naught and Democrats called it quits, ending the Democrats’ two-year reign over the lower chamber.

“The bottom line is this: they refused to do their jobs and stifled the voices of their constituents who elected them to represent them.”

–House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit) 

“Everything that was on the agenda today in the House is dead and the 55 members that did not attend should feel free to own that,” said Pohutsky.

Tate, in a statement, said Whitsett and GOP lawmakers let down voters by not showing up.

“The bottom line is this: they refused to do their jobs and stifled the voices of their constituents who elected them to represent them,” he wrote in a message that also named House Minority Leader Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp).

The unfinished business includes expanding Michigan’s open records law to include the governor’s office and the Legislature, as well as gun control measures including a ban on bump stocks.

Hall, the Republican leader who will take the speaker’s gavel next year, was unapologetic. He said Republicans walked out over issues that Democrats refused to take up and says those will be at the top of his to-do list in 2025.

“We’re going to try to help our restaurant workers save the restaurant industry,” he said. “We’re going to fight for good sick leave policies that work for people, and we’re going to try to fix the roads.”

Republicans and restaurant industry lobbyists have been fighting to stop a planned minimum wage hike for tipped workers. They claim — without evidence — that 40,000 restaurants would go out of business if workers make $15 an hour.

The Republicans and Whitsett boycotted sessions, saying the Democratic leadership ignored their demands. Republicans have been particularly adamant about preserving the state’s tipped wage to keep it lower than the minimum wage and gutting the new law that guarantees workers banked sick leave.

Whitsett said Democratic leaders had broken promises on taking up legislation.

But Rep. Abraham Aiyash (D-Hamtramck) said no one had been offered guarantees and, instead, it was Whitsett and Republicans who bargained in bad faith and then refused to show up for work.

“Goal posts kept moving and the conversations fell apart, but we are disappointed and, quite frankly, shocked,” he said.

In an interview with WDET, Aiyash said one of the priorities for Democrats — water affordability legislation — was scuttled not by Whitsett, but another Democratic colleague.

“Representative [Peter] Herzberg from Westland killed our water affordability package, which was a very critical piece of the puzzle to keep Rep. Whitsett engaged in the conversation in order for us to pass legislation,” Aiyash said. “Unfortunately, he (Herzberg) opposed the legislation. Couldn’t really explain why, and we are now here where our agenda was thwarted as a result of inaction by my colleagues.”

Listen: Majority Floor Leader Abraham Aiyash speaks on boycott in Michigan House

Where’s Whitmer?

In past lame duck sessions, governors will work directly with legislative leaders to sort out priorities. This was how Republicans — and then-Gov. Rick Snyder — were able to gut paid sick leave and pass right-to-work legislation.

However, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has largely been absent from the end of the democratic trifecta.

“I have not had any engagement with her since this entire lame duck period,” Aiyash said. When asked by WDET if that was the case for other Democrats, Aiyash wasn’t sure if other legislators had a similar experience.

Curtis Hertel, a Whitmer ally who is running to be the Michigan Democratic Party Chair, sees it differently.

“I think sometimes you have to not do the easy political thing, but you actually have to do the thing that’s hard, which is work in a room, and after trying to solve problems and not air your negotiations in public,” Hertel said. “To me, that actually is how you actually get things done.”

Still, with dozens of bills needing a vote in the House, nothing got done.

The House has one more official day scheduled on Dec. 31, but “sine die” is simply a formality to close the session. The House will reconvene in January with Republicans at the helm, along with the opportunities and headaches that come with it.

Detroit unveiled the final designs for the first three Solar Neighborhoods on Thursday.

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Each neighborhood provided input on the landscaping for the solar fields in their area. Neighbors chose between trees, decorative fences, and whether to plant urban farms or wildflowers beneath the panels. 

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says community input on the design was the top priority. 

“We are not going forward unless each of these neighborhood associations signs off on a neighborhood agreement with the design of the solar fields that they want,” Duggan said. “This has been a neighbor driven project from the beginning.”

Construction for the fields is expected to begin in spring of 2025. 

 Other headlines for Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024:

• Detroit now has its very first rage room, where people can destroy objects like old electronics, glass, or furniture as a means of therapy for releasing pent-up anger or frustration. The business, called the Damage Zone, is a recipient of the city’s Motor City Match program.  
• A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit filed by a Muslim worker against U.S. Steel can move forward. Jalal Muflihi says while working at the company’s Great Lakes location he faced harassment and retaliation and was denied access to training and advancement. U.S. Steel had asked the court to dismiss the charges, arguing there was not enough evidence. Muflihi, a Yemeni American, says coworkers called him a terrorist and a shoe bomber – and that management was aware of the harassment and took no action. He filed the suit in 2022.
• The Detroit Parks and Recreation Department is recruiting youth for its basketball and Olympic handball programs in the new year. The Get Bucketz Basketball program provides four weeks of fundamentals on basketball for 7-14 year olds. The program is $25 and will be held at the Northwest Activities Center, 18100 Meyers Rd. Handball sessions will be held at the Tindal Activity Center at 10301 W & Mile Monday evenings starting Jan. 27. The department says handball is like combining soccer and basketball. The four-week program is for 8-12 year olds and costs $10. Register for both programs at dprdathletics.com. 

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

Wayne County announced on Wednesday that it has eliminated $27 million in outstanding medical debt for more than 46,000 county residents. 

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The county started a partnership with a nonprofit called “Undue Medical Debt,” which acquires debt from medical providers — in this case an unnamed local hospital — for pennies on the dollar.

The county says it has invested $5 million from the indigent relief fund and the federal American Rescue Plan Act. 

“Since we first announced this new program in March of this year, a program designed to wipe out more than $700 million in medical debt, I am extremely pleased to see the program’s success thus far in helping so many of our residents in need,” said Wayne County Executive Warren C. Evans in a statement. “These resources will help to eliminate the stress they have been under as they juggle how to pay for crushing hospital bills while keeping the lights on and putting food on the table at the same time.”

Officials say qualifying patients live in Wayne County and are at or below four times the federal poverty level. They can also qualify if they have medical debt that equals 5% or more of their annual income. 

Recipients of the debt relief will receive a letter signed by Evans providing information about which debts are no longer due. No further action is needed to receive debt relief. County residents cannot request the debt relief, according to officials.

Other headlines for Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024:

• A new national poll from C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital released this week analyzed parents’ views on disciplining young children, with more than a quarter of the parents surveyed admitting they’d threatened their children with no holiday gifts.
• Christmas and Hanukkah are just a week away, and that means Metro Detroiters are sending gifts around the country by mail. The U.S. Postal Service is reminding residents that the deadlines are near — if you want your presents to arrive by Dec. 25.
• The Detroit Lions keep getting bad news when it comes to injuries.  The team suffered four major injuries in Sunday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills. The Lions travel to Chicago to play the Bears on Sunday.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

The killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO has sparked a lot of conversations about political violence and also about health insurance in the U.S. and the many frustrations people have with their coverage.

Today on The Metro, we discuss the state of health insurance and health care in metro Detroit and beyond with three guests; and look at how things like medical debt affect a person’s quality of life. 

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal is the senior contributing editor for health news analysis at the Kaiser Family Foundation. She’s also the author of “An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back.”

She says health care has placed too much of an emphasis on profits.

“We are talking about not a health care system, as we used to do, but a health care industry,” Rosenthal said. “It’s not a system, right? It’s a bunch of big businesses and poor patients are left struggling in this land of the giants to just get the care they need.”

While medical innovation ranks well in this country, things like insurance coverage, quality, and cost are all pretty bad compared to other First World nations. 

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, director for the Wayne County Department of Health, Human & Veterans Services, says his department is working with the nonprofit RIP Medical Debt to relieve residents from medical debt. 

“We realized that there was an opportunity for us to step in and take on the scourge of medical debt for our county,” El-Sayed said. “We identified the fact that we ranked No. 8 for medical debt in the entire country, and that this was an opportunity for us to be able to wipe clean $700 million in debt.” 

Oakland County launched a similar program last year in partnership with RIP Medical Debt.

David Kendall, a senior fellow for Health and Fiscal Policy at Third Way — a think tank that champions modern center-left ideas — also joined The Metro to share his ideas on how to improve health care in America. 

He discussed how some states are giving tax exemptions to hospitals extending care to people below a certain poverty level. 

“The thing about it is that Michigan hasn’t done this yet, so about half the states have,” Kendall said. “So if you’re out there thinking about what to do on this issue, that would be a good first thing to contact your state legislator and say, ‘Can we get the hospitals to, you know, provide a certain minimum level of charity care?”

In the second hour of The Metro, we asked listeners:

“Have you ever avoided seeing a doctor or not gotten a prescription because of the cost of health care? Have you ever struggled with medical debt?”

Adam in Detroit said: “My company is located out of Utah, and they don’t cover anything. They don’t cover anything that I actually need. Like, what I will need is Adderall basically, right? But what they cover is the generic version. And right now there’s a shortage of amphetamines in the United States, which is really crazy. So like, I’ll go to the pharmacy after getting this doctor’s visit that was really hard to schedule, and then I’ll go from the doctor’s visit to the pharmacy, and they’ll be like, ‘Oh we don’t even have that.’”

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

More from The Metro on Dec 17, 2024: 

• Detroit Youth Choir is ready to strut its stuff and branch out a little bit this holiday season. If you’re not familiar with the young performers, they have lit up stages from “America’s Got Talent” to Carnegie Hall. This Friday, DYC will perform two concerts for audiences. The first half of the concert will include soulful renditions of classic Christmas songs. To discuss the concerts, as well DYC’s new album released this fall, Detroit Youth Choir Director Anthony White joined the show.
• The Michigan Poison & Drug Information Center has seen more and more calls about nitrous use and how it’s making people sick — prompting a new state law banning the sale of nitrous oxide paraphernalia. Varun Vohra, a professor at Wayne State University and senior director of the Michigan Poison & Drug Information Center, joined The Metro to discuss the growing problem.
• Stellantis is going through some changes. The automaker that includes the Fiat, Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands among others is going into 2025 without its CEO, Carlos Tavares, who has led the company since its formation in 2021 until abruptly resigning on Dec. 1. Automotive News Executive Director and host of the Daily Drive podcast Jamie Butters joined the show to help us understand what’s next for the company.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

The Michigan Court of Appeals has ordered criminal election fraud cases to go forward against two men accused of orchestrating misleading political robocalls to Detroit voters.

The charges are related to automated calls during the 2020 election campaign that falsely claimed mail-in ballots would be used to track people with outstanding arrest warrants, for debt collection and to force people to get COVID-19 vaccines.

“Don’t be finessed into giving your private information to ‘the man,’’’ said the message. “Stay safe and beware of vote by mail.”  

The Court of Appeals held in the majority opinion that using fear tactics with made-up consequences to discourage people from voting by mail meets the standard for intimidation.

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled in June that misinformation on the consequences of voting by mail could amount to voter intimidation and sent the case to the appeals court to determine if these charges met the threshold.

“Voter intimidation infringes upon the fundamental right to vote,” said Nessel in a statement released by her office. “I am grateful the Court of Appeals saw this conduct for what it was — a gross misrepresentation of voting procedures meant to scare voters from participating in our elections. We look forward to continuing with the criminal case and bringing this matter to trial.” 

Nessel charged Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl, two far-right operatives who created Project 1599, with voter intimidation and other crimes related to the messages sent to almost 12,000 Detroit voters.

Efforts to reach attorneys for the two men were not successful.

Burkman and Wuhl, who are from Virginia and California, have been found guilty of similar crimes in other states.

The U.S. House approved the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, with provisions designed to help Americans wrongfully detained by other countries. That includes Michigan native Paul Whelan, who was held by Russia for more than five years before his release this summer in a massive prisoner exchange.

Michigan Congresswoman Haley Stevens co-chairs a House task force on hostages and wrongful detainees. She says the new defense act should help both detainees like Whelan and their families.

Listen: Congress moves to help wrongful detainees

The following interview was edited for clarity.

Rep. Haley Stevens: While we’re delighted to see Paul Whelan return home, we also have ongoing wrongful detainee situations and hostage situations all across the world. One that’s really visceral is the ongoing hostage taking in the Middle East, in Gaza. And what we want to do is make it harder for adversaries of this country to take Americans. We want to put our full weight into deterrence. We want to make sure that we have a sound strategy. We want to make sure we have the resources. And I am absolutely thrilled that after a lot of work, we got into the defense bill several key provisions around deterrence, around passport applications, to cut through some of the steps. If you are taken, God forbid, you will immediately have resources if you choose to select that on your passport application.

And we also are saying that we mean business. So one of the key things that we did is improve already existing legislation, the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act. No later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this legislation, relevant agencies will be coordinated from the White House through multiple government agencies when a citizen is detained. Because one of the things that we found is, no surprise with a big federal government, the left hand is not talking to the right hand a lot of times. So we’re opening up communication strategies. That is absolutely critical for what we call emergency hostage or wrongful detention situations.

Another provision will authorize $2 million to the Departments of State and Treasury to carry out sanction authorities. Sometimes people engage in illegal activity abroad and that’s another matter. But on other occasions, they are taken and wrongfully detained, wrongfully held. That’s exactly what happened to Paul Whelan, to Trevor Reed, to Brittney Griner to a certain extent. We’ve got other state actors, like Iran, that disappear people. And we don’t have diplomacy with that state around the hostage. What Putin did in Russia is he wanted to swap prisoners.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: When you talk about the Levinson Act, another portion of that is supposed to help those that are wrongfully detained when they return. Provide them with five years of medical coverage, mental health and other support, et cetera. Congress has never funded that provision. Of the $2 million that you mention, will any of it fund that portion of the Levinson Act that would help wrongful detainees when they return?

HS: We need to do that. That’s the next phase, to get those appropriations. And there’s more to do around the Levinson Act, frankly. Someone like Paul Whelan had five-and-a-half years taken from him. If he was wrongfully in prison in the United States, he’d arguably get a compensation fund. Paul Whelan right now is living off of a GoFundMe. It’s unacceptable and it’s wrong. I’m certainly in some respects disappointed in his former employer for not keeping him on their payroll. Paul’s lived experience is very elucidating. So we need to think about compensation.

The advocacy piece that we got done in the NDAA at the end of 2023 created a fund that allows families to receive lodging when they’re advocating on behalf of their loved one. We’re amending that in this year’s NDAA. It is really important. Elizabeth Whelan, Paul’s sister, spent over $100,000 over six years with endless hours of traveling and coordinating with the government. She was just in my office for two-and-a-half hours the other day. These are ways in which we need to make Americans and American families whole. People are being targeted because they’re American. In Paul’s case and in Trevor Reed’s case, they were former U.S. Marines as well.

QK: No one has a crystal ball. But when you talk about adding extra funding into the Levinson Act, or any other funding that would aid this cause, it would all be coming when the Trump administration would be in effect with Republicans controlling both houses of Congress. They have talked often about not wanting to fund certain areas and cutting back on spending. Do you have any concerns that funding for wrongful detainees is going to fall prey to that view by the incoming administration and Congress?

HS: I feel more optimistic than not that we will continue to move forward. People from all political stripes are very passionate about these hostages and wrongful detainees and their return home. It’s really personal.

My colleague, Texas Republican Congressman Michael Cloud, had a wrongful detainee, a political prisoner in China, who was released a handful of weeks ago. He said that this individual did not know what a QR code is because of all the years that they had been detained. There’s just support that is needed.

We are authorizing and appropriating funds year after year as a Congress. I remain very confident that we will continue to do good legislation. We will continue to work towards making people like Paul Whelan whole. I am not stopping. And every step of the way, this legislation has been bipartisan, helping hostages fight for their return and make their return as easy as possible. There’s absolutely more to do. But this year’s NDAA is, in my opinion, a sign of more to come.

The nonprofit Rising Voices is urging the public to advocate for the “Teach MI History” bill package introduced this month in the Michigan Senate.

Subscribe to the Detroit Evening Report on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

The proposed legislation would require all Michigan school districts to incorporate curriculum on the histories and contributions of communities of color. The bills — introduced by Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit), Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton), and Sen. Erika Geiss (D-Taylor) — would also require cultural competency training for teachers and create a “cultural advisory board” within the Michigan Department of Education.

Rising Voices is urging voters to contact their representatives to make a case for the bill package. For more information on that and the bill itself, visit the organization’s website at risingvoicesaaf.org.

More headlines for Monday, Dec. 16, 2024:

• A historic industrial building in Detroit’s Milwaukee Junction neighborhood has been renovated into 161 loft-style apartments, called Piquette Flats.
• This Saturday, Dec. 21, is the Kwanzaa Kinara “Make and Take” Workshop at Alkebulan Village.
• Detroit Music Hall is getting ready to host A Magical Motown Christmas on Friday, Dec. 20.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

We’re seeing a change in Michigan when it comes to wages. After a six-year battle that involved lawsuits, protests, and an intervention by the state Supreme Court, Michigan will start to raise its minimum wage.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

The goal is to increase the standard to $15 an hour by 2030. But the process — like many things involving politics — was and continues to be contentious. Last week, state House Republicans walked out of their session in protest — seeking a vote on the minimum wage law before it goes into effect next year. 

Critics of the new law argue this change could affect what tipped workers take home and be tough on businesses. They fear customers will tip less and workers could make less money overall. 

Detroit News Restaurant Critic and Reporter Melody Baetens joined The Metro on Monday to help us understand the potential changes coming to worker wages. While minimum wages will change, she thinks the custom of tipping will not shift. 

“The tipping industry in this country is a wild, vast conversation. And I am not sure about this gloom and doom situation where people are going to stop tipping if wages go up,” Baetens said. 

President and CEO of the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association Justin Winslow also joined the conversation, saying there are some common misconceptions when it comes to servers’ wages. 

“What I think is often misunderstood, and it takes a while to educate on this, no one’s ever making a sub minimum wage,” Winslow said. “If in the event that tips aren’t making up at least that difference, to get you to whatever the full minimum wage is, you as the employer are responsible to make up that difference every time.”

We also talked to Godwin Ihentuge, chef and owner of  Yum Village in Detroit. His servers make between $12 and $15.50 an hour, depending on training, and tips on top of that.

“Everyone still gets tips. It’s still there. We just find that, and I think as this becomes more public, businesses are going to find that the consumer will support the ethical behavior,” Ihentuge said. “They’ll come, they’ll make their way to the businesses that are deciding to do the right things in an industry that is rooted in and need of desperate change.”

Lu Hayoz, a longtime server and owner of the Peppermill Cafe in Grand Rapids, said a change to minimum wage could be detrimental to her business.  

“We make well above minimum wage. I mean, granted, we make $3.90 an hour, but most of our girls $20, $25 an hour. And we have talked to our customers every single day about what is going to be happening,” Hayoz said. “I am a very small restaurant. You know, just like I said, we’re just a diner open from six to two every day. Everything, our margins are 3-5%, they’re so small. And food cost is sky high right now, sky high.”

In the second hour of The Metro, we asked listeners:

“Do you work in the restaurant industry? Are you worried that as your hourly wage goes up, your tips will go down?” 

Louis from Southfield said: “If I go to a restaurant where I’m a regular and have a relationship with knowing my waitress. She treats me good. She takes care of me. I don’t care what the raises she’s going to get is. I tip her 30% because I’m tipping the person. I’m tipping the friendliness.” 

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

More from The Metro on Dec. 16, 2024:

• Kelley Cusmano has been an educator for 19 years, and is currently an English teacher at Rochester High School. She was also named Michigan’s 2024 Teacher of the Year this past summer. In that role, she’s been traveling to different public schools and trying to increase the state’s teacher retention rate. She’s now about halfway done in her role, and Cusmano joined the show to discuss what she’s learned, why teacher retention is an issue, and what makes a great teacher.
• Typewriters were once as ubiquitous as the computer. Now, they’re mainly found on shelves in antique shops and in various states of repair. WDET’s Jack Filbrandt sat down with Chris Alan Jones and Jessica Letkemann, the team behind Detroit Type Works repairing and bringing new life to these beautiful machines. 
• Water is the most basic necessity of life. The rising cost of water has some Michigan families struggling to pay their water bills. In certain households, that results in water shutoffs. A slate of bills in the state  House would address this problem, one that advocates say is a human rights issue at its core. One organization that’s been central to this work is the People’s Water Board Coalition. The Detroit-based group advocates for people’s equitable access to safe water and sanitation. PWBC Director Sylvia Ordunõ joined the show to discuss their efforts.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Many people in the queer community are on edge after Donald Trump’s reelection in November.

The Trevor Project, a leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ young people, reported a 700% increase in calls after the 2024 election.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Trump has uttered no shortage of transphobic rhetoric, leaving many concerned that he’ll roll back federal protections for transgender people.

Detroiter Valerie Jean Blakely, who has a 16-year-old transgender son, shares those same concerns. She joined The Metro on Thursday to discuss her feelings of anxiety and fear for her family with Trump back in the White House.

After the presidential election, Blakely said she and her family sat in a bedroom for two days, unpacking their anxieties and discussing what Trump’s reelection could mean for their family, and for transgender rights more broadly. 

Blakely shared her fears that Trump’s election has emboldened transphobic people to openly come after the LGBTQ community.

“Trump supporters immediately came for trans people, like, immediately,” she said. “It was so stark to me, it does not feel like it’s getting better. It felt like it was a little easier when he was six, to be fair, because it didn’t seem… the hate and the bigotry didn’t seem so, you know, violent.”

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

More headlines from The Metro on Dec. 12, 2024: 

• The city of Detroit is the 10th U.S. city to get a designated Michelin Green Guide highlighting its cultural attractions, Visit Detroit announced this week. Claude Molinari, president and CEO of Visit Detroit, joined the show to discuss the designation.
• The Ruth Ellis Center is well known within the LBGTQ+ community, often being a lifeline for our most unprotected LGBTQ brothers and sisters. Ruth Ellis herself was one of the oldest and proudest Black lesbians of her time. Mykell Price, director of talent, equity and inclusion for the Ruth Ellis Center, joined the show to discuss what it’s like to be a trans person in Detroit today, and what resources are available.
• In partnership with the State of Michigan and Detroit at Work, The Michigan Central Talent Innovation Training Fund was created to support start-ups. More than $1.5 million will go towards skill building, growing and diversifying Detroit’s business community.
• Democrats have had control of the state House, Senate, and Governor’s office since the 2022 midterms. The “trifecta” government meant the state legislature and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer could pursue and advance a policy agenda without Republican support. But that’s changing come January, when Michigan House Democrats will lose their majority.  To discuss this, Michigan Public Radio Network reporter Colin Jackson joined the show.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Inmates could see their time in prison reduced if they earn education credits or complete job training or other approved activities under bills approved by the Michigan Senate. The credits would go toward helping inmates become eligible for parole more quickly.

The bills were adopted with bipartisan support and bipartisan opposition.

Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor), a bill sponsor, said the program would help felons prepare for life outside prison and something constructive to occupy their time before that.

“So, allowing folks to be productive in prison and have some sort of benefit from that creates an incentive structure that creates more safety in the prisons and it gets more folks doing the programs that will help them be successful on the outside,” he said.

Sen. Ed McBroom (R-Waucedah Twp.), also a sponsor, said the bills would offer hope and encouragement for convicted felons to prepare for life after prison.

“What incentive can we offer someone behind bars that’s stronger than the opportunity to get out from behind those bars?” McBroom asked. “There is no stronger incentive available.”

But Sen. Thomas Albert (R-Lowell) said the bills, while well-intended, go too far.

“Supporters may say that this package will help inmates prepare to become functioning members of society by helping them learn key skills,” he said. “I say we have and can continue to do that without provisions that would allow their minimum sentences to be reduced.”

Albert said the state has already dramatically reduced the number of inmates held in prisons, which is saving taxpayers money. Also, he said the bills would be unfair to victims who expect offenders will serve out at least the lower end of their sentences.  

Opponents also say the bills may run afoul of Michigan’s truth-in-sentencing law, which ended good behavior credits that could reduce set mandatory minimum prison time before becoming eligible for parole.

The bills now go to the state House, where they would have to be voted on this week to be adopted before the end of the legislative session.

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.

The Michigan Senate has passed a bill that bans the sales and possession of “ghost guns.” Ghost guns are guns that are put together by an individual, not a manufacturer, using parts from a kit or using separate pieces. Because of how these guns are assembled, they don’t have serial numbers and are, therefore, very difficult to identify and track.

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3D-printed guns are also banned in similar bills that were passed the same day. There were more than 45,000 suspected ghost guns reported to the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms from 2016 to 2021, according to the agency.

One of the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak), stated that the weapon used to kill the United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson in New York was likely a ghost gun, according to law enforcement.

These bills are part of a multitude of bills the Michigan Legislature is working on in overtime as their lame duck session comes to a close soon.

Other headlines for Friday, Dec. 13, 2024:

• Another set of bills being considered in Lansing would establish a “duty to intervene” law, restrict no-knock warrants, make it a felony to tamper with body cameras and require law enforcement agencies to create policies about the use of force. The duty to intervene law would require police departments to check if prospective hires had been previously fired for poor conduct, which has happened numerous times, according to a 7 Action News investigation.
• The City of Detroit is reminding residents that there are warming centers and respite locations to provide relief from these frigid temperatures. For more information, contact the Detroit Housing Services Helpline at (866) 313-2520.
• The Detroit Opera Youth Chorus is having their Winter Fantasy performance on Sunday, Dec. 15. Doors open at 1:30 p.m. for the 2 p.m. concert. The concert will showcase various musical styles including folk tunes, holiday classics, highlights from ‘The Sound of Music’ and more. For tickets, go to detroitopera.org

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

The final days of the current iteration of the Michigan Legislature are upon us as the Republican majority in the House begins in January. Education and the environment are two of the many topics circulating these legislative sessions. This week on MichMash, host Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Zach Gorchow sit down with Jane McCurry from Clean Fuels Michigan to discuss biofuels, carbon capture and electric vehicles. Then, they switch gears and chat with Chalkbeat’s Hannah Dellinger about charter schools. Finally, Zach reports live from the Michigan State Capitol where all of these topics come together in this exciting, jam-packed episode.

Subscribe to MichMash on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode:

• The legislative sessions before the end of lame duck session.
• Electric vehicles and their future in Michigan.
• Democrats want transparency from charter schools

McCurry shared that the among all the bills going through legislative sessions, there are some that are top of mind and show the most potential to pass.

“We know there are various priorities and opportunities in lame duck. The bill that we see the most opportunity for is that sustainability fuel bill,” McCurry said.

Electric vehicles are another topic that has occupied the headlines. McCurry hopes that EVs are included in future vehicle options for Michiganders.  

“I think it’s unfortunate that EVs became a political football, because I really do believe that automotive innovation transcends political boundaries, especially in Michigan,” she said. “There is no EV mandate. Plainfield, Mich. is a strong proponent of vehicle choice, and we want to make sure that consumers have access to all of the fuels, including electrification.”

Charter schools are another topic being discussed during these legislative sessions. Dellinger said that Democrats are not dismissing charter schools, but just want more transparency with how they operate.

“The hearing that they had, they were not arguing about the efficacy of the charter schools or the performance of students at the schools,” she said.

Dellinger added that although the data questions if charter schools are performing at the same level as public schools, those discussions on performance aren’t happening legislatively.  

More from WDET:

• Legislative FOIA bills reach new ground
• MichMash: The environmental dilemma of Michigan’s ‘low carbon fuel standard’ bill
• Electric vehicles, mobility trends shape the future of revamped Detroit Auto Show

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.

City Council President Mary Sheffield is throwing her name into next year’s Detroit mayoral race. She formally announced her candidacy Tuesday night with a roughly hour-and-a-half long event at a union hall in Corktown.

Beyond continuing Detroit’s business growth, Sheffield says improving neighborhoods would be one of her focuses if elected mayor. She feels qualified to tackle issues that matter to communities, after spending the last decade representing the 5th District on city council.

“The affordable housing that I’ve done, the Responsible Contracting (Ordinance), the Neighborhood Improvement Fund are all initiatives that I was passionate about and I was able to approve,” Sheffield said.

While Sheffield is proud of her time as council president, she says she wants to create her own legacy separate from Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. He recently announced he’ll step aside after his current term ends to run for governor of Michigan.

Sheffield, who has been a member of city council since 2014, says she knows her legacy in politics is linked with the current mayor. While she’s proud of what they’ve accomplished working together, Sheffield noted that they do share differences.

“We’ve not always agreed on everything,” she said. “I think that is what you’ll begin to see as I move forward, some of the things that I’m more passionate about that he may not have been.”

Sheffield says property tax reform and affordable housing are two of the key issues she’d tackle if Detroit voters elect her next year.

Other headlines for Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024:

• Detroit’s three casinos are reporting substantially improved profits for the month of November compared to the same month in 2023.
• The Detroit Lions’ 34-31 comeback victory over Green Bay last Thursday night averaged 17.29 million viewers, making it the most-streamed NFL regular-season game in history.
• Famed African American poet Nikki Giovanni has died. Giovanni became a leader of the Black Arts Movement in the 1960s and ’70s, advocating for civil rights and self-determination. Her work challenged social, political and cultural boundaries.
• Detroiters should prepare for the return of winter weather this week. Light snow showers will start this evening, and the city could see up to an inch of accumulation by Thursday morning.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

A state Senate committee adopted legislation Tuesday that would implement new firearm restrictions meant to make it easier to trace homemade guns assembled from kits or 3D-printed parts. The bills would also ban bump stocks, which allow semi-automatic guns to behave much like automatic weapons, firing multiple rounds with one continuous trigger squeeze.

The bills cleared the Senate Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety Committee on party-line votes and were sent to the Senate floor.

The homemade or 3D-printed guns that are the subject of the legislation are often called “ghost guns” because they are so difficult to identify and track. The proposed regulations would require gun parts to be printed with serial numbers so they can be tracked if they are recovered after being used in a crime.

“It is simply too easy for criminals and other prohibited people to access ‘ghost guns,’” said Senator Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak). “They turn to these firearms because they know they can’t buy them legally or because they know they intend to use such weapons to commit crimes and they wish for these weapons to be untraced.”

The bills were taken up by the committee less than a week following the shooting death of a health insurance executive on the streets of Manhattan by an assailant who, according to the criminal complaint, used a 3D-printed gun and silencer.

“Ghost guns are crime guns,” said Jessica Ojeda with the Giffords Law Center. “These firearms bypass critical background checks and serialization requirements, giving access to those who should be prohibited from owning a gun, including minors, traffickers, domestic abusers and violent criminals.”

Representatives of gun rights organizations say the requirements of the legislation would be easy to evade and are probably unconstitutional.

Tom Lambert of Michigan Open Carry said the bills would not have stopped the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City, which is known for tight gun laws.

“So, are we saying that if that person had to put a serial number on that firearm that none of that would have happened?” said Lambert. “Is that the argument we want to advance here today? Is that really the complete absence of logic that we’re operating under?”

Lambert, an attorney, said he thinks the bills would also be open to constitutional challenges if signed into law. Many of the legislation’s requirements would be phased in over time to avert illegal seizure complaints.

The Legislature is in the final days of the “lame duck” session and no decisions have been made on taking up the bills before its end. Gun restrictions will have a tougher slog in the Legislature next year, when the Michigan House will shift from Democratic control to a Republican majority.