Michigan bills to further prevent the use of ticket-buying bots received a House committee hearing Wednesday.

Ticket bots are often used to snatch up event tickets by getting around purchase limits, waiting periods, or other safeguards.

In high profile cases, like Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, they led to exorbitant prices on the resale market.

State Representative Mike McFall (D-Hazel Park) is a package co-sponsor. He says bots are a problem the state needs to address.

“This harms the entertainment industry and harms consumers by creating an unnecessary financial barrier. Our bills would provide the attorney general with the necessary tools to investigate and act against those who are misusing bots to excessively purchase tickets,” McFall said during the House Judiciary Committee hearing.

The federal government has already outlawed using ticket bots to scam the system. But supporters of the Michigan bills say they’re necessary to ensure scammers quickly face consequences.

“The problem is, sometimes at that federal level there’s so many things going on, it’s hard to rein this in, which is why we kind of want to deal with it here in the state of Michigan, so the AG’s office has a little more teeth than we can act within our state,” said Rep. Mike Harris (R-Waterford), another package co-sponsor.

Under the bills, using bots to abuse the ticket-buying process could lead to a $5,000 fine per ticket gained.

Similar bills were introduced last legislative term but didn’t make it to the governor. 

A fetus would count as a dependent for Michigan taxes under a bill getting hearing Tuesday before the state House Finance Committee.

The bill would apply to people who are at least 10 weeks pregnant by the end of the tax year. A doctor would have to verify that pregnancy status.

State Rep. Gina Johnsen (R-Lake Orion) sponsors the bill. In an interview, Johnsen said she hopes it encourages more people to start families.

“Everything costs more to just survive, raise a family, take care of yourself. But, even starting at pregnancy, the costs go up. And this bill is to recognize that that’s when the costs start, not just when a child is born,” Johnsen said.

The personal exemption allowed under Michigan tax law is adjusted each year. For the 2024 tax year, it added up to $5,600 for each person and dependent.

Critics of the bill question whether it would truly provide enough support for new families.

Danielle Atkinson is the founder of the group Mothering Justice. Atkinson said she’s skeptical the bill would provide meaningful help for mothers.

“If this was in good faith, we would definitely be looking at the true cost of care, money that’s lost when you are out of work. And just overall what it takes to raise a child in this society,” Atkinson said.

She estimated it costs upwards of $14,000 each year to raise an infant, when accounting for childcare, food, clothes and other costs. Meanwhile, she raised concerns that the legislation could also have implications for talks around access to abortion.

In 2022, Georgia became the first state that offers such a tax exemption for fetuses after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. That legislation was tied to Georgia’s fetal heartbeat law.

Johnsen said her bill, however, was based on the federal WIC program. That program offers food assistance to low income pregnant people, nursing mothers, and families of young children.

“I just want the moms to have an opportunity to have some assistance here and recognize that this is financially more difficult than not having a baby,” Johnsen said.

But Atkinson said expanding other programs, like Rx Kids, which gives checks to mothers of newborns are better uses of time and money.

“We have to think in the totality of when we’re talking about moms and families and babies, what does the most good and we need to put our attention and our resources behind those initiatives,” Atkinson said.

The bill is inching along in the state legislature at a time when House Republicans are also calling for across-the-board income tax cuts, setting aside more funding for roads, and cutting back budget spending.

Democrats have pushed back, arguing that those policies could put public services and social safety net spending at risk. Senate Democrats, however, have still called for the creation of what they describe as a “working parents tax credit.”

Johnsen defended her push for another cut, saying there are places to cut waste in the budget.

“We say we’re looking out for the most vulnerable. Well, the most vulnerability are the babies and the pregnant moms and the elderly and the veterans. They have to come first. Or we don’t have a thriving and strong society,” Johnsen said.

She said she expects the bill to come to a vote in the Michigan House of Representatives within the coming weeks.

President Donald Trump will be celebrating 100 days in office Tuesday with a trip to Macomb County.

Trump’s visit comes as Americans remain divided over policies like his mass deportation strategy, cuts to the federal workforce, and tariffs.

Michigan Republican Party Chair Jim Runestad praised the president for trying to make good on campaign promises and supported the pace it’s happening at.

“What he’s doing is making real change that is going to strategically make a huge difference in cutting the waste, fraud, and abuse here in the United States, and also making sure that we have an incredible economic policy going forward,” Runestad said.

Runestad said he expects the nearby Selfridge Air National Guard base and new investments from Stellantis in Detroit to come up during Trump’s speech.

Earlier in the month, Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp) discussed brining a new mission to Selfridge during a White House visit with Trump.

While Republicans celebrate Trump’s return to the White House, Democrats say the country is now worse off. Tuesday morning, the DNC released its own rundown of Trump’s time in office.

The Democrats’ “snapshot” cites federal numbers that show Michigan was among the leaders in new unemployment claims for the most recent period, with more than 80,000 unemployment claims filed in the state since Trump took office. (There were more than 230,000 new claims in the state during the first 100 days of the Biden administration, though that time coincided with emergency orders and a surge in cases during the COVID-19 pandemic.) 

Democrats also say Trump’s actions could put heavily-relied-on government services and social safety net programs like Head Start at risk.

While supporters of Trump’s vision see his moves as steps to get rid of wasteful spending in the name of efficiency, DNC Deputy Executive Director Libby Schneider said the moves are destabilizing. Schneider was dismissive of Trump’s choice to spend his 100-day mark in Michigan.

“He’s going to Michigan to lie to people, but we found out you can’t lie to people when they’re suffering and paying more than they were 100 days ago, and when they are looking at their retirement and figuring out how many years now they have to add to their career in order to be able to afford to retire,” Schneider said.

Financial markets have been volatile in recent months, alternating between dips and gains depending on what policies are announced or rescinded. Democratic Party leaders say the country is sliding toward a recession. Trump administration officials have said the risk is worth it to reset America’s economy and protect domestic industries.

Runestad said it’s misleading to look at the day-to-day effects of Trump’s policies.

“All of these things change many parameters over time, not in a day. I mean, if he announces a tariff one day, the media is screaming bloody murder. And then he makes strategic pullbacks. That’s why it’s not a canoe. It is a battleship in terms of how the thing maneuvers. It takes time for these things to be ironed out,” Runestad said.

Many Democrats and political scholars also take a wider view of Trump’s first 100 days, saying he’s put the country on a path toward authoritarianism by taking steps to consolidate power in the executive branch, sidelining courts and Congress, and intimidating political rivals.

This will be Trump’s first visit to Michigan since he made several campaign stops in the state on the way to winning back the White House last year. When asked why Michigan was picked for the milestone, Runestad said the 2026 elections may have been in mind.

The state will have many offices up for grabs next year, including governor and U.S. Senate.

“There’s going to be a lot of attention on those, plus we have three congressional seats that are going to in play,” Runestad said. “Really all of these things lead through Michigan in terms of holding that majority for the Trump administration,” Runestad said.

Several high profile candidates on all sides of the political aisle have already entered or teased entering some of those races. Trump’s Macomb County rally will likely draw some of those hopefuls.

Making or selling a drug derived from opium, like heroin or fentanyl, would carry a tougher penalty in Michigan under bills that passed in the state House of Representatives Wednesday.

Current laws treat opiates and their synthetic counterparts, opioids, similar to cocaine and other narcotics considered highly dangerous and addictive.

That means, depending on the amount, possession with the intent to deliver could carry maximum prison sentences from 20 years to life. Some optional fines could also come into play.

The bills passed Wednesday would raise some of those maximum sentences, require fines in some cases, and set new mandatory minimum sentences.

Rep. Sarah Lightner (R-Springport) co-sponsors the bills. She said this is one of the issues where she believes mandatory minimums are necessary to interrupt the work of producers and dealers.

“They need to be off the street for a certain amount of time. So anywhere from, you know, five to 15 years is a lot of time that will disrupt the chain, and hopefully we see that impact in our communities,” Lightner told reporters after the vote.

The bills got some bipartisan support, passing by margins of 66-40 and 65-41 in a chamber where Republicans only have a six-vote majority.

Still, many Democratic opponents to the bills said the legislation would amount to another step in a failed war on drugs.

Representative John Fitzgerald (D-Wyoming) said stronger sentences wouldn’t address root causes of drug abuse and its impact on communities.

“The emotion that comes into an issue like this does not mean that we just drop the hammer and leave everyone else in the dust in the wake of what is going on,” Fitzgerald said to reporters.

Fitzgerald and his colleagues agreed the state needs to instead continue investing in programs aimed at reducing addiction and crime while providing more community resources.

Representative Amos O’Neal (D-Saginaw) said those programs are working, comparing their progress to trying to turn a big ship that moves slowly.

“The evidence that we’ve seen here in Michigan, the rudder and the turn is happening. Right here in Michigan, such as education and skill-building opportunities, substance abuse treatment programs, and objective decision-making, and effective support for reentry. It’s working. Evidence-based programs have safely reduced, here in Michigan, the prison population,” O’Neal said during a floor speech.

He said stronger penalties would just worsen high incarceration rates that already disproportionately affect Black and Brown residents.

Supporters of the legislation, however, argued back that overdose deaths happen regardless of a person’s background.

Representative Ann Bollin (R-Brighton), another package co-sponsor, said the stronger sentences need to happen in addition to the other work the state is doing. She argued the bills go after drug traffickers, not users.

“We must do something to stop the penetration of the fatal drugs throughout our society. The real perpetrators, the dealers, the manufacturers, walk away with money in their pockets and no awareness at all the depth of grief realized by these families and neighbors, the victims’ families,” Bollin said from the House floor.

Package opponents say there are not enough guardrails to ensure that non-dealers don’t get caught up in the punishment system.

The legislation next goes to the state Senate for more consideration.