LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – To wrap up the first month of Michigan’s new legislature, representatives have recieved their committee assignments. Speaker of the House Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) announced the placements Thursday afternoon, the latest committee assignments have been rolled out in decades.
Over 50 bills have been introduced to the House this month, and the legislation is now waiting for referral to the newly appointed committees.
Members are usually selected depending on their backgrounds, The representatives will guide the specialized bodies in reviewing legislation for the next two years.
This term, the U.P.’s representatives have been appointed leadership roles in a number of committees. Representative Dave prestin has been appointed the Vice Chair of Energy, and Representative Karl Bohnak the Vice Chair of Economic Competitiveness.
Prestin and Bohnak also have seats on Natural Resources & Tourism, Transportation & Infrastructure, and Health Policy.
Representative Greg Markkanen will be a part of the appropriations team – the committee that allocates state funding and creates the budget. On Appropriations Subcommittees, Markkanen is the Chair of Higher Ed & Community College and Vice Chair of Corrections & Judiciary. He also holds spots on School Aid & Department of Education and Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.
“Our Upper Peninsula is different than the rest of the state and we don’t just need an economically competitive Lower Peninsula, we need an economically competitive Upper Peninsula too. To have an Upper Peninsula legislator who can make sure that those community colleges and universities in the U.P. have a seat at the table in Lansing, it’ll make a big difference.” Hall said. “You need a Karl Bohnak working on Economic Competitiveness. You need Greg Markkanen working on Higher Education and Community Colleges. I hope that those two will make a big difference in the Upper Peninsula for many years.”
Now that the lawmakers have their assignments, they can begin sharing testimony for new legislation and work on the state budget for 2026.
