LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – Governor Gretchen Whitmer laid out her priorities for the next year in her state of the state address last night. Giving lawmakers and state departments a lot to work on as she heads into her second to last year as governor.
With a split legislature, her plans are focused on more broad issues where she believes lawmakers can find compromise in 2025.
“I ran for governor to restore trust and rebuild Michigan. I was sick of us being a punching bag. Now I am proud to say I’ve got the best job in the world because I get to help the Michigan we all love live up to our potential.” Whitmer said. “Let’s keep it simple. 1. cost: let’s make life more affordable for Michiganders. 2. jobs: let’s create more opportunities to help people in our state earn more money. and 3. results: let’s make government work better for the people we all serve.”
Whitmer listed costs as her first concern, citing worries about tariffs increasing prices for michigan residents. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said anything that impacts our partnership with Canada has an even greater impact in the Upper Peninsula.
“It’s really important to me that we, as Michiganders, stand up for protecting our access to Canada and everything we get from there. Affordability, prices, everything else that comes from there is well, is affected by our partnership.”
For many lawmakers, the governor’s second goal to boost job growth starts in the classroom with support for elementary school students. Lawmakers are already working on plans to change required curriculum and boost test scores.
“I love the idea of going back to phonics based, the science of reading,” Representative Parker Fairbairn (R- Harbor Springs) said. “If our kids can read, they’re going to be able to do math better, their ACT and SAT scores are going to be better, it’s going to be really good for our state.”
Whitmer’s third point aims to make government run smoother. To meet that goal, she showed her support for a republican led ethics and transparency plan, while also proposing changes to state permits and licenses to make construction easier and resolve housing shortages.
“We have got to make sure our voice is heard because there’s only 17 legislators from the middle of the Lower Peninsula all through the Upper Peninsula, versus 148 total down here. That’s not a loud voice.” Senator John Damoose (R- Harbor Springs) said. “We have to stick together, which we do a good job of doing, but we have to make sure that they’re listening. I didn’t hear a lot about rural Michigan, we’re just gonna need to make sure that’s brought up every time we have a discussion.”
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say they are ready to get together and find the issues where they can get bipartisan work done as they push to finish a new state budget before July.
