Michigan

by Carly Moran   Michigan plans to send $219 million in tax credits back to taxpayers over the next few weeks, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recently announced. Whitmer said a supplemental Working Families Tax Credit will be sent to Michigan families who already received a 2022 tax year Michigan Earned Income Tax Credit for Working Families. […]

The White House and Biden 2024 reelection campaign are concerned that President Joe Biden is hemorrhaging support from voters in Arab and Muslim communities in Michigan amid his support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, Politico reported Tuesday. Biden has publicly backed Israel’s war effort against Hamas even as many of his supporters and voters demand he call for a ceasefire in favor of protecting the Palestinian population in Gaza. Multiple uncommitted voter campaigns have sprung up against Biden as he continues to lose support from Arab and Muslim communities threatening not to back him in the state’s Tuesday primaries, according to Politico.

Days before Tuesday's primary election, more than 700,000 Michiganders have already cast a ballot thanks to new voting laws. More than 18,000 votes were cast in the first three days of in-person early voting statewide over the holiday weekend.

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from Sidney Powell, a lawyer aligned with former President Donald Trump who challenged the 2020 presidential election results in Michigan. The nation’s top court included no comment with the Tuesday rejection.

A voter-led petition seeks to repeal a Michigan law that allowed the state to seize local control of large-scale wind and solar projects. The Michigan Farm Bureau and the Michigan Townships Association say Public Act 233 of 2023 strips local siting authority in 1,240 townships and gives it to the Michigan Public Service Commission – three people appointed by the governor.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says the proposed 2025 budget wouldn't raise taxes but it would dump a 1,200% increase in trash fees onto local taxpayers. The budget aims to raise the landfill tipping fee rate for state landfills from 36 cents to $5 per ton – a 1,288% increase.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s 2025 budget includes $5 million for a car repair program. The program would fund vehicle repairs, purchases and other services to obtain and retain employment not to exceed $2,000 in the past year – the same cap as last year’s budget but more than double from the $900 cap in the year prior.

The mother of a shooter who killed four students at a high school in Oxford, Mich., in 2021 was found guilty Tuesday on all charges of involuntary manslaughter. Jennifer Crumbley, 45, had pleaded not guilty to four involuntary manslaughter counts, and the jury found her guilty after 10 hours of deliberation, per CNN. 

Michigan Senate Republicans on Thursday announced their plan to improve childhood learning and support teachers in the K-12 schools. They proposed a MI Brighter Future plan they said would help students gain access to additional resources and learning opportunities, require proven training methods for educators, give parents more control over their child’s progress, reinstate accountability in teacher evaluations and provide for performance-based bonuses.

A letter urges an investigation into suppliers of a Ford electric vehicle plant in Marshall, Michigan. Republican U.S. Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisconsin, chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Washington, chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, signed the letter.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer proposed expanding the Michigan government by at least new five programs costing an unknown amount. In a video talking to a potato, Whitmer proposed that taxpayers fund two years of community college for all high school graduates.

Michigan’s Growing Together Council was funded partly by private groups – a detail omitted in the final report which one lawmaker called an “abuse of the pubic trust.” State Rep. John Roth, R-Interlochen, told The Center Square in an email Republican concerns continue to grow.

Former Michigan GOP Rep. Justin Amash said Thursday that he is considering running for Senate in 2024. "Today I’m launching the Justin Amash for Senate Exploratory Committee as I consider entering the race," Amash wrote on the social media platform, X, on which he cites himself as a libertarian. 

School districts in Detroit, Lansing and Pontiac will each receive $5.9 million in federal funding to buy 15 clean-powered school buses apiece. The funding flows from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Clean School Bus Program grants.

A Michigan couple has sued Brooks Township for refusing to allow them to open a cemetery on private land. Peter and Annica Quakenbush filed a lawsuit against Brooks Township in Newaygo County, challenging its blanket ban on opening any new cemeteries.