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The 103rd Michigan Legislature is underway with a handover of authority in the Michigan House to Republicans and a strong signal of how the new majority plans to manage its power in a governing triad that still has Democrats holding two-thirds of the three-legged stool.
House Republican leaders indicated how they see their role with the adoption of rules that give the House Oversight Committee subpoena power. This is a marked departure from how this has been handled in past sessions.
It’s assumed this subpoena power will be largely directed at high-level members of Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s administration and dealing with transparency in the use of financial incentives to lure businesses and their connections to China, as well as possibly looking-back at how the administration used emergency shutdown orders during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Republican Representative Mike Harris, the new House Majority Whip, says there’s no specific plan to send subpoenas, but that Republicans want to have every tool available at the front end to compel cooperation. “Our goal is not to have that be the first gunshot that we make,” he said. “This is if we’re trying to obtain information and we are not getting cooperation then that’s something we can fall back on.”
On the opening day of the session on Wednesday, Democrats voted for the rules package which included this subpoena power as an early sign of willingness to collaborate. But, says House Minority Leader Ranjiv Puri, they are not happy with the subpoena language. “Obviously, I understand the need for accountability and transparency in government, but creating artificial witch hunts and politicizing the committee structure is not the way to get it done,” said the Democratic leader.
And the rules, we should note, are not specific to the governor’s administration. The oversight committee could easily direct its attention to actions by Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, both Democrats who have had testy relations with legislative Republicans. (And let’s not forget, Benson also has gubernatorial ambitions.)
There’s no specific plan for a legal challenge to the subpoena power right now, but that probably would have to wait for that authority to be exercised by the House and a subpoena target who could claim actual harm. Any legal challenge might also depend on how broadly - and often - Republicans on the oversight committee try to use the authority.
But it certainly shows in this first week that the House GOP leadership intends to use every power within reach to assert its influence in this new year.
Have questions about this new subpoena power? Or, just want to let us know what you want more of (less of?) in the newsletter in 2025? We always want to hear from you! Shoot us an email at politics@michiganpublic.org!
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What we’re talking about at the dinner table:
2025 Legislation: The first bills introduced this week in the new House session show Republicans placing a high priority on amending Michigan’s petition-initiated minimum wage and earned sick leave laws to make them more business-friendly. The bills focus on partially rolling back the wage for workers who get tips and slowing the pace of the schedule for workers to bank sick leave days. Tipped workers have also rallied at the Capitol over concerns their earnings could go down if customers back off on gratuities. New Republican House Speaker Matt Hall is one of the sponsors of a resolution to create a special committee to resolve the issue. It will be a heavy lift to get bills negotiated, through committee hearings and floor votes in two chambers, and in acceptable versions for Governor Whitmer to sign before the new laws take effect next month. (If you’re looking for even more information and background on the issue, Michigan Public Radio Capitol reporter Colin Jackson gave us a rundown on this week’s podcast.) In the Senate, a bipartisan package to expand Michigan’s freedom-of-information laws are that chamber’s first bills of the new session. SB1* and SB2 would make lawmakers subject to freedom of information requests. (*Helpful hint if you’re reading the bills: Boldface words and sentences are additions to existing laws. Strike-through lines are words and sentences that would be removed.) Senators Jeremy Moss and Ed McBroom are the progressive/conservative political odd couple who sponsored the bills. They think they may have their best chance yet of actually getting the legislation to the governor’s desk.
CREC: A marquee Michigan wonkfest event – the Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference (CREC) – is underway today at the state Capitol. State Budget Director Jen Flood, State Treasurer Rachael Eubanks, House Fiscal Agency Director Mary Ann Cleary and Senate Fiscal Agency Director Kathryn Summers are listening to presentations from think tanks, University of Michigan economists and state government experts on the state of the Michigan and national economies, employment, and projected auto sales. Every year, state budget officials huddle and agree on the new revenue numbers the governor and Legislature will use to craft the state budget. This sets the stage for big negotiations on the coming state budget between Democrats and Republicans. New spending, tax cuts or a combination of both could all be on the table. (And did we mention there are elections next year.) There will be no incumbents running for governor, attorney general and secretary of state, and every state House and Senate seat will be on the ballot in 2026 so this year’s budget decisions are bound to have political consequences. There will also be a second conference later this year to update the numbers as lawmakers prepare to finalize the budget. We should also note: the CREC is a really big deal. For history nerds, it was established by a 1991 state law that solved a huge problem – agreeing on how much money the state has to spend. Before that, the House, the Senate and the governor all operated off their own numbers (!) and the spending target was part of political negotiations that added weeks or more to the process. It was such a culture change that Rick remembers the first one was a bust.
Pre-address address: While we wait for the announcement of just when Governor Gretchen Whitmer will deliver her seventh State of the State address, her team has announced she will deliver what looks to be a preview of the annual address next week at the Detroit Auto Show in a speech being dubbed the “Road Ahead.” Interestingly enough, the speech will be delivered just days before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump and it appears will be heavy in bipartisanship messaging. This looks to continue the conciliatory tone from “that woman from Michigan” who was a prominent Trump antagonist during his first term.
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IJP on the road:
Zoe joined 1A’s Friday News Roundup this week: Firefighters battle to control several major fires in the Los Angeles area that have killed at least five people, razed communities and forced thousands from their homes. Vice President Kamala Harris certified President-elect Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory on January 6. A New York court declines incoming President Trump’s request to halt criminal sentencing in his felony sex scandal cover up case. Social media giant Meta announced this week that it is dropping fact checking as a feature from its platforms, instead opting for a community-driven notes system
that would allow users to verify the truthfulness of information. And the nation remembers Jimmy Carter.
Rick joined WKAR’s Off the Record to discuss the return of lawmakers to Lansing and what’s on the state Capitol agenda for 2025. The guest was new Minority House Leader, Democrat Ranjeev Puri.
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Yours in political nerdiness,
Rick Pluta & Zoe Clark
Co-hosts, It’s Just Politics
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