RESOURCES:
Michigan State of the State 2026
TRANSCRIPTION:
Caroline MacGregor: This is 89.1 WEMU. I'm Caroline McGregor. And today, we are going to talk about a couple of big events that occurred this week--Tuesday's State of the Union address by President Trump and the State of the State by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who delivered her eighth and final State of the State address on Wednesday night. With me today to discuss both addresses is Senator Sue Shink, who serves Michigan's 14th Senate District. Thank you for taking the time to join us here on WEMU today!
Sen. Sue Shink: My pleasure! My voice isn't what it normally is, but I'm glad to have the opportunity to talk with you!
Caroline MacGregor: Well, we certainly appreciate having you, and we hope that you feel better soon. First of all, let's start off with the State of the Union address on Tuesday night. President Donald Trump was clearly appealing to his Republican base. Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger offered a sharp contrast to the President's depiction of the nation as being in a "golden age" during his address. Tell me your overall impression.
Sen. Sue Shink: My thought is that if you want to lead a nation or a state, you lead everyone, whether they voted for you or not, whether they agree with you or not. And our President clearly does not believe that those who disagree with him deserve the protections or the benefits of this nation. And that is in sharp contrast to Governor Whitmer's speech, where she emphasized, over and over again, that Michigan is for all Michiganders and that she represents and works for all Michiganers as we confront the issues that we face, no matter how we vote.
Caroline MacGregor: Now, in a new NPR/PBS poll, a Marist poll, it shows that actually 6 in 10 people believe the country is worse off today than last year and that a majority think the state of the union is not strong enough. Also, a lot of Democrats chose not to appear for his State of the Union address. Were you present for his speech?
Sen. Sue Shink: I did not watch his speech. I read about it. We have never had a president who is so divisive, so cruel, or so just disrespectful of the population of our country. So, I was not going to add to any of the numbers that might be collected to see how much attention was given. But I have read about it, and I have talked about it with others. And the ideas that he put forth are wrong. His agenda is hurting people. It's making things more expensive for everybody, whether they voted for him or not. It makes us less safe whether we voted for them or not. It's putting people, like my parents who are strong supporters, in danger for their health and making it harder for them to vote. His agenda and his actions are reducing the quality of life in our country for everybody.
Caroline MacGregor: I know the President focused on topics like immigration, a big bone of contention for many, the economy, tariffs, trade, foreign policy. Did he address affordability because so many families seem to be struggling today in America and many say that he's out of touch with this?
Sen. Sue Shink: Well, of course, he's out of touch. He has used the presidency to enrich himself through illegal actions, as far as I understand it. And many of these actions have been challenged in court successfully by attorney generals or others. So, no, he's not experiencing what everyday Americans are experiencing. The tariffs--we pay the tariffs. And I know they've been found to be illegal, but they've doubled the cost of so many of our products. And the harassing and kidnapping of immigrants who are legally here, and I will just say that that also extends to citizens, has made it harder for companies to get people to work for them legally. And all of that increases our grocery prices. It makes it harder for us to get new roofs on our homes or to get our automobiles repaired. But then, there are other things too, like the attack on science, which is making it harder for people to get good information about what they should be getting vaccinated against or what actions they should take is making more people sick. And it's all adding up to higher prices and a lower quality of life, whether people really realize, through the propaganda, that that's what they're experiencing or not. In contrast, our governor is addressing and our Legislature, of which I'm a part, is addressing affordability head-on. We received a $1 billion hit to our budget from the federal attacks on Medicaid and SNAP, and we worked very hard to rework some of our tax laws, so that we could make sure that the people of our state have food to eat and get medical care. And that affects all of us, whether we actually are on Medicaid or SNAP. And I would encourage people, probably most of your listeners are already seeing through the propaganda, but to take efforts because the lies that the federal government are spewing out are hurting our people.
Caroline MacGregor: You just mentioned science and, obviously, this brings up the topic of vaccine information available to the public previously on federal websites, the CDC, et cetera. On Tuesday, though, he notably did not refer this year to his health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and he didn't talk about autism or vaccines. Do you think that this possibly signals that he's pivoting away from the high-profile, anti-vaccine activism of RFK?
Sen. Sue Shink: I don't know. I hope so, because being anti-vaccine, it's dangerous because we know that since the attack on measles vaccinations has happened. More people are getting sick with measles, and children are dying. So, I hope that is a pivot, but there are much bigger problems. This is only one example of the crazy ideas that the federal government is promoting at this point.
Caroline MacGregor: President Trump last month stated that he wants to make health care into a Republican issue heading into the midterms. Yet on Tuesday, he didn't address some of the health-related topics that he's previously discussed, like I just mentioned, but also abortion restrictions to medical breakthroughs. But he's calling for a health care system where people could use the website TrumpRx for low-cost prescription medication. Democrats, though, are still looking for an extension of the Affordable Care Act. With so many people struggling with health care coverage, more than a million people have dropped out of the ACA marketplace due to high premiums. Health care coverage is just a huge topic. Where do you think he stood on this?
Sen. Sue Shink: Well, not in the right place. And I do want to note the work that we're doing in the Legislature to make up for the attacks on health care at the federal level. But I will say we're sending tax dollars to Washington D.C. that should be coming back to support our people, and instead, they're going to billionaires. So, as the Michigan Legislature faces the '26-'27 budget season, we have wiped out medical debt for quite a few people, and we'll be working to do that more because, in Michigan as across the nation, one major illness, if you don't have insurance, the same kind of insurance that should be available that the federal government is making more difficult to obtain, you can be wiped out financially for the rest of your life. And that's not okay, and we're fighting to make that be something that Michiganders don't face. We also eliminated surprise medical costs and are working very hard to make sure young families have access to enough funds through RXKids that they can take care of their family's needs and get their kids off to a good start, so that their families can stay healthy and happy through the rest of their lives.
Caroline MacGregor: Turning to Governor Whitmer's final State of the State address, she laid out her 2027 budget priorities, calling for a bipartisan agreement to avoid a government shutdown. She pushed for this quite heavily. She also highlighted what she described as Michigan's accomplishments during her tenure, including declining crime, rising wages. But there was a large focus on education, too. She says her priorities are children's education and putting more money into Michiganders' pockets through housing and health reforms or health care reforms. Tell me your thoughts about her address overall, if you would.
Sen. Sue Shink: Yeah, I appreciated it. You know, I wasn't in the Legislature the entire time that she was Governor. I know how hard she's fought for civil rights for all Michiganders. We've weathered a lot of really serious events, which she has led us through with a lot of care, and I'm excited to work on education and literacy. I was a kid who grew up in a family that didn't necessarily have enough money to send me to college. My parents had good jobs, but college is expensive. Because of the government's support for my family and our hard work, all of us were able to go to college, and we're all successful. I want that for every Michigander, no matter who they are or where they grow up in our state. The other thing, housing is a huge issue. The housing stock is so expensive that young people struggle to be able to afford a home. I want that to change too, and there are a lot of good ideas. And I'm excited to work with the Legislature and the Governor on achieving a better future for all of Michigan because it is an amazing place to live. And by working together, we can get this stuff done.
Caroline MacGregor: I would love to talk to you for longer. I'm just going to have to quickly touch on some of the other subjects that the Governor talked about. One of those was preventing medical debt from appearing on credit cards, requiring hospitals to come up with financial assistance programs for patients, eliminating construction requirements and streamlining zoning with regard to housing that you just talked about, so I know housing was a big theme. But there did appear to be a notable theme of bipartisanship throughout her address in comparison to President Trump's address. She called out Republicans by name, basically celebrating their contributions. She credited Republican House Speaker Matt Hall for the roads funding package, "fixing the damn roads everywhere." What are your thoughts about what this says to the public when they see somebody who's actually trying to foster bringing people together versus being divisive?
Sen. Sue Shink: So, with a Republican House and a Democratic Senate, nothing can be done without the other. So, the Senate was just as big a part of the roads plan as the House. And at the same time, it's great that she is calling out Republicans who did good work because, again, we're not enemies just because we might see things differently. When we bring all ideas to the table and consider each other seriously, we can get some really amazing things done. So, I appreciate the bipartisanship. I've worked with some of my Republican colleagues to do things like make it harder for human traffickers to ply their trade. And that's really important work that we can do. When we're talking about medical debt, we've seen that the federal government is making it harder to get insurance. And so, if you go to the hospital and you have insurance, you might come home with a $100 or $500 bill. Somebody who goes into the hospital without insurance could come home with $100,000 of debt, and that's not fair and it's not helpful to our economy or to our people. So, I'm excited about working on further reducing medical debt and working with our health care partners to make sure that the system is working smoothly for everybody.
Caroline MacGregor: I've been speaking with state Senator for Michigan's 14th district, Sue Shink. Thank you so much for taking the time to join us here on WEMU today!
Sen. Sue Shink: Thank you! What a great conversation! And I'm interested in hearing what people's reactions are as well. I learned so much from people reaching out.
Caroline MacGregor: This is 89.1 WEMU FM Ypsilanti.
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