By Zachary Gorchow
Executive Editor and Publisher
Posted: January 25, 2024 11:43 AM

Governor Gretchen Whitmer offered a limited new agenda for 2024 in her sixth State of the State speech Wednesday, devoting much of her address to hailing the wide-ranging policy achievements she and the first Democratic Legislature in 40 years achieved in 2023.

It was a far cry from the governor's 2023 speech, loaded with major new proposals or her first-of-a-kind mini-State of the State speech in August that set forth an ambitious legislative agenda for the fall. Whitmer focused her proposals for 2024 on a significant expansion of the state's incentive programs to attract economic development and substantial but undefined new spending to ramp up the state's preschool program and postsecondary tuition assistance efforts.

2024 politics were in the background. Whitmer twice referred to President Joe Biden, who is seeking a second term, by name, and her plea to viewers that no one person can solve global inflation alone appeared aimed at one of Biden's vulnerabilities headed into November. The governor, with her proposals for a smattering of targeted tax breaks on new vehicles and for persons providing caregiving to a family member as well as having the state pick up the cost of community college and preschool, also continued an emphasis on reducing costs for residents.

"Top of mind is costs. It's hard to buy a house, afford a car, or save for retirement while keeping up with bills. People put things off to make ends meet: replacing old tires, fixing busted gutters, buying your child a warmer coat. No matter who you are or where you come from, if you work hard, you should be able to provide for your family and have a fair shot at a better future," Whitmer said in a speech to a joint session of the Legislature. "Michiganders need more breathing room."

Whitmer, the state's first Generation X governor, imbued her address with 1980s music puns to the point where it almost felt like an episode of "Stranger Things" or "The Goldbergs." There were references to Guns N' Roses, The Police, Starship, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Tina Turner and more. The governor seemed to realize she had gone too far when her reference to Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" – she said "no one should be running up that bill to get better when they're sick" – elicited silence, a few groans and maybe one halting clap.

The governor, an avid sports fan, also leaned heavily into football as she has done in the past. She wore Detroit Lions colors and a Lion logo pin. She waved a Lions "GRIT" towel at one point. She looked a combination of saddened and annoyed that the Republicans, who sat in stony silence for the entire speech, wouldn't even stand to applaud when she praised the Lions for their success, moving within one win of their first Super Bowl appearance.

Perhaps appropriate given all the football references – Whitmer also shouted out the University of Michigan's football national championship – just as Whitmer was about to enter the House chamber news broke that Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh is leaving for the National Football League's Los Angeles Chargers, a story that will consume much of the speech's news cycle. It was the lead story on the state's major news websites Wednesday evening, pushing coverage of the speech well down computer screens.

Prior to the governor's remarks, the mood in the House chamber was upbeat.

As members of the Senate were being escorted into the chamber by an escort committee of House members, Rep. Mike Mueller (R-Linden) drew bipartisan cheers as he walked down the center aisle wearing a Detroit Lions jersey of former quarterback Eric Hipple.

Numerous members and attendees had donned Honolulu Blue in honor of the team as it awaits its NFC championship title game Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson was decked out in blue and could be seen wearing a Lions hat prior to the speech.

The mood for Democrats inside the House chamber during the speech was upbeat and changed to exuberant when the governor rattled off policy achievements of the past year under the Democratic trifecta.

At one point during the governor's listing off legislative accomplishments during 2023, a shout of "because Democrats deliver!" could be heard from a lone member or guest on the floor.

Cheers and ovations became more pronounced later when Whitmer discussed education policy and pronounced that "we support our teachers."

All the while, Republicans largely remained seated with few, if any, clapping during the vast majority of applause lines throughout the evening.

That somewhat changed when Whitmer, near the end of her speech, said the Lions were "once a punchline, now a powerhouse."

Whitmer, at the conclusion of her speech, said, "Go Lions!" while pulling out and waving a towel emblazoned with "Grit".

The governor recounted the many substantial laws she signed in 2023: on energy, abortion and LGBTQ protections; codifying the federal health care law into state law; having the state pick up the cost for breakfast and lunch for all public K-12 students not just the lower-income already covered under federal free-and-reduced lunch; rolling back the tax on retirement income; quintupling the Earned Income Tax Credit; and boosting the Budget Stabilization Fund.

Whitmer's limited policy proposals appeared a reflection of the reality facing Democrats this year with the House tied at 54-54 until April special elections can fill vacancies in two solidly Democratic districts. There may be just two months, at most, of session days from late April through late June, and the budget will consume most of the focus during that time.

Perhaps a tacit recognition that her best opportunity for significant wins will come in the budget was the two biggest policy proposals are budgetary asks, one speeding up the phase-in of state-funded preschool for all 4-year-olds, the other having the state pick up the cost of two years of community college tuition for all Michigan high school graduates.

The governor did not mention two significant items from her August "What's Next" speech that have yet to clear the Legislature: paid family leave and a prescription drug advisory board. Paid family leave has seen no legislative traction. The prescription drug board passed the Senate but has slowed in the House. Roads, the signature issue of the governor's 2018 campaign, got scant mention, with Whitmer referencing the Department of Transportation's already planned use of the remaining $700 million in bond money from the 2020 $3.5 billion bonding plan.

Whitmer also made just one reference to the Growing Michigan Together Council she appointed to develop ideas on how to grow the state's long-stagnant population. That reference involved infrastructure, where the council pointedly offered no proposal.

The governor's proposals for speeding up her state-funded preschool for all plan and state-funded community college for two years do evoke the council's call for an educational system that spans preschool through grade 14. But the governor did not call for the coordination the council recommended among the maze of educational institutions that cover those years.

The notable asks Whitmer had for the Legislature:

• A new tax credit for persons providing care to a family member that could amount to as much as $5,000;
• A new tax credit for new vehicle purchases with more generous credits for union-made vehicles;
• A new research and development tax credit;
• Reviving the Good Jobs for Michigan program that expired after 2019 and had allowed employers winning approval for participation to keep the income tax withholdings of their employees. Whitmer proposed calling it HIRE Michigan instead.

The governor faces a tricky path to get these proposals through the Legislature where Republicans appear to be digging in against anything resembling government intrusion into the marketplace and several Democrats are balking at what they consider corporate welfare.

Whitmer, however, has been resolute in favor of putting state resources behind efforts to attract businesses to the state and keep the ones already here.

"To keep winning, we must upgrade our economic development toolkit. We can and must outcompete our neighbors," she said.

Nick Smith contributed to this report.