By Nick Smith
Staff Writer
Posted: January 24, 2020 4:16 PM

Emerging from the holiday season, it initially appeared most of January might offer a short calm before the 2020 election year storm.

That went out the window weeks ago when looking at the sheer volume of political news that swept over Lansing in recent weeks.

What, if anything, might be done over the remaining line-item vetoes issued by Governor Gretchen Whitmer and shifts within budgets through State Administrative Board action last fall is still an open question.

Petition language has been submitted for a proposed ballot measure to enact discrimination protections for LGBT individuals and this week a proposed measure was unveiled that would amend the Michigan Constitution to enact stiff restrictions on professional political lobbyists.

Two sexual harassment complaints were filed with the Senate Business Office for investigation against a member of the Senate.

This week word of a settlement was announced in a years-long battle between Tesla, the state and the Michigan auto industry over whether Tesla can sell vehicles in the state without a franchised dealer.

All of this and more has come about before Ms. Whitmer delivers her State of the State address this coming Wednesday.

Think that's busy? Take a look at February.

Not only will Ms. Whitmer present her budget recommendation for fiscal year 2020-21 on February 6 but she will also be delivering the Democrats' response to President Donald Trump's State of the Union address February 4.

Speaking of the fiscal year 2020-21 budget, the month of February will be packed with House and Senate appropriations subcommittee hearings on department budget requests.

The March 10 Democratic presidential primary will also be heating up soon. The upper-tier candidates (and perhaps a long-shot candidate or two that stubbornly decides to continue on) that survive initial primaries and caucuses in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada during February will soon be descending upon Michigan.

At some point in the first part of the year, assuming Right to Life collected enough valid signatures, an initiated act banning a common second trimester abortion procedure is expected to pass the Republican-controlled Legislature over Ms. Whitmer's opposition. Court challenges would likely follow.

Lest I forget, this year is also a leap year, so we all get to enjoy an extra day of election season. Yay.

There's also the point to consider that the U.S. Senate race between U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Township) and Republican John James is likely to finally heat up more with formal campaign launches at some point before or shortly after the March 10 presidential primary.

Of course, that's not the only election this year: all 14 U.S. House seats are up for election, some of which will be highly competitive like the U.S. Senate race.

All 110 state House seats are up for election. While only a small number are expected to be truly competitive, there will be no shortage of candidates filing ahead of the April 21 deadline.

While all of this is going on, the budget will be crafted, and new law says it should be presented by July 1. Whether or not any budget fight like the one that broke out this past fall over fund shifting and line-item vetoes, or if any road funding agreement can be reached, remains to be seen.

After the dust settles on this presidential election year in which Michigan will be a top swing state, one may look back and yet consider January as still being relatively slow.