Michigan's top lawmakers reveal policy challenges keeping them awake
MACKINAC ISLAND — While Michigan's top lawmakers have a long list of challenges facing the state they'd like to tackle, some issues especially worry them.
At the Detroit Regional Chamber's annual policy conference, the Free Press asked legislative leaders which policy challenges keep them up at night. House Minority Leader Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, declined an interview with the Free Press.
But here's what the other top leaders had to say.
The road to extremism
"Well, I think roads and infrastructure is one of those that's just a really difficult one to solve," said Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids. But she also highlighted another issue that may take more than public funding to address.
Brinks said threats to democracy also concern her. "We've seen just the extremist element being particularly active on the far right, and I think that that's a real danger to the functioning of our state government." She said recent years have provided "some pretty sobering examples of what happens when those kinds of thoughts become a dominant feature in one of our two political parties."
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Population trends not to be blamed on Michigan winters
Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, said there's one challenge confronting Michigan that keeps him up: population decline.
The 2020 decennial census — the once-a-decade count of all people in the U.S. — showed that Michigan experienced the second-slowest population growth of all states over the previous decade. Michigan also lost population in 2021 and 2022, according to census estimates for those years.
Nesbitt pointed out two states along Michigan's southern border have seen significantly larger population gains. The 2020 census showed Indiana gained more than 700,000 residents since the 2000 census and Ohio gained almost 450,000. Michigan, meanwhile, gained only around 139,000 residents.
Nesbitt suggested tax and labor policies in those states have enabled them to fare better than Michigan when it comes to population growth.
"If there's a seriousness it needs to be focused on how do you keep young people and talented young people here in Michigan to grow the economy," he said. "And don’t tell me it's our weather."
Dreaming about the future
House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, seems to be sleeping well.
He didn't name a challenge currently keeping him awake. He said he's proud of what Democratic lawmakers in the state House have accomplished since wresting control of the chamber from Republicans.
Democratic majorities in both chambers of the state Legislature delivered major policy changes along party-line votes with their slim majorities: moving Michigan's presidential primary to February, restoring prevailing wage requirements for state-funded construction projects, repealing "right-to-work," expanding background checks for firearms and creating a red flag law to allow courts to temporarily take away guns from those who pose a risk to themselves or others.
Tate called it a productive start to the legislative session Democrats plan to continue.
"You may disagree with some of the stuff that we do, and that’s fair," he said. "But you can't say that we’re not working."
Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on Twitter @clarajanehen.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan's challenges keeping state's top lawmakers awake
