Insider Intelligence

On Thursday, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced the appointment of Robert Gordon as the new head of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Currently, he is the senior vice president of finance and global strategy for The College Board. In the Obama administration, Mr. Gordon served as acting assistant secretary at the Office of […]

This week, a bipartisan group of Representatives introduced a bill package making reforms to transparency laws in state government.  Currently, Michigan is one of only a few states that exempts its governor, lieutenant governor, and the Legislature from sunshine laws. This package would remove those exemptions, something which the sponsors state would increase accountability. Under […]

This week, Justice Bridget McCormack was elected by her colleagues to serve a two-year term as Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. She is the sixth woman in Michigan history to serve as Chief Justice. This also marks the first time in state history that the Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, and Chief […]

This week, Representative Joe Bellino (R-Monroe) introduced legislation repealing Michigan’s pension tax that was first charged in 2012. Currently the system is a three-tiered retirement tax structure based on the year a person is born. Under his proposal, Michigan’s previous retirement tax structure would be re-established and both public pensions and social security income would […]

This week, the House voted to adopt rules regarding the membership of standing committees. Below are the committees for the 2019-2020 legislative term, along with the number of members each committee will have. Agriculture (11) Appropriations (29) Commerce and Tourism (11) Communications and Technology Education (15) Elections and Ethics (7) Energy (17) Families, Children and […]

Below are some of the articles that the MLC lobby team has been reading this past week. We hope you find them as interesting and useful as we do. The Norwegian Art of the Packed Lunch – Everyday people from grade school through career professionals pack their lunch, most with a very specific type of […]

One key component to crafting the state budget each year is the Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference, which provides best estimates on anticipated revenue. Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed her first Executive Directive. Executive staff and Department Directors were named by Governor Whitmer. House Democratic Leader Christine Greig announced the members of the House Democratic leadership team […]

On her first full day in office, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed her first Executive Directive.  Aimed at state department employees, the directive’s goal is to ensure any imminent threat to public health, safety, or welfare is immediately reported, assessed, and investigated by department employees, department directors, and agency heads. “Governor Whitmer is fulfilling a campaign […]