Photo: Nick King ~ USA TODAY NETWORK
LANSING, Jan. 24, 2024 ~ Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was not short of goals, bragging points, and ’80s music puns during her sixth State of the State Address.
In her speech that aired live Wednesday from the Michigan State Capitol, Whitmer laid out state goals for 2024, along with highlighting successes she and the Democrats saw in 2023. She was able to meet many of the party’s last year, the first in over four decades the party had full control of the State House, State Senate, and governor’s office.
Affordable housing is a key issue Whitmer hopes to tackle in 2024, saying that people in Traverse City, the Upper Peninsula, West Michigan, and Detroit are struggling to find affordable homes while trying to keep up with rising utilities and inflation. She said the state will invest $1.4 billion to build and rehabilitate about 10,000 homes, building off previous goals to expand housing options in the state and to support more trade jobs.
“Housing is a serious challenge, so we are making this serious investment,” Whitmer said. “It’s about so much more than just a roof over your head. Housing builds generational wealth (and) it forms the foundation for success in school, work, and life. Let’s work together to build more housing so every Michigander has an affordable place to call home.”
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Jan. 24, 2023 ~ Gov. Gretchen Whitmer celebrates the Democrats‘ legislative victories from 2023 and lays out her goals for 2024. Photo: Nick King ~ USA TODAY NETWORK
Jan. 24, 2024 ~ Guy Gordon, co-host of “‘JR Mornings with Guy Gordon, Lloyd Jackson, and Jamie Edmonds,” and Marie Osborne, WJR Senior News Analyst, give their immediate analysis of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer‘s State of the State Address. Photo: Nick King ~ USA TODAY NETWORK
(CONTINUED) Whitmer also called for a tax credit to help caregivers as they care for their sick or aging relatives.
In education highlights from last year, Whitmer celebrated making school lunch and breakfast free, supporting student teachers with scholarships and student loan assistance, and investing in student health and campus safety. For 2024, the governor said she will prioritize delivering pre-K to every 4-year-old in Michigan and making the first two years of community college free for all high school graduates in the state.
She also took shots at the education systems in Florida and Texas, lambasting the states for mistreating teachers, letting uncertified educators into classrooms, and allowing book bans to run rampant, citing a recent instance where a Florida school district pulled a dictionary from library shelves for an “inappropriate content review.“
Crediting the help of investments from President Joe Biden‘s administration, Whitmer said Michigan saw a manufacturing “renaissance” in 2023. She cited plant expansions across the state from Detroit’s Big Three automakers, a new semiconductor wafer plant from SK Siltron in Bay City, and a new Nel Hydrogen gigafactory in Plymouth Charter Township as examples of a burgeoning manufacturing boom in the state.
However, she wants to see more innovation coming to Michigan and called for a research and development tax credit to incentivize innovation by lowering costs for businesses.
With infrastructure, Whitmer called on the Michigan Department of Transportation to utilize the remaining $700 million in the Rebuilding Michigan Plan to incentivize the completion of road and highway projects in Southeast Michigan.
During a pre-recorded Republican response, Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Township) said Whitmer’s economic policy has not addressed economic inflation and that her speech did not address poor statistics in student reading and math proficiencies.
“She took a victory lap and patted herself on the back while many of our family members, friends, and neighbors continue to struggle,” Nesbitt said. “This was a speech of someone who has spent way too much time in the Lansing bubble.“
Interspliced with references to Cyndi Lauper and Kate Bush, Whitmer touted other Democrat legislative victories from 2023 such as:
- Raising the working families tax credit.
- Rolling back the senior retirement tax.
- Expanding reproductive rights.
- Criminalizing natural hair discrimination by passing the Crown Act.
- Establishing protections for LGBTQ+ people.
Towards the end of the speech, while waving a Detroit Lions flag, she celebrated the success of Michigan Wolverines and Lions football. She added that the Lions turned themselves from a “punchline” into a “powerhouse” that turned “cynics into dreamers.”
“Both these incredible teams are showing the country what Michigan is all about,” Whitmer said.
Stay tuned at 760 WJR for more recaps of the governor’s 2024 State of the State Address.
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