LANSING, Mich. — In her State of the State address this year, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had something no other Democratic governor has had since the early 1980s – a legislature willing to pass her agenda, even if with only a two-seat majority in both chambers.
"We spoke with a clear voice in November," Whitmer said. "We want the ability to raise a family without breaking the bank, strong protections for our fundamental rights to vote and control our own bodies."
And Democrats have wasted no time getting their top priorities to the governor's desk. Within the first two months of the many-months long legislative session, Democrats passed their centerpiece tax plan, a bill to repeal the state's defunct 1931 abortion ban and legislation to create civil rights protections for LGBTQ people.
Some items, like the civil rights expansion, came with a few Republican votes while the abortion ban repeal fell closer to party lines.
"I am grateful that we are finally, finally addressing it and repealing this archaic and punitive law once and for all," said Democratic Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, who sponsored the abortion repeal. Pohutsky physically tore a page containing the old law from a book of Michigan statutes as she spoke.
But it hasn't all been easy. Democratic leadership learned a tough lesson when votes over the big tax cut got messy.
The plan started as two separate proposals to roll back taxes on pension income and increase the earned income tax credit, but...
To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. From the show 2 min Ed Sheeran’s controversial US tour has sparked a wave of viral rumours...