Policy Issues

The House and Senate leadership closed the door on 2025 on Thursday with big dreams for 2026, but none that seem to overlap.

In the first “deal” House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) said he'd made with Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) this session, the House and Senate passed around 25 bills cracking down on bots during high-volume ticket sales, creating a voluntary high school hunter safety education class and updating standards on the machines used in mammograms.

House Republicans, led by Rep. James DeSana (R-Carleton), launched on Thursday a Department of Government Efficient (DOGE)-like task force that's been charged with recommending sniffing out public assistance fraud and efficiencies within state government.

The House Health Policy Committee on Wednesday advanced a hospital price transparency bill and several health measures before turning to testimony on a mental health code rewrite designed to respond to individuals before “tragedy strikes.”

Someone experiencing suicidal thoughts could have their names put on a temporary or indefinite do-not-sell list for firearms, under legislation by Sen. Rosemary Bayer (D-Keego Harbor).

The Senate Tuesday night passed a bill significantly expanding Michigan's brownfield redevelopment program, which would award developers with $3.5 billion in total tax capture off from payrolls and other costs. Folks around the Capitol see this as greasing the wheels on a massive redevelopment of Detroit's Renaissance Center, a planned aquarium in Kent County, a Macomb County mall, and other large projects in Traverse City and Muskegon.

Distributing human milk that is improperly pasteurized, adulterated or contaminated would be formally outlawed under new legislation by Sen. Erika Geiss (D-Taylor).

In the new legislative year, House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) is planning to introduce a property tax cut proposal that gives Michigan voters two choices on how to replace the lost dollars for local governments and schools.

Residents with employer-provided health insurance will see the "additional financial pressure" of more folks going uninsured due to federal Medicaid reforms and the looming expiration of Enhanced Premium Tax Credits, says one benefits consultant.

Lue Yang – a Hmong refugee and St. Johns married father of six – who was detained and threatened with deportation by federal immigration officials for a 30-year-old expunged home invasion conviction on his record, was released to his family Wednesday afternoon.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and several Democratic legislators put up opposing comments as the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) held a well-attended virtual hearing about speeding up approvals for DTE to provide electrical service to a proposed Washtenaw County data center.

(Source: MIRS.news , Published 11/25/2026) With DTE Energy asking the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) to quickly approve electric service to two high-electricity-using data centers, Attorney General Dana Nessel said Tuesday that the situation is “highly unusual” and that DTE is “making unverified promises (that) nobody else will shoulder these costs.”   At the end of October, a new data center project in Saline Township was announced, and DTE was selected as the ene

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A new statewide survey of local government leaders across Michigan shows a paradox: officials say local democracy is functioning well, even while their trust in residents has fallen to its lowest recorded level.

U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City) described the United States' health care system as being in a “crisis" that, in the long term, should include affordable insurance programs, which “likely means . . . a reasonable proposal that opens up Medicare for people who want it."

"If you remember only three words out of this presentation: minors can't consent,” Rep. Mark Tisdel (R-Rochester) said to the Regulatory Reform Committee in support of his HB 4388, which would require age verification to sign up for a social media account.

U.P. Lawmaker Says ‘Destruction’ Of U.P. Possible If Senate Doesn’t Move On RICE Bills

Foreign contributions to ballot initiatives would be banned under HB 5197 and HB 5198, just like they are banned from political candidates and Super PACs.