Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer outlined an agenda Wednesday that will prioritize enacting stricter gun laws, repealing outdated laws that restrict abortion and who one can marry and providing pre-K education for all 4-year-olds in the state.
Whitmer, in her fifth State of the State speech, also pledged to help with rising costs through “immediate” tax relief, which she outlined in a three-tier plan that includes an increased earned income tax credit and repeal of the retirement tax.
The 51-year-old Democrat, who won reelection by nearly 11 percentage points last November, could see the majority of her agenda become a reality with Democrats taking full control of the state government for the first time in decades.
Addressing the full Legislature in the House chamber, Whitmer also called for gun control legislation that includes universal background checks, safe storage laws and “extreme risk protection orders” that are also known as “red flag” laws.
Whitmer made clear that she was “not talking about law-abiding citizens.” But she said that “despite pleas” from the families of a 2021 school shooting at Oxford High School in southeastern Michigan, “these issues never even got a hearing in the Legislature.”
“The time for only thoughts and prayers is over,” Whitmer said. “It’s time for commonsense action to reduce gun violence in our communities.”
Following the speech, Senate Republican Leader Aric Nesbitt cautioned against any sweeping gun legislation, saying that the Legislature needed to “make sure to find a balance with any of this and protect the rights of the individual.”
The State of the State speech marked one of the first times that Whitmer has summarized specific legislation for the upcoming year, and Republicans have criticized the governor for not outlining a broader plan to help Michigan residents.
“She’s got the House, the Senate and herself. Where is the roads plan? Where’s her infrastructure plan?” House Republican Leader Matt Hall told reporters. “Or are we only going to get from her a bunch of statements about new government programs that she wants to create?”
Michigan’s budget surplus is projected to reach $9.2 billion by next fall, with $4.1 billion in the school aid fund.
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