Who’s new in the Michigan House of Representatives
Updated Jan 05, 2021;
Posted Jan 05, 2021
The House Chamber pictured at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing on Thursday, April 25, 2019.Neil Blake
Facebook Share
The new legislative session brings with it substantial turnover for the Michigan House of Representatives, which will have 28 new lawmakers serving their first full terms in office.
Most of the freshman class will fill House seats vacated by members who hit their six-year term limit serving in the state House, although some defeated incumbents or are replacing members who sought other offices last fall.
Speaker-elect Jason Wentworth, R-Clare, and Democratic Leader-elect Donna Lasinski, D-Scio Township, will fill the leadership slots left open by the departures of former Reps. Lee Chatfield and Christine Greig.
Outgoing House Speaker had big wins on auto insurance and criminal justice, but pandemic was a stumbling block
Updated Dec 25, 2020;
Posted Dec 25, 2020
Speaker of the House Rep. Lee Chatfield pictured at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing on Thursday, April 25, 2019.Neil Blake | MLive.com
Facebook Share
In his last speech on the House floor, Rep. Lee Chatfield frequently took an apologetic tone.
From the get-go, the 32-year-old former teacher from Northern Michigan said his goal while serving as the Speaker of the House was to find bipartisan consensus wherever possible in a divided government.
But although the Republican-led House and Senate saw some bipartisan wins this term, including an overhaul of the state’s no-fault auto insurance laws and a host of policy changes aimed at improving the criminal justice system, Chatfield and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, frequently sparred with Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her administration.
5 things the Michigan Legislature failed to address in 2020
Updated Dec 23, 2020;
Posted Dec 23, 2020
Protesters congregate at the Capitol Building during a protest against emergency business shutdown orders amid the coronavirus pandemic in Lansing on Thursday, April 30, 2020. Neil Blake | MLive.com
Facebook Share
LANSING, MI - The legislative agendas of Lee Chatfield and Mike Shirkey looked very different in 2020 than they did in 2019.
With COVID-19 dominating every aspect of life in 2020, the Republican leaders in the Michigan Legislature shifted focus to address the pandemic. While they fulfilled promises such as boosting education funding, lowering auto insurance costs and passing criminal justice reforms, one major shortcoming was obvious: No plan to mitigate disease spread made it out of either chamber.
5 ways the state Legislature helped Michiganders in 2020
Updated Dec 23, 2020;
Posted Dec 23, 2020
The Senate Chambers pictured at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing on Thursday, April 25, 2019.Neil Blake | MLive.com
Facebook Share
LANSING, MI - Michigan Capitol politics in 2020 perhaps will perhaps be best defined by conflict over state power and COVID-19.
Legislative Republicans led by Speaker of the House Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clark Lake, battled Gov. Gretchen Whitmer all year on her legal authority to create COVID-19 legislation. They sued her administration, successfully invalidating her executive orders in the Michigan Supreme Court.
She countered with public health orders from the Department of Health and Human Services. Republicans passed bills to limit the timeline of those orders and want to create committees that can unilaterally suspend any rule or regulation from the Whitmer administration.
$465M COVID-19 relief package for Michigan goes to Whitmer for approval
By Jessica Dupnack and FOX 2 Staff
Published
FOX 2 - Finally. a bi-partisan Covid relief package months in the making, is now on the governor’s desk and awaiting a stamp of approval. I’m pretty convinced that she is going to support this, I mean we’ve got to get the resources and the funds out there, said Rep. Christine Greig, House Democratic leader.
Covid relief bill for Michigan goes to Whitmer’s desk
Other key elements include money for communities to deliver and administer Covid vaccines, more PPE, and other layers of protection for frontline workers.