The federal government will give a $1.5 billion loan to restart the Palisades nuclear plant. The loan follows Michigan shuttering coal plants at a record pace while chasing a 100% renewable energy standard by 2040. In 2022, renewables comprised 12% of Michigan's electricity net generation, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/michigan-in-focus/support...
Mar 29, 2024•3 min•Ep. 192
New analysis shows Michigan school districts are underperforming against districts in other states. Launch Michigan, a nonprofit public education organization, released a dashboard showing how Michigan school districts compare to similar districts in top-performing states in reading and math proficiency, graduation rate, and other metrics. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/michigan-in-focus/support...
Mar 28, 2024•4 min•Ep. 191
Rep. Mike Harris, a retired police sergeant, opposes bills that aim to allow murderers, rapists and other violent offenders to reduce their prison sentences. The House Criminal Justice Committee held a hearing on House Bills 4556 , 4557 , 4558 , 4559 , and 4560 . The “Second Look Sentencing Act” aims to allow sentence reconsideration for eligible prisoners who have served at least ten years of a sentence. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/michigan-in-focus/support...
Mar 22, 2024•4 min•Ep. 190
A company taking $715 million of taxpayer subsidies is suing the local government for revoking vital water infrastructure for its electric vehicle plant. In October 2023, the Green Charter Township board approved the water line for Gotion, which bought 270 actors of land in Mecosta County in August 2023. In November, voters ousted the entire board, claiming it signed non-disclosure agreements to give Gotion taxpayer dollars to build the $2.4 billion electric vehicle plant without telling the loc...
Mar 21, 2024•3 min•Ep. 189
Michigan officials traveled to Austin, Texas to speak at the SXSW festival's Midwest House. Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II is featured on a Tuesday panel while Michigan Chief Mobility Officer Justine Johnson will discuss “The Future of Air Travel: Innovation From the Ground Up.” It’s unclear if the Michigan Economic Development Corp. or taxpayers are funding the trip and how much the trip will cost. The Center Square has filed a records request seeking the total cost. Support this podcast: https:/...
Mar 15, 2024•4 min•Ep. 188
House Republican Leader Matt Hall urged House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, to pass reform to records requests during Sunshine Week, which celebrates government transparency. Sunshine Week, observed this year from March 10-16, highlights the need for transparency and accountability at all levels of government. The letter from the Richland Township Repubican said House Republicans in the minority are ready to pass 55 bills, including House Bills 5422 , 5423 , 5424 , 5425 , 5426 , and 5427 . Get yo...
Mar 14, 2024•4 min•Ep. 187
Repubican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida wants to stop China from flooding the automobile market via state subsidiaries, slave labor and property theft. The Center Square reported Chinese automaker BYD, the world’s largest EV maker, wants to build a factory in Mexico for a 2.5% tariff instead of a 27.5% tariff. The new factory follows BYD releasing a $14,000 EV in February that some in the industry say could “demolish” domestic EVs, often $40,000 more expensive. Support this podcast: https://p...
Mar 09, 2024•3 min•Ep. 186
Michigan Democratic lawmakers want mass transit between Grand Rapids, Detroit and Ann Arbor but don’t know how to pay for it. State Sen. Dayna Polehanki, D-Livonia, majority caucus chair & Education Committee chair, posted on social media that mass transit would prevent young people from leaving the state. Polehanki’s office hasn’t yet responded to additional questions about the funding source, the mode or the the timing of mass transit – whether it would be funded before or after Michigan f...
Mar 08, 2024•4 min•Ep. 185
An Alliance for American Manufacturing report called for tariffs to protect the U.S. electric vehicle market from an “extinction-level event” caused by Chinese competitors. The report follows Chinese EV maker BYD, the world’s largest EV maker, releasing a $14,000 EV in February that could “demolish” domestic EVs, often $40,000 more expensive. The report says China uses Mexico's trade relationship with the United States to avoid high tariffs. The Institute for Energy Research says BYD will dodge ...
Mar 01, 2024•3 min•Ep. 184
Former President Donald Trump defeated former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in Michigan’s Republican presidential primary while President Joe Biden cruised to an easy victory on the Democrats' side. The races were called within an hour of polls closing, with the GOP primary determined with about 80% of the vote counted. Biden received more than 126,000 votes while the “uncommitted” spot received more than 23,000 votes, a vote protesting the Israel-Hamas conflict and the U.S’s continual funding...
Feb 29, 2024•3 min•Ep. 183
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from Sidney Powell, a lawyer aligned with former President Donald Trump who challenged the 2020 presidential election results in Michigan. The nation’s top court included no comment with the Tuesday rejection. In 2021, a court levied $175,000 of sanctions against Powell and attorney Lin Wood for submitting court documents based on “theories, conjecture, and speculation..." U.S. District Judge Linda Parker of Michigan's Eastern District Parker wrote. ...
Feb 23, 2024•2 min•Ep. 182
Detroit placed the U.S. on wheels but if Motor City wants to go electric it faces fierce global competition. Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD outsold Tesla in the fourth quarter of 2023. The foreign automaker said it produced more than 3 million new energy vehicles in 2023 compared to Tesla’s 1.8 million. The Wall Street Journal reported BYD wants to build a factory in Mexico to avoid high tariffs and gain a foothold near the United States market. If successful, BYD would likely provide a much...
Feb 22, 2024•3 min•Ep. 181
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says the proposed 2025 budget wouldn't raise taxes but it would dump a 1,200% increase in trash fees onto local taxpayers. The budget aims to raise the landfill tipping fee rate for state landfills from 36 cents to $5 per ton – a 1,288% increase. Whitmer posted on social media: “Have you heard? Our new balanced budget does a whole lot. But it doesn't raise taxes.” Get your Audible Membership today! (As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualified purchases) Support this podc...
Feb 17, 2024•2 min•Ep. 180
House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, stripped Rep. Josh Schriver, R-Oxford, of his committee and office allocation for a social media post. The post claimed that an orchestrated effort called “the great replacement theory” aims to replace White people with people of color through mass illegal immigration. Tate’s spokesperson Amber McCann said Schriver's staff will be reassigned and the $132,000 office allotment will be withheld from Schriver. Join Skillshare: skillshare.eqcm.net/ATN Support this p...
Feb 16, 2024•2 min•Ep. 179
A Southfield-based electric vehicle project will receive $60 million of federal funding for battery research seeking wide-scale EV adoption. The United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC, a collaboration between General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., and Stellantis N.V., will focus on boosting the performance and manufacturing capabilities of batteries. The funding aims to extend the range of EVs – a barrier to adoption along with a sparse charging network and expensive upfront cost, opponents ...
Feb 09, 2024•4 min•Ep. 178
House Republican Leader Matt Hall called on Democrat House Speaker Joe Tate of Detroit to “address major issues” including criminalizing fertility fraud. The Richland Township lawmaker called for “balanced committees” to vet bills and claimed the speaker reneged on promised actions on five bills in October. Hall claimed Democrats “rejected” collaboration proposals after adjourning in November. Join Skillshare: skillshare.eqcm.net/ATN Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/...
Feb 08, 2024•3 min•Ep. 177
The Michigan Court of Appeals will decide the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s lawsuit challenging an income tax rate increase by March 11. Any appeal to that decision would be due to the Michigan Supreme Court by March 25. The lawsuit challenges the Michigan Department of Treasury’s decision to raise the personal income tax rate back to 4.25% in 2024. The rate was lowered to 4.05% last year triggered by a 2015 law. Get your Audible Membership today! (As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qual...
Feb 02, 2024•3 min•Ep. 176
A letter urges an investigation into suppliers of a Ford electric vehicle plant in Marshall, Michigan. Republican U.S. Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisconsin, chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Washington, chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, signed the letter. Lawmakers urge an investigation into four companies allegedly supplying goods and services to the People’s Liberation Army, the government of North Korea, China’s Ministry of Public...
Feb 01, 2024•4 min•Ep. 175
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer targeted lowering household costs for Michiganders in her sixth State of The State address. Whitmer called on lawmakers to offer free preschool for all 4-year-olds, two years of free community college for all high school graduates and an Innovation Fund to subsidize Michigan companies. “Every single Michigander can count on a free public education from pre-K through community college,” Whitmer said. “Let’s get it done.” Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spot...
Jan 27, 2024•4 min•Ep. 174
Michigan’s Growing Together Council was funded partly by private groups – a detail omitted in the final report which one lawmaker called an “abuse of the public trust.” State Rep. John Roth, R-Interlochen, told The Center Square in an email Republican concerns continue to grow. “The governor chose to keep over $900,000 in non-profit payments hidden even after strong-arming $2 million in taxpayer funding through the Legislature,” Roth said. “This abuse of the public trust is yet another example o...
Jan 26, 2024•3 min•Ep. 173
Days of freezing temperatures and falling snow have knocked out power for more than 150,000 Michiganders and canceled school at multiple districts. The Detroit Public Schools, Livonia Schools, Plymouth-Canton Community Schools and many other districts canceled school on Tuesday and Wednesday. The storm tested Michigan’s infrastructure that is ranked worse than the national average. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/michigan-in-focus/support...
Jan 20, 2024•3 min•Ep. 172
School districts in Detroit, Lansing and Pontiac will each receive $5.9 million in federal funding to buy 15 clean-powered school buses apiece. The funding flows from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Clean School Bus Program grants. Funding through third-party multi-state grantees First Student Inc. and Highland CSB 1 will help buy electric buses in five additional Michigan public school systems – 10 buses in Flint; five in Redford Union No. 1 near Detroit; and two each in Mason...
Jan 19, 2024•4 min•Ep. 171
Over the weekend, the Michigan GOP State Committee said it voted to expel its chair Kristen Karamo. Karamo, elected in February of 2023, posted on social media Saturday the meeting was "illegitimate." Last week, eight of 13 GOP congressional chairs called for her to resign. Get your Audible Membership today! (As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualified purchases) Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/michigan-in-focus/support...
Jan 12, 2024•4 min•Ep. 170
Applications are open until Jan. 21 to fill 30 seats on the new MI Healthy Climate Corps program. The Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s Office of Climate and Energy program will field 30 AmeriCorps members to help communities fight climate change in March 2024. Projects will be specific to the community, but could include connecting residents to clean energy or energy-efficient programs, helping access clean public transit and bicycle-friendly infrastructure, and researching a...
Jan 11, 2024•4 min•Ep. 169
Since the pandemic began, Michigan has embarked on an "unsustainable" spending spree, says James Hohman, the Director of Fiscal Policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Hohman said Michigan's five newly created agencies since 2020 aren’t as consequential as the "sheer spending." Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/michigan-in-focus/support
Jan 05, 2024•5 min•Ep. 168
The Capital Area Transportation Authority wants to use zero-emission vehicles by 2035, following a statewide effort to use 100% renewable energy by 2040. The group hopes to start driving its first 40-feet, battery-electric, fixed-route bus the board approved April 20, 2022 around 2024-2025 in the city of Lansing since the current lead time for order and delivery is between 20 to 24 months. In August 2021, CATA was awarded a $2.4 million grant, $1,971,211 federal, and $492,803 state funds it will...
Jan 04, 2024•4 min•Ep. 167
A fifth and final audit of the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency found the agency “undercounted fraud penalties by at least 49.4%” because it didn’t fix programming issues with the Michigan Integrated Data Automated System. The audit from the Office of Auditor General Doug Ringler marked two “material conditions” – the most severe rating finding that the agency didn't protect agency funds. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/michigan-in-focus/support...
Dec 29, 2023•4 min•Ep. 166
When the city of East Lansing excluded someone from a farmer’s market because of his religious beliefs, they violated his right to free speech and freedom of religion. The exclusion of Country Mill Farms owner Stephen Tennes from the farmers market because he refused to play host to same-sex wedding ceremonies at his farm, detailed in a 2017 lawsuit, will cost East Lansing $825,000 in damages and attorney fees. U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan Judge Paul Maloney said the ...
Dec 22, 2023•4 min•Ep. 165
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed $625M of supplemental bills clearing some school debt, funding colleges and universities and her secondary education department. Whitmer signed House Bill 4292 and Senate Bill 174 to fund capital outlay projects from the Fiscal Year 2024 state budget, which was a record $82 billion. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/michigan-in-focus/support...
Dec 21, 2023•4 min•Ep. 164
Michigan will give a nearly 2-year-old company a $10 million Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant to support a facility for Scout Motors expected to employ 200 people. Scout Motors, a Volkswagen-backed, independent American auto manufacturer headquartered in Virginia, is establishing a new research and development facility in Novi with support from the Michigan Strategic Fund. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/michigan-in-focus/support...
Dec 15, 2023•4 min•Ep. 163
