Michigan Forward

Not to be lost in the Friday news dump mix: Michigan’s Board of State Canvassers is recommending certification of a petition initiative that would bar political spending by Michigan’s regulated utilities and large state contractors if approved by voters in November.

Jocelyn Benson tells WDIV she wants to overhaul the Michigan tax code to make it "equitable but also transformational":

What would this year's budget look like without House Republicans? We've been saying since last year's budget there were more ghost employees to cut in state government. Just as promised, we cut hundreds more this year.

The Canadian wildfire smoke has officially arrived at the Michigan state Capitol.

There’s not really any ‘left-wing political violence.’ The dishonesty of this claim, while he’s pushing ICE thugs into beatings and killings on neighborhood streets, is breathtaking.

📚MAKING REAL INVESTMENTS IN EDUCATION📚 Michigan reading scores are 44th in the nation. This budget funds our schools at record levels, gets back to basics, and supports teachers with new tools and resources. ✅Hall Universal Breakfast & lunch in Schools (HUBS) ✅Dual enrollment for every school and every student ✅Per-student funding increased $250 to $10,300 per student ✅LETRS training now in law to train teachers in the science of reading and improve Michigan reading scores ✅Mental health & school safety funding ✅New funding for tutoring, including pilot programs for parents to choose their own tutors ✅Funding for teacher bonuses, dual enrollment, buses, & early learning ✅Teacher fellowships opened up to every school and every student, allowing them to hire more teachers

I just want to know why, and when, she chose to adopt this fake accent? Stevens’ ads from 2018 sound like an entirely different person. Make it make sense.

Michigan's auto insurance system isn't working for the people who pay into it. I'm fighting for a tax and insurance code that lowers costs and finally puts you first.

So what? Cranbrook is sick. I wish I went there. I had friends who did. Was blown away by the campus and educational opportunities on offer. I have zero problem with the school or with the people who can afford to send their kids there. The point of my original banger tweet was to highlight the absurdity of hardcore leftists like Abdul El-Sayed, Tom Steyer, and Graham Platner endlessly demonizing the wealthy despite being wealthy themselves—and, in El-Sayed's and Platner's cases, going to great lengths to downplay or hide that wealth. I have zero interest in dunking on Haley Stevens because she went to Cranbrook for one year. Again, who cares? She's always been honest about it, as exhibited in the clip below. Plus, these days she's worth a whole lot less than El-Sayed. Success is good. Wealth is good. Being rich is good. I'd like more people in Michigan to be successful, wealthy, and rich. That's how Michigan used to be, and I hope it returns to that level of prosperity. More broadly, despite being a conservative Republican from Michigan, I'm not a fan of right-of-center groups playing games to boost El-Sayed over Stevens because some D.C. consultant's model theorizes that Mike Rogers might have a marginally easier time beating him. Would Mike Rogers be a better senator than Haley Stevens? Yes. Do I hope he wins? Also yes. But the threat to America posed by politicians who subscribe to El-Sayed's ultra-radical, Islamist-sympathetic, Communist-adjacent worldview is civilizational. Anyone to the right of Stalin should hope he's defenestrated as soon as possible. Yes, even in the Democratic primary. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Haley Stevens reacting to Abdul El-Sayed’s incomplete tax return after opening a 7-point lead overall and a 46-point lead among black voters:

What would this year's budget look like without House Republicans? All year long, Democrats said we had to raid the state's rainy-day fund to pass the budget. Turns out all we needed was House Republicans doing the work and finding hundreds of millions of waste, fraud, & abuse in state government to pass a smaller budget than last year and keeping our rainy-day fund FULLY INTACT.

So proud of Lansing for entering the 21st Century.