Whitmer Wants Paid Family Leave, Clean Energy, Election Security In MI

MICHIGAN — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called on state legislators to establish paid family and medical leave, move the state toward relying on "100 percent clean energy," more election security, and more in the next legislative session.

Whitmer delivered the remarks during her first ever "What’s Next Address" on Wednesday in Lansing. State legislators begin the second half of their legislative session on Sept. 5 after their summer break.

Democrats captured control of Michigan's legislature in last year's Midterm elections for the first time in 40 years. They still gave control, but the House can swing to a tie in early 2024, depending on two mayoral races in the metro Detroit area: Warren and Westland.

Here are some of the highlights from her address:

Parental, Medical Leave

Whitmer specifically hammered on the idea of creating a paid family and medical leave system across Michigan. While few details were shared about the proposal, Whitmer highlighted the 12 weeks of paid parental leave established for all state employees during her time in office.

However, other details about the potential program, like how it would be funded wasn't specially ironed out by Whitmer during the address. She did say the program would "help small businesses attract and retain workers."

"It helps workers be there for their families," Whitmer said. "It give you breathing room to get better when you're sick, to bond with your baby or care for a family member. Right now, 77 percent of Michigan workers do not have access to paid family, medical leave."

Health Care

Whitmer wants state lawmakers to iron down key provisions included in the Affordable Care Act, known as "Obamacare," within the state.

She called for measures to ensure children can stay on their parents’ insurance until they’re 26 years old, people with preexisting conditions are protected and covered by insurance, the removal of annual or lifetime caps on health care and insurance plans cover essential services, like ambulances and birth control.

The call comes as provisions in the Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare," are threatened in federal court.

Clean Energy

Whitmer also wants to move Michigan toward 100 percent clean energy and called on lawmakers to create a state standard for 2024. She also wants lawmakers to move wind and solar projects to the state level.

"This means all the energy we produce will be from wind, solar or other commonsense sources," Whitmer said.

Although Whitmer did not set a deadline, Senate Democrats have already proposed phasing out of coal-fired electricity generating plants by 2030 and eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from power generation by 2035.

Election Security

Although Whitmer noted elections are more secure than ever in the U.S., she called on lawmakers to prioritize election integrity this year.

Whitmer asked lawmakers to focus on preventing votes from being "tossed out or overturned," and politicians from staying in office "despite being voted out." Former President Donald Trump was charged in connection to trying to reverse the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election results in Georgia, prosecutors said.

"Michigan voters sent a loud and clear message by overwhelmingly passing Proposal 2 last year: They wanted more early voting options, less barriers to their ballot and greater confidence that the chaos from conspiracy theorists will not subvert our democratic process," Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) said.

As Republican lawmakers claimed the first half of the legislative session lacked bipartisanship, Democrats praised several measures, mostly passed along party lines, during the first half. They included:

• Repealing the state’s 1931 abortion ban
• New gun laws, such as safe storage laws and red flag laws
• Repealing the state’s right-to-work law
• Expanding the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act
• An $82 billion budget that focuses on education, infrastructure, public safety and the environment