Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced her fall policy agenda Wednesday.
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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called for paid family and medical leave, 100% clean energy, and the rolling back of medical restrictions on abortion in a speech that unveiled her fall agenda on Wednesday.

“I am excited to be here as we round out eight months of history and progress,” Whitmer, a Democrat, said. “Today I want to answer one question: ‘What’s next?’”

After a series of policy wins earlier this year — including repealing “right-to-work”, reinstating prevailing wage, and extending civil rights protections to gender identity and sexual orientation — Whitmer laid out her legislative priorities as the Michigan legislature prepares to return from break next week. She said “it’s time” to ensure employees receive paid family and medical leave.

“No one should have to choose between being there for their family and a paycheck,” Whitmer said. “Paid family and medical leave is a pro-family, pro-small business policy that will grow our state and its economy. Let’s get this done.”

Whitmer did not provide details on the proposal. Democrats hold a 56-54 majority in the Michigan House of Representatives and a 20-18 majority in the state Senate.

State Sen. Joe Bellino, R-Monroe, told The Collegian the requirement would discourage businesses from investing in Michigan.

“It will be another check mark for why not to come to Michigan,” Bellino said. “Another check mark. We’ve already got four or five bad check marks.”

Jimmy Greene, president of the Association of Builders and Contractors of Michigan, told The Collegian paid leave is a “wonderful idea,” but is “not economically possible” for his industry.

“If you are out on family leave and you have a core responsibility to my company — and your core responsibility literally keeps my business afloat — the question then is, ‘Who’s doing your job while you’re out on family medical leave?’” Greene said. “More importantly, I’m still paying you.”

Senior Avery Noel, president of College Democrats, said he appreciated the governor’s optimistic tone.

“The governor’s stance on issues such as paid family leave is remarkably bipartisan and, I’d hope, would be met with support from both sides of the aisle,” Noel said. “People forget that in his own State of the Union addresses, President Trump called for a similar policy.”

Former President Donald Trump in his 2020 State of the Union address supported a bill to allow new parents to collect future child tax credits early, accepting a payment cut down the road. The bill did not provide new funding for medical or family leave payments.

Professor of Economics and Public Policy Gary Wolfram served as Michigan’s deputy state treasurer from 1991 to 1992 and an economic adviser to state legislators.

“This would basically be a tax on employers to provide a benefit that would already be provided if the employees preferred it to higher wages,” Wolfram said. “Those companies that provided this benefit in the place of higher wages would be able to attract workers away from those that didn’t provide the benefit. Every dollar a small business owner spends on the paid leave is a dollar it cannot spend on wages.”

Wolfram also said the policy would pose the most harm to smaller businesses.

“The companies that are most able to respond to this increase in labor costs are the large businesses,” Wolfram said. “It will be easier for Walmart to deal with this than Hillsdale’s local hardware store.”

Whitmer also endorsed the pursuit of “100% clean energy,” but did not specify a timeline.

“Let’s enact a 100% clean energy standard for Michigan,” Whitmer said. “This means all the energy we produce will be from wind, solar, or other common sense sources.”

Bellino said the goal is not feasible as he thinks solar and wind energy remain unreliable and inefficient.

“We’ve got to have gas, we’ve got to have nuclear in the mix,” Bellino said. “We can’t get rid of coal until we cite other stuff. So these ideas of getting rid of coal this quickly is just foolish.”

Wolfram said natural gas should be considered a “common sense energy source.”

“The governor did not explain how this would be achieved other than alluding to having all energy produced in Michigan by wind, solar, and ‘other common sense sources,’” Wolfram said. “It is obvious that there is a reliability issue with regard to wind and solar power, which the governor glided over.”

Whitmer also called on the state legislature to pass the Reproductive Health Act, which would prevent the state government from interfering with access to abortion.

“Slaying our zombie laws was great, but there are still other bad laws that put politically motivated, medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion,” Whitmer said. “This forces patients to drive hundreds of miles for care or mandate that they receive biased, inaccurate information about their health.”

Bellino said the governor wants abortion “24/7, on-demand.”

“I pray for those people that have abortions,” Bellino said. “But if you go into a medical procedure, you should be in a facility that meets hospital standards when it comes to cleanliness. She wants to take all this stuff away.”

Associate Professor of Politics Adam Carrington said Whitmer is doubling down on her past progressive policies.

“Michigan has been used to either split control between the parties or sole GOP control until this year,” Carrington said. “It will be interesting to see how they react to a more decidedly left-leaning direction for the state government now that it is not just theory but practice.”

Noel said he supported the governor’s focus on keeping abortion accessible.

“I really love that she speaks on such a difficult issue with such clarity and strength, particularly as a woman when women’s rights are so consistently under attack from those calling themselves ‘pro-life,’” Noel said.

State Rep. Andrew Fink, R-Hillsdale, told The Collegian he does not consider the governor’s speech “anything other than a vague yet lengthy entry into a suggestion box.”

“My focus will continue to be on standing up for the rights of all Michigan citizens, and policies which support the growth of our state, not the growth of the government,” Fink said.