Michigan Government

Michigan’s soaring revenues mean the state income tax rate will fall from 4.25 to 4.05 percent in 2023 tax year, according to the state treasury. The rate will go back up the next year following a legal opinion from Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel.

In some Michigan counties, one in six adults have a license to carry a concealed handgun. The reason they carry guns is the same explanation Democratic legislators give for new weapon restrictions — safety.

Soaring state revenues will likely force the Whitmer administration to reduce Michigan’s personal income tax rate. But that cut is only for one year, the Democrat Attorney General contends. Republicans excoriated that legal interpretation.

More than half of Michigan’s 83 counties passed resolutions declaring themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries or proclaiming their right to ignore laws that don’t square with their constitutional principles.

Repealing Right-to-Work and restoring prevailing wage were top priorities for unions, while business groups and Republicans have argued doing away with current policy would be bad for business.

Senators voted to make permanent a pandemic policy to allow takeout liquor. It heads to the House next.

Only Massachusetts and Georgia residents spend more on a per capita basis than Michigan. In 2022, $1.25 billion from the lottery went to Michigan schools.

The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s finding that James and Jennifer Crumbley, parents of Oxford shooter Ethan Crumbley, can face trial on involuntary manslaughter charges.

The Michigan House took up part of a gun reform package Wednesday evening aimed at incentivizing gun owners to keep their guns away from minors.

Democratic lawmakers in the state house have introduced legislation that would establish 18 as the minimum age for marriage Currently there is no minimum age for marriage in Michigan under the law

Michigan inked a contract to try to help young people accused of extremism avoid violence. But the future is uncertain after a deal fell through for a Traverse City man accused of threatening a mass shooting.

Michigan lawmakers took final steps to approve the two most prominent labor priorities on the Democrats’ agenda Tuesday. They now go to Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is expected to sign the bills.

Despite the threat of criminal charges from a county prosecutor, Amy Churchill, Lapeer District Library director, has not budged from defending the book. She has until May to rule on the book’s removal.

Nineteen states and Washington D.C. have ‘extreme risk’ confiscation laws. They have many supporters, but the laws aren’t used much, are enforced sporadically and have prompted equity questions.

Attorney General Dana Nessel has repeatedly called for greater government transparency. But in high-profile criminal cases in her own office she has successfully fought to keep records on government searches hidden, even after they are introduced in court.

The new law includes sexual orientation and gender identity as classes protected against discrimination under the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, codifying a series of court orders and interpretive statements that have extended similar rights to Michigan’s LGBTQ community.

In their efforts to remove dead voters and residents who have moved, state officials and clerks call on community groups to check their work and make sure no eligible voters have their registrations canceled.

Democrats in the Michigan Senate voted Thursday to create laws allowing confiscation of guns from those who pose dangers, universal background checks and mandatory safe storage to keep firearms away from children.

Lawmakers hammer DTE and Consumers Energy over their handling of a Feb. 22 ice story that left thousands without power, some for more than a week.

In what would be a highly unusual move, a county prosecutor is considering criminally charging library officials if they do not remove an LGBTQ book that contains drawings of sex acts. Lawyers interviewed were skeptical such an action would be constitutional.