Michigan’s governor is pushing for health care reform and climate protection laws with a Democratic majority

LANSING, Michigan (AP) — Paid family and medical leave, a 100% clean energy standard and codification The protections provided by the Affordable Care Act are among the issues that Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has directed Democrats to address in the final months of the year.

The second-term governor emphasized her priorities in a “What’s Next Address” on Wednesday after the party rolled back decades of Republican policies while implementing its own liberal agenda in the first half of 2023.

Although Whitmer did not provide details about the policy proposals and did not take questions from reporters afterward, her speech likely provides a roadmap for the future. Democrats passed almost all of the measures she called for earlier this year.

On September 5, lawmakers return to the state Capitol after a two-month summer break. Michigan is one of the few states with a full-time legislative session, and Democrats want to make the most of every minute as control of the state House of Representatives is up for grabs next year.

“Next on Michigan’s fall agenda is the health of our people, the health of our planet, the health of our economy and the health of our democracy,” Whitmer said.

“Our plans are ambitious, but they are doable. Let’s make them happen,” Whitmer said in Lansing in front of the parliamentary leaders.

As neighboring states continue to tighten abortion restrictions, Whitmer called on Michigan to protect reproductive rights even more. She urged lawmakers to remove “politically motivated, medically unnecessary restrictions” on the procedure, such as a 24-hour waiting period for patients. The state’s voters last year approved a ballot proposition that enshrined abortion rights in the state constitution.

Among Whitmer’s more ambitious priorities is family and medical leave, which she says “77 percent of Michigan workers are not entitled to.”

She also wants to pass legislation that proactively protects key provisions of Obamacare, including a rule that would require insurers to cover preventive care as the country’s health care law continues to face challenges in federal court.

Democrats in Michigan have won a three-way bet for the first time in nearly 40 years: They control the House, Senate and governorship. In the first eight months of the year, they have passed numerous long-sought measures, including an 11-bill gun safety package and the repeal of a right-to-work law.

Republicans have criticized a legislative session that lacked bipartisanship, with many bills passed along party lines. They disapproved of an $82 billion budget passed in June that was drafted primarily by Democrats.

Like most governors, Whitmer delivers a State of the State address at the beginning of each year, but her speech Wednesday before the second half of the legislative session was a first.

Republican state Rep. James DeSana criticized Whitmer in a statement ahead of her speech for taking a “victory lap” just days after Michigan was hit by multiple tornadoes that killed five people and left hundreds of thousands without power.

Whitmer did not address the ongoing power outages in her speech, but said the Michigan Public Service Commission, the regulator of the state’s utilities, needs “more tools” to enforce a 100% clean energy standard.

Whitmer defined clean energy as “wind, solar or other reasonable sources” but did not say when she plans to reach the 100 percent standard. Democratic state lawmakers proposed a plan earlier this year that would require 100 percent clean energy production by 2035.