And... the balance of power changes in Lansing.

Strategy, too.

In today's email Letter from the Editor appropriately entitled, "The glory of a gridlocked Lansing," Michigan Capitol Confidential insightfully comments on what this means for freedom, including healthcare freedom.

This week the House Democrats lost their 56-54 majority when two members, Kevin Coleman of Westland, and Lori Stone of Warren, won their mayoral races.

On Monday, Coleman and Stone will take office, reducing the House to 108 members and the party split to 54-54.

On Tuesday, the legislature will adjourn for the year, a month and a half early. Rather than negotiate or share power in order to obtain the necessary 55 votes to pass a bill, House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, opted to end the year early. Since it takes two to tango, the Senate followed suit.

Sine Die: Democrats lose majority; Legislature will adjourn for the year – Michigan Capitol Confidential

They say that politics makes strange bedfellows. This time it resulted in an empty Capitol. Good.

If this is a preview of the months to come, before elections for the Coleman and Stone seats can be held, it could save Michiganders a lot of money. These are the glory days, if we dare to see it.

Every day Lansing takes off work is another day when its tentacles cannot reach into your life, your child's classroom, or your wallet.

Lawmakers can return home to their districts and look their neighbors in the eye. Hear their feedback at coffee shops and town halls and office hours. Spend time with the people who sent them to Lansing. Maybe even remember that these are people they were elected to serve. Not their new friends in Lansing.

Enjoy these days of divided government. When it comes to Lansing, no news is good news.

Yours in gridlock,

James David Dickson

Michigan Capitol Confidential

The MiVotes website is back up, completely reengineered and ready for business.

Fewer functions than the old one, but blazingly fast. You should check it out and bookmark it.

https://www.michiganvotes.org/

The Michigan Legislature publishes a "brief description of the major steps of the legislative process a bill must go through before it is enacted into law."

Great primer of Michigan's bill process.

https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/publications/HowBillBecomesLaw.pdf

Michigan Capitol Confidential's Scott McClallen reports our state's financial health.

Excellent timing! We're approaching the end of the first post-Covid-funding term, when money flowed like water in Lansing. And inflation - I'm not even going to say it.

https://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/news/michigan-earns-a-d-grade-for-finances

Michigan earns a ‘D’ grade for finances

Truth In Accounting ranks state 35th out of 50 for financial health

October 15, 2024

If Michigan needed to pay all its bills, every taxpayer would have to pay $7,600.

That’s according to a new analysis from Chicago-based Truth In Accounting, a think tank that analyzes government financial reports. Truth in Accounting gives the Wolverine State a “D” grade in its 15th annual Financial State of the States report.

According to the report’s A-through-F grading scale, any government with a ”taxpayer burden” between $5,000 and $20,000 earns a D. The report uses the term "taxpayer burden” to include the amount required to pay off all a state’s debt.

In 2023, Michigan’s finances improved by $12.5 billion when reported revenues exceeded expenses, and liabilities for pension and retiree health care decreased due to changes in actuarial assumptions. Michigan had $46.9 billion available to pay $75.1 billion worth of bills, leaving a shortfall of $28.2 billion. If that amount is divided by every Michigan taxpayer, each would pay $7,600. Most of that debt stems from unfunded pensions and other post-retirement benefits to public workers.

The largest improvement in the state’s financial condition related to decreases in unfunded pension and retiree health liabilities for the Michigan Public Schools Employees’ Retirement System. Those decreases occurred thanks to changes in the economic, demographic and other assumptions used to estimate future benefit payments. That good news evaporated this year after a drastic cut by the Legislature in funding for pension liabilities.

Michigan ranked 35th out of 50. The state isn’t alone. TIA says 27 states don’t have enough money to pay their bills.

For most states, this report is based on the audited Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports for fiscal year 2023, showing the most recent information available.

State fiscal mismanagement harms taxpayers, as well as public employees such as teachers, firefighters, and police officers, who count on pension and health care benefits for their retirement.

“Most states’ financial conditions improved in fiscal year 2023,” Sheila Weinberg, founder and CEO of Truth in Accounting, said in a statement. “But the states should focus on bolstering their retirement systems so they can weather market downturns and other economic uncertainties in the future.”

The report features a broad range of state spending approaches, which yield a variety of results. Connecticut moved into last place because it needed more than $64.9 billion to pay its bills. If you were to divide that figure by the number of Connecticut taxpayers, the taxpayer burden is $44,300. Conversely, North Dakota had more than enough money to pay its bills, with a taxpayer surplus of $55,600.

Open the Books has a tagline: "Every Dime. Online. In Real Time." It certainly seems to be accurate in the page entitled "Michigan's Checkbook." 

Every transaction, every vendor, since 2017. Annual totals, in billions of dollars.

Our dollars, which one can't help feeling would have been better spent by those who earned them.

The detail is incredible. You really have to see the listed businesses, the sheer number of checks the state writes in our name.

https://www.openthebooks.com/michigan-state-checkbook/

Skilled legislative governance is an art, science, and so much more. 

West MI Politics makes the case that Michigan's House is at last compensating for the brain drain caused by term limits. 

Posted for its value toward learning governance, with apologies for the rank partisanship that occasionally breaks out.

Clipped for length.

https://westmipolitics.blogspot.com/2025/05/speaker-of-house-matt-hall-is-making.html

Speaker Of The House Matt Hall Is Making The Lansing Establishment Feel The "HEAT"

By Brandon Hall    |    Friday, May 16, 2025

 

Lansing, like DC, has been described as a swamp---but it's REALLY actually more like a big ol' nasty pigpen---and Speaker Of The House Matt Hall is making the pigs squeal.

 

President Reagan famously said (while talking about Congress), "if you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat."

 

Reagan passed away in 2004, but his spirit is alive and well in the Michigan legislature with Speaker Hall as he fights the Lansing establishment.

 

Hall's marquee proposal is even literally named HEAT: The Hall Ethics, Accountability, & Transparency Plan.

 

Legislator Autonomy When Hiring And Firing Staff 

 

Immediately upon taking office as Speaker, Matt Hall ended the controversial practice that was long used for decades in Lansing allowing the Speaker to control the staffers of a legislator. 

 

Now, our State Representatives hire and fire their own employees without any threats or pressure from the Speaker's office---a remarkable change giving House members the freedom to say what's on their mind and vote how they'd like---without losing their staff.

 

Lame Duck Reform

 

For far too long, under both Republican and Democrat "leadership," Lansing politicians have rammed all sorts of horrendous bills through during what's known as lame duck, the time period after the November election is already over, but before new elected officials take office January 1st.

 

A few years ago, Senate Majority Leader  Arlan Meekhof held Senators hostage in the Senate chamber under threat of arrest shortly before Christmas, forcing them to vote on a heap of horrendous legislation.

 

 And just last year, when Joe Tate was Speaker Of The House, he unsuccessfully tried to do the same thing!

 

Those days are over. 

 

Speaker Hall is now requiring a 2/3ds vote of the State House in order to move any legislation forward in lame duck, a truly revolutionary move that has sent shockwaves through the big lobbying and consulting firms.  Lobbyists just lost one of the dirtiest tricks in their playbook!

 

Banning Legislators From Signing NDA's

 

Recently, elected officials have been busted signing non-disclosure agreements with private entities, foreign governments, corporations, and other groups.

 

In one case, Senator Elissa Slotkin signed a secret NDA with the controversial Chinese company Gotion!

 

In another, State Senator Curtis Hertel signed a secret NDA with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. 

 

Lansing politicians need to honor their oath and follow the Constitution, not make secret deals they hide from their Constituents!

 

Speaker Hall's bipartisan plan stops legislators from hiding behind NDAs.

 

2 Year Lobbying Ban

 

In 2022, with 6 months still left to go in his term, State Rep. Jim Lilly bailed on his seat to be the chief lobbyist and leader of Government Affairs at Spartan Nash.

 

Such brazen greed and blatant disrespect of Michigan taxpayers is totally legal---but Speaker Hall has a plan to stop it.

 

Under Speaker Hall's legislation, sleazy politicians like Jim Lilly would have to wait 2 years before they can be lobbyists in Michigan.

 

Hall also wants to close the loophole that actually allows current legislators to lobby in other states WHILE they are in office!  

 

Ending Secret Appropriations Earmarks 

 

Legislators can no longer secretly request money for special projects without identifying themselves.

 

For example, in 2023, Fay Beydoun, a Metro Detroit woman connected to Governor Whitmer, received a $20 million grant now under investigation by Attorney General Dana Nessel. 

 

Beydoun famously spent $4,500 on a coffee maker with taxpayer money! Which legislator earmarked the money for her is still unknown...

 

Not only that, but all the requests from State House members are now publicly available in a searchable database. 

 

Unlike most things Jocelyn Benson does, this website actually works, and is easy to use!

 

For years, the Lansing establishment looted billions from taxpayers with these BS tricks---not anymore under Speaker Hall.

 

Expanded, Comprehensive House Oversight Committee 

 

Speaker Hall has given the House Oversight Committee historic authority to issue subpoenas as it investigates Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Secretary Of State Jocelyn Benson, Attorney General Dana Nessel, and others.

 

Usually, subpoenas at House Oversight have to be dealt with individually, on a case by case basis---not anymore. 

 

The Oversight Committee now has the ability to subpoena whoever they need to in order to get answers.

 

One of the biggest issues the Oversight Committee is investigating is "how the Government abused its authority and failed in public transparency during COVID."

 

The controversial Chinese Gotion scandal is also on the agenda, among many other important subjects.

 

Speaker Hall’s MAJOR expansion of the House Oversight Committee in order to make sure the investigations cover all the bases includes 6 subcommittees:

 

-Weaponization of State Government

 

-Child Welfare System

 

-Corporate Subsidies and State Investments

 

-Public Health and Food Security

 

-Homeland Security and Foreign Influence

 

-State and Local Public Assistance Programs

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For those eager to deepen their knowledge of Michigan's Constitution, Mackinac Center Legal Foundation launched the unique Michigan Constitutional Archive in November, 2025.

https://www.mackinac.org/constitution

According to the website.

Since 1835, Michigan has enacted four constitutions and has voted on hundreds of constitutional amendments. The Michigan Constitutional Archive puts them all in one place. If you seek a thorough resource, look about you.

Documents include the text and strikeouts of all adopted and rejected amendments, the entirety of the 1961-62 constitutional convention debates and the 1908 and 1962 notice of addresses to the people broken down by each provision.

Most provisions have been renumbered during Michigan’s various conventions. Included with each provision is a visual timeline tracing its origins.

Political division: it's a good thing. 

Analysis from Mackinac Center.

https://www.mackinac.org/34006

A Good Year for Saying No

Joseph G. Lehman    |    January 12, 2026 

Politics rewards drama. Progress often looks like stalemate.

So it may surprise you to hear me say this: 2025 was one of the most productive years I’ve seen in Lansing.

Not because lawmakers passed a lot of legislation. They did not (and that’s a poor measure of productivity anyway unless bigger government is the goal). Divided government — a Republican House and a Democratic Senate and governor — ensured lots of legislation went nowhere.

But when lawmakers did agree, they agreed on some big things — and remarkably, those things aligned pretty well with longstanding recommendations of Mackinac Center analysts.

I wouldn’t have predicted progress a year ago, but it wasn’t an accident, either.

Our policy experts study how government actually works, identifying where good intentions go wrong, and explaining — patiently, repeatedly, and backed by research — how better policy can expand liberty, prosperity, and opportunity without expanding government.

They brought to mind four examples of our research in action:

First, lawmakers averted a disaster for employers and workers alike.

A Michigan Supreme Court ruling meant that costly and unwieldy paid leave and minimum wage mandates would take effect in February. They would have especially harmed small businesses and nonprofits, reduced flexibility for workers, and worsened the affordability of everything we buy.

House Republicans offered better alternatives — exactly the kind of reforms we had recommended — and, crucially, secured Democrats’ buy-in before the worst provisions took effect. The result wasn’t perfect, but it was far better than letting the original mandates proceed on autopilot. The compromise was an incremental, realistic reform.

Second, Michigan adopted a road funding plan that reflects basic fiscal responsibility.

We’ve argued for years that Michiganders shouldn’t have to pay higher taxes overall just to get decent roads. Lawmakers should better prioritize the money they already collect. This year, they did.

They eliminated the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve fund — a corporate subsidy slush fund — and redirected that money to fix the roads. A decade ago, I suggested that very idea from a stage on Mackinac Island before a few hundred business and political leaders. I could hear murmurs and exclamations of shock, but now it’s policy.

Lawmakers also replaced the sales tax on road fuels, which was diverted to schools, with an excise tax that actually goes to fixing roads.

The political reality was that Democrats wanted a tax increase as the price of a deal. The compromise was an increase in marijuana taxes, not broad-based hikes on all families and workers. Is it ideal? Far from it. But roads will be repaired faster than they fall apart, largely without reaching deeper into taxpayers’ pockets. And the Legislature prioritized roads over corporate welfare. That’s progress.

Third, lawmakers took meaningful steps to rein in earmarks.

In each of the past three years, legislators authorized $1 billion or more in earmarks (special tax-funded grants that typically target a few politically chosen recipients). This year, earmark spending dropped by two-thirds. Just as important, they followed the

Michigan Constitution’s requirement for a two-thirds vote and used a more transparent process that allows public scrutiny before projects are approved.

Most earmarks still fail to demonstrate broad public benefit. But transparency and constitutional compliance matter. And the fact that lawmakers plan to keep using this process going forward matters even more.

Finally — this would have seemed unthinkable not long ago — lawmakers eliminated the state’s largest corporate subsidy program and approved no new business subsidies at all.

The SOAR program allowed politicians to give enormous sums of taxpayer money to favored companies with little accountability. Since its creation, lawmakers authorized $1.45 billion to supposedly create 14,800 jobs. So far, they’ve spent $720 million and produced exactly zero jobs.

This year, they shut it down. And for the first time since we began tracking it in 2000, lawmakers went a year without authorizing any new corporate welfare. After averaging $890 million a year in new subsidies for decades, that is no small thing.

There are still clear opportunities for bipartisan reform — on transparency, housing, occupational licensing, and more. And there is always the risk that old habits will return.

But perspective matters.

Lawmakers didn’t agree on much in 2025, as often happens in divided government. But when they did agree, they agreed with us.

That’s not just luck. It happens because good ideas, consistently advanced, eventually change the debate. It happens because policy analysts do the hard work of research and explanation. Our supporters make it possible for free-market ideas to stay in the fight long enough to win.

There are no permanent victories. But there are years when the inches gained add up. Thomas Jefferson said, “The ground of liberty is to be gained by inches.”