2023 in REVIEW • The Year in Michigan Politics

Setting the stage. In November 2022 Michigan Democrats hit a trifecta to take control of all three branches of state government for the first time in 40 years; the recently adjourned session was the first time Democrats controlled both chambers of the legislature in 34 years, opening the door for transformative policy reversals in state government.

This shift in political power was years in the making; political miscalculations and bad actors in the formerly dominant Republican party leadership cost the party its public credibility and most of its campaign funding too. Republicans failed to act on the abortion issue, leaving Democrats the opportunity to push a statewide petition drive; the so-called Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative, which would prove a huge election driver.

All this was fuel for the fire in the Democrat long game of winning future elections by institutionalizing structural legal reforms that have tended to play to the tactics of Democrat activists.

A decade of systematic voter approved constitutional electioneering reforms included the 2018 “Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission” reforms which took effect in 2022;  and now Democrats are benefitting from Proposal 2, the 2022 “Voting Policies in Constitution Amendment,” which established absentee voter drop boxes, 9 days early voting, requires the state to fund prepaid stamps along with a tracking system for absentee ballots, allows voter photo ID laws with an affidavit in lieu of, and otherwise built upon the prior straight party ticket and same day registration and voting reforms that tended to benefit Democrat candidates. 

The final nail in the coffin for the Republican legislature was their ill-fated powerplay leadership devised, in league with lobbyists, to rid themselves from the constraints of voter-imposed constitutional Term Limits, which limited them to 2 four-year terms in the Senate and 3 two-year terms in the House.

Republicans lost credibility as a party when they backed a petition drive to reform term limits, then used their legislative prerogative and passed a legislative referral for a constitutional amendment in which they downplayed term limits reforms and added a second issue framing Proposal 1 a financial disclosure reform.

Republicans used a loophole ridden financial disclosure reform, a reliably popular issue with voters, as a loss leader to drown out their real goal of extending term limits. The voters never stood a chance in this cynical pollical power play. Ironically, this diabolical strategy devised by Republicans to double state representatives’ time in the house to 12 years was too clever by half, and Democrats simply let Republicans walk into a trap of their own making.

Now legislative term limits are practically irrelevant, but it is the Democrats who inherit all the political advantages that Proposal 1 gave to entrenched incumbents. Plus, Democrats get to take the credit for the recently enacted financial disclosure reform law which was mandated by the voters.

Policy reversals. Spring 2023 brought the first wave legislation under a solid Democrat legislature. Michigan became the only state in America to repeal a right to work law, which had let workers  opt out of paying union dues or fees. Next, the prevailing wage law that requires union-level wages and benefits for state-funded construction projects was reinstated after it had been repealed by the prior Republican majority concerned with government overspending. These policy reversals reward labor unions support of the Governor and the party, just as union membership in Michigan has reached historic lows.

New EV battery plants. The Biden Administration has promoted EV technology with promised subsidies and incentives, and a ‘green’ agenda that had major car companies stumbling all over one another to jump into electric battery power as the alternative to carbon fuels.

Forcing the conversion to electric vehicles was fine in theory, until it became clear that Hydrogen and Hybrids are more promising technologies. In February Michigan Democrats approved to give $1 billion in taxpayer’s money for Ford’s new $3.5 billion electric vehicle battery factory, which the automaker said would create 2,500 jobs in Marshall, Michigan.

Since that time, Ford has announced a major cut back in the project until the EV technology becomes economically feasible. In April Democrat lawmakers narrowly gave final legislative approval for $175 million in state subsidies to build a nearly $2.4 billion electric vehicle battery parts factory in Green Township near Big Rapids planned by Gotion Inc.

Some state and Local and Economic development corporation officials signed non-disclosure agreements with the Gotion company officials, which gave the project an appearance of secrecy and impropriety, made worse after members of the public were shushed and verbally abused when they questioned the wisdom of supporting with long term tax breaks an EV battery factory amid water and environmental hazards controlled by Gotion, a company that states in its company bylaws that it will "carry out Party activities in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China." 

There is concern that company agents bound to the CCP in the vicinity of military bases like Grayling present a potential threat to military security and industrial readiness.

Total Recall. A small town in Michigan showed people are still in charge. After the Green Township Board approved a resolution to support the Gotion project, and to approve long tax breaks for the company, the citizens started showing up to board meetings and complaining about the secrecy of the Gotion plant proposal.

The board responded by enacting a gag ordinance to limit public comment, so the citizens gathered recall petitions against all 7 members of the board. 2 members resigned immediately, but 5 faced off in the November 2023 election and all were removed by a landslide vote.

The new township board will revisit the commitments already made by the township and explore alternatives to the Gotion project, but they are also sending an important warning to local officials who get so comfortable in office that they  dismiss citizen concerns and try to shut down public comment. Sic semper tyrannis.

Gun Laws. In May Michigan became the 21st state to enact “red flag laws.” Increasingly common throughout the country, “red flag laws” allow courts to temporarily confiscate firearms if the owner is determined to be a danger to themselves or others.

In July Michigan's attorney general announced charges against 16 people for serving as so-called fake electors following the 2020 presidential election. Those charged with election law forgery included Meshawn Maddock, former co-chair of the state Republican Party. The defendants made false attestations that Donald Trump won the state in the 2020 presidential election and proclaimed themselves "duly elected and qualified electors for President and Vice President of the United States of America for the State of Michigan." Michigan was just one of many states that saw pro-Trump fake electors submit letters to the federal government in an effort to change the election result.

In August the attorney general charged Matt DePerno, the former Republican candidate for Michigan attorney general with undue possession of a voting machine, willfully damaging a voting machine and conspiracy for an alleged effort to gain access to voting machines after the 2020 election as the results were being contested by then-President Donald Trump.

AI Electioneering Ads. Michigan government took steps to criminalize campaign activities ahead of the 2024 elections requiring a campaign ad to clearly state in big text if it uses generative AI, and the warning would need to appear “for at least four seconds in letters that are as large as the majority of any text" in television ads. “Deepfakes” used within 90 days of the election would require a further disclaimer that the content “is manipulated to depict speech or conduct that did not occur,” which would need to be clearly visible and appear throughout the video's entirety.

Local Control Eliminated for Windmills & Solar – Democrats enacted 100% clean energy standard legislation, phased in to require 100% clean energy sourcing by 2040 in the state. This has one of the most ambitious clean energy goals in America; it includes Nuclear and natural gas power generations with carbon recapture. The Michigan Public Service Commission will now have the power to approve zoning applications for solar and wind energy projects, shifting that power from local zoning authorities to state regulators to support the construction of windmills authorized solar facilities to be placed on farmland.

Line 5 Pipeline Tunnel Approved - The appointed Michigan Public Service Commission approved the siting application filed by Enbridge Energy LP for a proposed replacement of pipelines now running on the lake bottom across the Straits of Mackinac. The replacement pipeline will be housed in a hardened utility tunnel bored deep below the lakebed. PSC approval is a major step in a long contentious battle over the environmental risks of moving oil and gas resources to and from Canada under the great lakes, but there are still government approvals and permits with conditions related to the tunnel’s safety and construction.

Early Adjournment for Michigan Primary Election - Michigan Democrats adjourned the session a month early this presidential election year; they did not complete plans for paid family and medical leave, lowered prescription drug costs and increased auto insurance reimbursement rates. Rather, they opted to adjourn so as to hasten the effective date of all the new legislation they have enacted.

In Michigan that  does not take effect until 90 days after the Legislature adjourns, unless a 2/3 majority gives it immediate effect. Besides, two Democratic state representatives won mayoral races and vacated their seats, which means the House of Representatives is split 54-54 until special elections can be held in a few months, so the hyper-partisan legislature would not accomplish much else anyway.

By adjourning early, new controversial legislation changing the primary date will take effect in time to make Michigan the fifth state to hold its presidential primary on Feb. 27.