Rick Pluta | MPRN
Reporter / Producer - Michigan Public Radio NetworkRick Pluta is Senior Capitol Correspondent for the Michigan Public Radio Network. He has been covering Michigan’s Capitol, government, and politics since 1987. His journalism background includes stints with UPI, The Elizabeth (NJ) Daily Journal, The (Pontiac, MI) Oakland Press, and WJR. He is also a lifelong public radio listener.
Rick was one of the first Michigan political reporters to write about “pay-to-play” fundraising, and the controversies surrounding recognition of same-sex relationships. He broke the news that Gov. John Engler was planning a huge juvenile justice overhaul that included adult-time-for-adult-crime sentencing, and has continued to report since then on the effects of that policy decision.
He co-hosted the weekly segment “It’s Just Politics” on Michigan Radio with Zoe Clark.
Rick is fascinated by the game of politics, and the grand plans and human foibles that go into policy-making. You will never find him ice-fishing.
Follow him on Twitter at @rickpluta
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Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill this week that bans the use of what’s sometimes called the “gay panic” defense.
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Michigan Democrats are trying to reset the presidential race in the swing state now that Vice President Kamala Harris is poised to be their presidential candidate.
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Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a state budget bill Wednesday, finalizing spending plans for the upcoming fiscal year.
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Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a $23.4 billon education budget Tuesday that includes a guarantee the state will pay for at least two years of post-high school learning.
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Governor Gretchen Whitmer has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic nominee for president and has assumed a leadership role in the campaign.
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Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer released a statement of support for Biden's choice to lead the Democratic ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris, on Monday morning.
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With President Joe Biden's decision to drop out of the campaign, Democrats in Michigan and elsewhere are faced with choosing a new candidate for president.
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The Michigan Court of Appeals has rejected an effort to place a referendum on a local ballot to block a solar panel farm in the western Upper Peninsula. The unanimous decision by a three-judge panel was released Friday.
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Michigan’s unemployment rate edged up slightly in June to 4.1 percent. It’s the first time this year the jobless number has gone up, but the state’s top labor analyst said an uptick was clearly on the way.
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Governor Gretchen Whitmer was one of the speakers Wednesday at the NAACP convention in Las Vegas, where she warned against complacency in the effort to return Democratic President Joe Biden to the White House.