MPRN Share

In this week’s It’s Just Politics newsletter, Zoe Clark and Rick Pluta take you behind the scenes of a day of lame duck in the 102nd Legislative session in Lansing. Plus, this week marks the tenth anniversary of the city of Detroit emerging from the nation’s largest municipal bankruptcy, and a recount in Calhoun County shows that every vote really does matter.

A bill on its way to Governor Gretchen Whitmer would help ensure that juveniles accused of crimes have the same right to an attorney as adult defendants.

Buying, selling, or assembling a gun without a serial number could become a crime in Michigan under bills that passed the state Senate Thursday.

Whooping cough, for instance, is surging, with more than 1,500 cases already reported so far this year. That's compared to an average of less than 600 cases between 2017-2019, according to the state.

Legislation to extend Michigan’s open records laws to lawmakers and the governor made it out of a state House committee Wednesday, clearing a significant hurdle in a years-long effort to pass it.

Republicans are proposing a constitutional amendment to toughen Michigan’s voting rules. It could be headed to the statewide ballot next year.

A state Senate committee advanced two bills Tuesday that are meant to make it easier to trace homemade firearms assembled from kits or parts created by 3D printers.

The EPA has banned all uses of tricholoroethylene (TCE) and most uses of perchloroethylene (PCE). Those are cancer-causing chemicals used in a variety of consumer products and industrial processes.

The Legislature returns to state Capitol Tuesday as lawmakers bargain over what to do before this session wraps up at the end of the year. One subject of negotiations is road funding.

Surface and groundwater protection is covered under Part 31 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act. The Legislature prohibited the then-Department of Environmental Quality from making new rules under Part 31 after December 31, 2006.That is still the case.During the current lame duck session, the Legislature is considering bills would lift that ban on making rules for — what is today — the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE).