The WØRD – “Breathtaking!”

This week’s guest: Rep. Stephanie Young (D-Detroit)

From the Chair

After 40 years where Republicans called most of the shots in state government, for the last six months Democrats have had (small) legislative majorities working with a Democratic Governor to enact a people-first agenda. The results are truly breathtaking. This week’s podcast focuses on a review of all that’s been done.

Headlines seem reserved for the bad news: disfunction, corruption, scandal, controversy. Government that’s working well usually doesn’t make headlines, but it did this week in the Detroit Free Press which recounts our successes: some of them bipartisan, many of them despite united Republican opposition. It is up to us to remind the people around us of all the good things that have happened with the Democrat-led state government.

Democrats Leading Michigan Checklist – The First Six Months

  • Budget passed on time, balanced, and including nearly $1-billion in targeted tax cuts
  • Record investments made in K-12 education, including added support for at-risk students and universal free breakfast and lunch
  • Michigan’s 1931 law making abortion a crime repealed
  • Laws strengthening protections for victims of sexual assault
  • Anti-labor laws passed during the Snyder administration repealed
  • The Snyder “pension tax” repealed
  • Election reforms
  • LGBTQ+ Civil Rights Protections added to the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act
  • Hate crimes protections added to the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act
  • Common-sense gun safety laws
  • Record investments made in fixing Michigan’s crumbling infrastructure – Michigan’s “Orange Barrel Summer!”
  • Tens-of-thousands of new jobs being created by major manufacturing investments, including two massive battery plants that will power Michigan’s automotive manufacturing future

And that’s just the beginning. Attorney General Nessel has been a non-stop in fighting consumer fraud, Republican-sponsored anti-liberty court cases, political corruption, battling violent and white-collar crime and taking on the telemarketers!
Secretary of State Benson has taken a branch office mess (she inherited from Republicans) that everyone hated and transformed it into an efficient, customer-friendly operation. She has also become a nationally recognized advocate for voter rights and election reforms, and is widely credited for her leadership in making Michigan’s elections the most secure in the nation.

Want to know more about what your Democratic leaders are doing in Lansing? A good place to start is with their official websites:

News Stories We’re Following This Week

Michigan Policy and Politics


National Policy and Politics