LANSING - Imagine you're at the office and you want a snack from the vending machine in the break room. Instead of digging around for change or fishing through your wallet for your debit card, you simply wave your hand in front of the machine, money comes out of your bank account, and you get
LANSING - Democrats' huge clean energy package, requiring utility providers to rely 100% on "clean energy" in the next 17 years and empowering Governor-appointees to certify commercial wind and solar projects, has passed both the Senate and House. All but one bill in the seven-bill package – SB 277, which allows farmers with protected land
LANSING - Michigan lawmakers are advancing bipartisan legislation to crack down on AI-generated deepfakes in election materials in a state where voters could determine control of the White House and the U.S. House in 2024. The legislative package could add Michigan to the handful of states restricting the use of artificial intelligence in political campaigns
LANSING - Senate Democrats are changing their “Clean Energy Future Plan” to have utilities develop a “100 percent clean energy standard” by 2040 instead of the 2035 deadline that was originally proposed. “Utilities would have to file clean energy plans in order to achieve a carbon-free energy portfolio of 80 percent starting in 2035, and
LANSING - Representatives Abraham Aiyash (D-Hamtramck) and Yousef Rabhi (D-Ann Arbor) announced legislation that would provide relief to customers who lose power during outages and increase accountability over utility companies’ poor performance. Supporters from the League of Conservation Voters and We the People Action Fund spoke at the event in favor of the legislation. The
LANSING - Michigan Democrats have their best shot in decades to take control of the state Legislature after an independent commission voted in December on new political district boundaries that likely create many more competitive elections than in previous years. Democrats have been in the minority in the state House since 2011 and the Senate since 1984. While there is no guarantee they will win control of
LANSING - Michigan’s new economic development incentives, mostly designed to help Michigan better compete with other states for new electric vehicle assembly and battery plans, remind me of a hilarious scene in the 1996 hit movie, “Jerry McGuire.” McGuire, a sports agent played by Tom Cruise, is desperate to keep pro football client Rod Tidwell,
LANSING - An effort to entice big businesses with government-backed incentives advanced in the Michigan Senate Thursday, just a day after the state House approved similar legislation. Senate Bills 769, 770 and 771 passed with bipartisan support in the Michigan Senate on Thursday and would create the “Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve Fund” and the
LANSING - Michigan Republicans and Democrats came together last Wednesday and prioritized using federal dollars to invest in Michigan’s aging water infrastructure. Senate Bill 565 passed unanimously out of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Dec. 1. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Jon Bumstead (R-Newaygo) is the committee's majority vice chair. The bill, a $3.34 billion budget
LANSING - Michigan's lowest-funded cities, townships, villages, counties, and school districts would share $500 million in American Rescue Plan and infrastructure money under a plan announced by a pair of House Democrats Tuesday. Under the Raise Up Local Grant Match from Rep. Julie Brixie (D-Meridian Township) and Rep. Amos O'Neal (D-Saginaw) , introduced as HB
