Back in February, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed accused unnamed “establishment Democrats” of using “birther-like tactics” to derail his primary campaign after Bridge magazine published an article raising questions about his eligibility to run due to residency requirements. I was hard on Dr. El-Sayed writing, “Publishing this article is not a “birther-like” tactic and the accusation is offensive. People […]

In late January, an article at Bridge magazine raised questions about Michigan gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s eligibility to run for this position due to his having lived outside of Michigan for a time. Experts on campaign law weighed in and were not in agreement. Some said he’s fine. Others expressed concern that he may not be fine at all and […]

I have largely avoided writing about Michigan’s gubernatorial this cycle. We interviewed both Gretchen Whitmer and Abdul El-Sayed on The Sit and Spin Room podcast early on but I have been watching the primary unfold without saying much. Partly because it’s so early and partly because I haven’t been “wowed” by any of the campaigns. However, this week, the campaign […]

Last year in a rare exhibition of bipartisanship, the Michigan state senate voted unanimously and the House voted 89-11 to pass a new rule involving the taxation of a purchased vehicle when someone trades in another vehicle in the transaction. Under a 2013 law, buyers initially could exempt the value of the trade-in vehicle up to $2,000 from the sales […]

This afternoon there was a meeting of the Michigan Democratic Party State Central Committee, the group that is essentially “the boss” of the Michigan Democratic Party. One of the items on the agenda was for the Executive Committee to vote in a new representative to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to replace someone who resigned. Two people were nominated. One […]

As Republicans in the U.S. Senate are considering their last ditch, hail Mary attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, there’s one aspect of it that should be truly concerning to everyone and that’s the concept of giving healthcare dollars to the states in the form of block grants to spend largely as they wish. Here in Michigan, our Republican-controlled […]

With Republicans in Washington, D.C., determined to gut healthcare access for millions of Americans, Michigan Democrats want to secure state-level protections. As the push to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act marches forward in the U.S. Senate, there’s one thing most Americans can agree on: They like the protections the ACA enshrined into law (even when you call the […]

In March of 2015, Michigan Democrat Jim Townshend introduced legislation in the House – House Bill 4341 – that would change Michigan’s regressive flat state income tax to a graduated tax. Not surprisingly, it never went anywhere in the Republican-controlled House. And that’s a shame because, if implemented, it would increase state tax revenues by as much as $700,000,000 $870,000,000 […]

Early last month, the Michigan Democratic Party State Central Committee (DSCC) met to choose its delegates to the Democratic National Committee [full disclosure: I am a DSCC member]. The afternoon of the meeting, the Chair of the Young Democrats of Michigan Sam Pernick spoke to a group of Senator Sanders and Jill Stein supporters in the hallway outside of the […]

Michigan House Dems have chosen their leadership and have made two VERY solid choices in my opinion. First, they picked Ann Arbor-area Representative Adam Zemke from the 55th House District to be the caucus Chair. As someone who has watched Adam in action, I think he’s going to bring very exciting energy and new ideas to the House Dems. He’s […]

The following guest post was written by Ron Bieber, president of the Michigan AFL-CIO. You can sign up to receive legislative action alerts from the Michigan AFL-CIO HERE. You can also follow them at facebook.com/miaflcio, twitter.com/miaflcio, and twitter.com/ronbiebermi. Enjoy. Lame duck sessions are when bad bills happen to good people. That’s been true in Michigan after every major election since […]