Abortion, clean energy bills gaining steam: Your guide to Michigan politics

Happy Sunday! 👋 Democrats likely have weeks – not months – left in Lansing this year, and that ticking clock saw some urgent agenda items move quickly this week.

A pillar of the Dem agenda is clean energy, and the latest big fight is over large wind and solar projects.

The latest: House bills passed a committee this week, just a week after being introduced.

• This Clean Energy and Jobs Act now heads to the full House.

🔋 Power struggle: Democrats want to give the Michigan Public Service Commission the ability to approve large wind and solar builds.

• Projects have met a lot of resistance from conservatives in rural areas, where the wide swaths of land tend to be for these projects.

🗣️ “The most logical approach is to streamline and get a uniform process at the state level, to be able to just help streamline those conversations to make sure that we can meet our generation goals,” Rep. Ranjeev Puri, D-Canton, told MLive.

Not a new idea: Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin have similar laws.

But still controversial: Local officials have given adamant testimony, arguing the state is subverting their power.

🗣️ “(I)t takes away the rights of the people and their will to have what they want in their communities for themselves, not by somebody else dictating what they need,” said Mike Brown, a planning commissioner in Livingston County.

➕ More from lawmakers: New laws require Michigan schools, daycares to filter water for lead

Democrats are also prioritizing repeals of abortion restrictions, like Michigan’s 24-hour waiting period.

• The Reproductive Health Act is coming from both chambers.

The latest: Senators passed their bills Thursday along party lines, but there’s a holdup across the hall.

• The House hasn’t made any moves since Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Detroit, announced her opposition last month.
• House Dems need everyone on board to pass bills when every Republicans is a no.

🗣️ Ongoing strategy is still being discussed by House and Senate leadership, Sen. Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing, said this week:

• “But ultimately the big goal is to get something as quickly as possible to the governor’s desk without compromising our values and also compromising the will of the people.”

Click here for a breakdown of every bill in the package.

➕ More from lawmakers: No-fault fix moves forward but without a $1 billion-a-year boost for Michigan hospitals

If you have young kids, let me ask you a question: How much are you paying for child care?

• If it’s less than $10,000 a year, it’s below Michigan’s average.

Deep dive: MLive politics and culture reporter Jordyn Hermani has a moving explainer of the current state of child care costs, through the eyes of struggling parents.

🗣️ “We have roughly 560,000 children in Michigan under the age of six, and we only have enough daycare for 31% of them,” said Marcus Keech of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce.

Below average: Michigan ranked 32nd in the U.S. for child well being in a recent national report.

• 14% of kids under five were in families in which one parent had to quit work, change jobs or refuse a job due to struggles accessing child care.

💸 Losing money: Michigan loses nearly $3 billion annually when working parents struggle to find child care, according to a recent U.S. Chamber of Commerce report.

Start of a solution: The state budget last year included $1.4 billion in child care funding like subsidies for parents and bonuses for workers.

• But advocates say lawmakers aren’t tackling the problem as quickly as they promised.

After Kevin McCarthy was dethroned as U.S. House Speaker by hardline conservatives, a new possible candidate has emerged: Michigan Congressman Jack Bergman.

Really? Yes, the Upper Peninsula Republican announced his candidacy in a statement Saturday.

• House Republicans have yet to agree on a new leader despite taking votes on multiple candidates this month.

Bergman’s moment: The 76-year-old is “prepared to step up” as a solution to infighting, his spokesman, James Hogge, told MLive earlier this week.

🗳️ Bergman’s chances: Unclear right now. He’s among about half a dozen candidates who have announced so far.

• A candidate forum is scheduled for Monday.

Lastly this week, here are two legal updates to know regarding Republicans who challenged Michigan’s legitimate 2020 presidential election.

Ex-governor candidate Ryan Kelley got 60 days in federal prison for participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

• Kelley beckoned rioters up the Capitol steps as they breached police barricades.
• He had initially pleaded not guilty but changed his plea to guilty in July.

James Renner, one of the 16 Republicans who signed a false Electoral College certificate to try to overturn Michigan’s 2020 election results, got his charges dropped.

• He reached a plea deal with prosecutors and will cooperate to help their cases against other false electors.
• The 15 defendants left face multiple 14-year felonies and five-year felonies.

➕ More court news: Michigan lobbyists sentenced to prison undermined democracy by bribing former House speaker, judge says

5 more stories from MLive:

$15 minimum wage proposal hits roadblock for 2024 ballot

Michigan looks to regulate artificial intelligence use in political ads

Don’t want property taxes? Repeal may be on Michigan’s 2024 ballot

Michigan Republicans say feds are foot-dragging Line 5 tunnel review

Man detained trying to access Whitmer’s Mackinac Island residence, state police say