Governor Gretchen Whitmer is calling on state lawmakers to address housing, healthcare, and education during her final year in office.
Whitmer delivered her State of the State address Wednesday night, saying much has been accomplished on those fronts in recent years, but more can be done. Whitmer said younger Michiganders find it impossible to purchase a home due to costs. She proposed that Michigan establish what many other states already have.
“First, a new state-level affordable housing tax credit,” Whitmer said. “There’s already a federal affordable housing tax credit, which incentivizes the construction of housing for working-class families, and with a state credit, we can build thousands more.”
Whitmer also called for reforms to zoning and permitting laws to allow more kinds of home construction more quickly. And she said medical debt is a weight hanging around the necks of many Michiganders.
“Let’s cap interest rates on medical debt. Let’s prevent medical debt from showing up on your credit report. Let’s require hospitals to set up financial assistance programs for patients. And let’s ban liens or foreclosures on homes because of medical debt.”
Turning to education, Whitmer said more needs to be done to ensure Michigan students are strong in literacy. She proposed free, full-day PreK for all, adopting effective curriculums statewide, funding for teacher professional learning, and more tutoring and small group support in class.
Whitmer touted accomplishments during her administration, saying many challenges have been faced by the state, but added, “There’s no problem we’ve faced that we cannot fix. That’s just who we are.”
