(The Center Square) – Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is set to give her State of the State address tonight to a Republican-controlled House and Democrat-controlled Senate.
Her seventh State of the State, the Democrat has signaled she plans to focus her speech on issues like roads, education and housing.
Those issues have been key focuses for Whitmer’s administration since she was elected in 2018, with her office lauding the “historic accomplishments of her first six years.”
“Michigan is a state on the move as we continue working together to create good-paying jobs, fix our roads, and invest in our students and schools,” Whitmer said in a statement. “I look forward to delivering my 2025 State of the State Address where I will lay out my plan to build on our years of strong, bipartisan progress and strategic, fiscally responsible leadership.”
Republicans took control of the House in November, after two years of an unprecedented Democrat trifecta in the state government. House Floor Leader Bryan Posthumus, R-Rockford, will deliver the Republican response to Whitmer’s speech.
Going into the State of the State, Republicans are pushing for Whitmer to lay out a practical plan for how she plans to accomplish her goals.
“I have a lot of expectations, but unfortunately, historically what I’ve found them to be is a lot of pie-in-the-sky, ‘here’s what I’m going to do,’ but they have absolutely no basis in reality,” said state Sen. Lana Theis, R-Brighton. “Rather than giving us what the governor’s version is of utopia, I would really love to see some actual details with some actual funding mechanisms.”
Whitmer has taken on a conciliatory tone going into the speech, saying she plans to continue to work across the aisle to avoid legislative deadlocks.
“We still face big challenges, but I know that if we all play on the same team—Team Michigan—we can win,” she said. “I look forward to sharing my vision with my Republican and Democratic partners in the legislature.”
The State of the State will come as the legislature prepares to tackle the fiscal year 2025-2026 state budget. Whitmer’s office laid out her budget recommendations in early February, pushing for record-high K-12 education spending, an increase in funding going to public safety programs, and additional investments into multiple state funds.
While the budget did not include a plan to “fix the damn roads,” her 2018 gubernatorial campaign promise, Whitmer proposed a separate $3 billion Mi Road Ahead plan, which will invest $1 billion in local roads and $250 million in public transit programs throughout the state.
She will likely touch on that plan in her State of the State.
“Fixing the damn roads has been a top priority of mine since day one, but the work is far from over,” Whitmer said Wednesday morning. “We’ve got a plan to continue fixing the roads – lowering costs, [and] improving safety.”
Housing is another issue Whitmer has said she plans to address, calling it one of the state’s “biggest challenges.”
Her 2025-2026 budget recommendations include expanding funding to affordable housing programs, including “the largest investment to build affordable housing in Michigan history” through various state-funded programs.
