NEW GOP SPEAKER of the Michigan state House Matt Hall at a roundtable discussion Thursday in the State Capitol Building in Lansing. (Anna Liz Nichols/Michigan Advance)

People in Michigan are navigating the increasing cost of living and Republicans in the state House are ready to get back to work to make life better for residents, new House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, said during a media roundtable as the new legislative session began this week.

Republicans regained their long-held majority in the Michigan House in the November election, flipping Democrats’ 56-54 majority to a 58-52 advantage for Republicans. They started the session off with introducing bills to curtail a state Supreme Court decision expanding paid sick leave for workers, increasing the minimum wage and phasing out the tipped wage credit.

“People are struggling. That’s why they voted out Democrats, because the energy prices are too high, the taxes, the cost of living is so high. People are trying to pay for their prescription drugs, they’re trying to pay for household goods. They’re trying to pay for groceries,” Hall said Thursday. “I want to fix our roads, fix our bridges, fix water and sewer infrastructure, do the public safety trust fund … and help make public safety a big priority in Michigan.”

So far in the first week of session, Republican leadership has introduced bills and created a committee to address impending changes to Michigan’s minimum wage and sick leave policies and made plans to expand investigatory responsibilities of the House Oversight Committee.

At the end of the 2022-24 session, Republicans left session, refusing to come back for votes until Democratic leadership agreed to take up policies amending soon-to-come changes to Michigan’s minimum wage and sick leave policies, while also decrying lack of momentum on a plan to fund road repairs.

And as Republicans were joined by Detroit Democratic Rep. Karen Whitsett, citing her own disappointment with Democrats’ inaction on legislative efforts important to her district, the House did not have enough members for a quorum and the session ended.

“I have a lot of respect for Rep. Whitsett,” Hall said. “She’s one of the most politically tough and courageous members of this body. She fights for her district unlike anybody that I’ve ever seen up here. She deserves a lot of credit for that.”

Since then, The Detroit News reported Whitsett will not be joining Democrats for caucus meetings this session, saying, “I just don’t think it’s wise for me to go to caucus, or fair, because of my relationship with Matt Hall and also being a Dem.”

There will be plenty of areas for bipartisan collaboration on good policy, Hall said, but water affordability measures like the ones Whitsett has advocated for aren’t necessarily included.

“We’ve not really discussed the water affordability. I believe that we need to invest in our water and sewer infrastructure. My members are not really looking to raise taxes, whether that’s for any water or anything else. I mean, with the cost of living right now, the people of Michigan can’t afford more tax increases,” Hall said. “There are a lot of other areas where there’s opportunities for collaboration with her and other Democrats.”

Expanding the ability for the public to submit public records requests for the governor and Legislature is not a priority for Hall, either. Michigan is one of two states that exempts the governor and legislature from public records requests in the state’s Freedom of Information Act.

For about a decade, Democratic and Republican lawmakers have made attempts to expand FOIA, but legislation has died each session.

The FOIA expansion is a top priority for the Democratic-controlled Senate, where bipartisan bills were the first to be introduced this session and are already teed up for votes on the floor.

But Hall said the House isn’t eager to act.

“You’re not going to see fast action on the FOIA stuff for me in the House. You’re just not,” Hall said.

Hall noted that he looks forward to working with Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to get the things they both agree on into law.

Whitmer, who was a co-chair of the campaigns for both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, is expected to make her own presidential run. The governor seems to have changed her approach to President-elect Donald Trump as he is set to begin his second term.

In his first term, Whitmer and Trump had a combative relationship, notably during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Now much of Whitmer’s rhetoric has centered on working with the incoming president to improve the lives of Michiganders.

Hall touted his relationship with Whitmer.

“I think the governor and I have a pretty positive relationship. I think you can respect each other and disagree. … Gov. Whitmer is a very talented politician,” Hall said. “It was probably very surprising to most of you and the governor that Donald Trump won by even more than he’s ever won before. … He really tapped into issues that mattered to people in Michigan. … I give her a lot of credit for changing her mind from last time and having the courage to reach out and offer her hand in partnership.”

Trump won Michigan in 2016 and again in 2024, following his 2020 loss. Last year, Trump defeated Harris by 1.4 percentage points, or about 80,000 votes.

And as Republicans are jubilant to have the gavel back in the House, there are still bills from last session that Whitmer will have to review for her approval. However, as reported by Gongwer News Service, Democratic leadership did not send all the bills from the previous session over to the governor’s desk before Republicans took control. Now Hall is refusing to send them over.

Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, slammed Hall’s decision to hold up the bills to hold a legal review, saying on social media that Hall has the constitutional duty to present the bills, which cleared the Legislature, to the governor.

The bills include a tax milage to support museums in Detroit and increasing the amount public employers have to pay toward employees’ health care costs.

Hall said Democrats rushed through hundreds of bills during the last days of the legislative session, without holding committee hearings for some and not allowing enough time for Republicans to review them. Now that there is time to review the bills, Hall said, contending that the law doesn’t place a distinct timeline on when the bills need to be presented to the governor.

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