Michigan lame-duck Legislature: House Democrats revolt against Speaker Tate

Last updated: Monday, Dec. 16 at 11:20 a.m. This post will be regularly updated over the final days of the Michigan Legislature's lame-duck session.

Democratic state Rep. Karen Whitsett says she no longer has faith in House Speaker Joe Tate or her party’s ability to get things done after she abruptly walked out of a rare Friday House session that lasted 13 hours.

She’s not the only House Democrat publicly criticizing Tate at a time when the party cannot afford to lose a single vote should they hope to make any progress on policy in the final days of Democratic trifecta control. 

Coupled with a House Republican walkout over failure to advance changes to the state’s sick leave and minimum wage laws, the last scheduled full week of lame-duck currently looks bleak for Democrats.

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Tate, meanwhile, is pushing the blame back onto conservatives, telling reporters following session Friday the reason voting fell apart was “because Republicans wanted to play political games.”

“I think it was really disappointing — frankly, shameful — that colleagues … decided not to come in, not to take votes on bills and actually do their jobs,” Tate said. “We’ve been doing that from the beginning.”

Tate highlighted past accomplishments from the Democratic trifecta, including expansion of the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit and repealing the so-called senior pension tax, calling those proof “all of the work that we’ve done.” 

He also lauded recent passage of Democratic bills to expand unemployment benefits, telling reporters “work is still going to continue as long as I’m in this room.”

But internal divisions could prevent final passage on a number of party priorities this week, including Senate-approved government transparency reforms and plans to hike state trash dumping fees, regulate short term rentals and reform Michigan’s housing and zoning laws.

In a scathing Sunday interview with Gongwer News Service, Whitsett said she felt forced to put her foot down Friday after Tate asked Democrats to vote on bills “that had never been through committee.”

If she does show up to session this week — and Democrats will need her to pass any bills without GOP support — Whitsett said she may not vote on "anything," certainly not what she called "garbage bills," tax increases or proposals she thinks "will eventually hurt people."

"The only thing that came out of this was he was the first Black speaker of the House. Nothing else," she said of Tate. "I have been loyal to Joe… I have been loyal to trying to make sure things continue… It's not my job. I refuse to take the heat for this anymore."

Whitsett declined to speak with Bridge last week and did not immediately respond to a Monday interview request. Her comments, however, have already prompted at least one other House Democrat to speak out.

“Karen is 100% correct,” state Rep. Joey Andrews, D-Saint Joseph, wrote Sunday on social media, saying Tate “lacks the quality of leadership” needed to motivate Democrats, leading to “fecklessness, indecision and indifference.”

“Joe Tate's one remarkable success was uniting liberals and conservatives, labor and business, enviros and corporations in being happy to see his tenure end,” Andrews wrote.

Rep. Betsy Coffia, D-Traverse City, has also been a staunch critic of Tate’s leadership since Democrats lost their House majority in the November election.  Last week, she posted then abruptly deleted screenshots of a text exchange between herself and Tate from May. 

In the texts, Coffia said she was disappointed the chamber had not yet held votes on a number of bills, including hate crime legislation, mental health insurance coverage, work protections for nurses and more.

“What is a majority for?” Coffia wrote in a text to Tate, according to the screenshots. “Why are those of us who fight for them treated like a problem and punished? For god’s sake, who the hell are we?”