Watch live: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer talks State of the State at 7 p.m.
- Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will give her penultimate State of the State address Tuesday night in Lansing
- The speech, which begins at 7 p.m., is expected to touch on affordable housing, road funding and extending a tax on nicotine products to vapes
- It’s her first address to a divided government in two years following House Democrats losing the chamber in November
LANSING — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is scheduled to deliver her seventh annual State of the State Address tonight at 7 p.m. in Lansing.
The speech will be her first to a divided government in two years, following last year’s lackluster end to a two-year Democratic trifecta in Michigan. Republicans won back a state House majority in November.
Here’s what you need to know.
Watch live
The speech will be livestreamed starting at 7 p.m. on YouTube, Facebook and on a number of local television stations.
You can watch it here:
Key issues
The second-term Democrat is expected to discuss road funding, affordable housing and more while addressing a joint meeting of House and Senate lawmakers inside the Michigan Capitol.
Related:
- Gretchen Whitmer wants to limit cellphones in Michigan schools, tax vapes
- Michigan asks employers to grow housing with $10M fund: 'Build, baby, build'
- Whitmer’s $84B plan for Michigan schools, housing and more: What to know
It’s also anticipated Whitmer will speak on lowering medical debt for Michiganders, as well as touch on plans to tax vaping cartridges and limit cellphones in K-12 schools.
On cellphones
With respect to cellphones in schools, Whitmer intends to note “detrimental effects” on the “mental health and educational outcomes” of young people. She’ll call on lawmakers to pass legislation limiting — but not outright banning — their use in schools, her office previously told Bridge Michigan.
Regarding vaping
As for vaping, Whitmer is set to mention a proposal to extend the 32% wholesale tax currently placed on tobacco products to other addictive nicotine products like vapes and oral pouches, such as ZYNs.
She first rolled out the tax idea during her budget proposal in early February
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