Long-anticipated strategies for growing Michigan’s population were released this month by a 20-member group assembled by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. 

Education and transportation reforms top the list of the Growing Michigan Together Council’s 85-page report designed to spur growth and attraction in the state, especially for younger adults.  Whitmer announced the creation of the commission during the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference in May. 

Days after the council’s report, encouraging new Census data indicated Michigan’s population increased by 3,980 people in 2023. The report – which did not address costs, including potential tax increases – was met with mixed reactions among lawmakers. 

BridgeDetroit Engagement Director Orlando Bailey and reporter Micah Walker sat with Whitmer and Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist to discuss next steps regarding growing the state’s population, reparative policy regarding the resurfacing of I-375, voting rights, early childhood education and whether Whitmer would sign a land value tax law if it makes it out of the legislature. 

Editor’s note: This conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity 

BridgeDetroit: The population growth council’s recommendations are out. What’s next?

Whitmer: We’re all reading through the report to figure out what can we do quickly? What is going to take legislative action? What is a longer vision? We didn’t get here overnight. We’ve seen stagnant or population loss over decades. 

But under my administration I’ve said, ‘we’ve got to start doing the work to make sure we reverse this trend.’ It will not be fixed overnight. It will not be done by the time I’m done being governor, but I want us to have a blueprint to start working from.

A lot of things we’ve done in the last year – $1 billion in tax relief, investments in people and education, free breakfast and lunch for kids in schools, the Crown Act, LGBTQ rights and the expansion of the Elliott Larson Act, women’s reproductive rights, voting rights – we’ve done a lot of good things that will help us lure talent into Michigan and keep talent here, but there’s a lot more that we need to do as a state.

I’m excited, grateful that they did this work. It was intensive work, they delved into a lot of data and now it’s on us to say ‘what are the next steps we’re going to take.’ 

BridgeDetroit: There’s already rumblings from some Republicans in the Legislature around how much this might cost and it looks expensive. What do you say to that?

Whitmer: No one should pre-judge. Everyone should actually read the report and we can talk about where we can find common ground. 

There are some undeniable things. We have to be a place where people can see real opportunity and that’s a path to prosperity to every person no matter who you are, what skills you come with. But we have opportunities to upskill, bringing the cost down for people so they don’t have to go into a lot of debt to get skills.

There are going to be a lot of pieces we can find common ground on. But anyone who hasn’t read the report and just wants to criticize it, I don’t think they are really interested in solving problems. They want to score political points and I don’t have time for that. 

BridgeDetroit: Michigan has become the first state in the country to automatically register formerly incarcerated people to vote. Why was it important for you to make that voting process easier for that population?

Whitmer: It’s interesting that so few returning citizens, (who) paid their debt to society and now are back home, didn’t realize they are permitted to vote in Michigan like they are in a lot of states.

We wanted to take out any bureaucracy between individuals and their ability to vote. One of the other great things in this voting rights package is that we are pre-registering. So 16 year olds can pre-register to vote, so when they turn 18 it’s done and it’s not another thing for them to do. 

Gilchrist: In terms of automatic voter registration, it is making sure people have the full access of the justice they have a right to. This year, we’ve implemented a policy called Clean Slate, where people who have made a mistake but have served their time, they have paid their debt to the state and to society, they should now be able to be full participants in life.

They should be able to get a house or an apartment, go back to school, be reunited with their children and their families, but too many people were not able to do that because they have something on their record.

But our automatic Clean Slate criminal record expungement program will give people that justice to re-enter society fully. 

BridgeDetroit: Remembering how a mob disrupted the vote tabulation process in Detroit in 2020, how does this voting rights legislation protect the votes (cast)? 

Gilchrist: The package that the governor signed also protects our election workers, the people who are frankly the front-line workers of our democracy, to make sure they can be safe, free from intimidation and fear so they can do the work of democracy here in Michigan.

We know that the work of democracy in Michigan matters nationally, so I’m proud that our state has been one that stepped up to stand in the gap for people so those vote suppressors, those vote denyers, they cannot beat out democracy in Michigan because of the stand that we’ve taken.

BridgeDetroit: Engagement on the I-375 resurfacing project is on hold. You both have talked about making a reparative investment in the community that was lost. Right now, there’s some controversy around how to move forward. How do you see a path forward to ensure Black folks who lost everything get that reparative investment? 

Whitmer: This is a real collaboration. The Biden administration, we had Secretary (Pete) Buttigieg here, the city of Detroit historians, this is really supposed to be a collaborative effort. And if we’re going to be successful in honoring what the goal is, (which is) to make a real investment in the city of Detroit and the people of Detroit, recognize a wrong that was done generations ago and build a city where all people can see themselves and a future, we’ve got to get it right.

There’s been robust conversation with the community. We’ve got to continue moving this forward and we will. I’m grateful so many people in the community have taken part. That’s a good, healthy thing. The worst thing would be for decision-makers who aren’t from Detroit to think that they know what the community wants and needs and impose something.

That’s why we’ve taken a little longer – sometimes a little more challenging tact – but it’s important that we get it right.

BridgeDetroit: With the six-month mark of MI-LEAP coming up, how will the department support preschoolers and high schools in Detroit, especially as graduation rates remain low?

Whitmer: Every governor who has come before me has tried to make some sense out of all the disparate ways that we address lifelong learning in Michigan in a variety of departments.

The state Board of Education they’ve got an important role, the state superintendent, he also has an important role, but at the end of the day we’ve got to make sure that we have a philosophy and a strategy around lifelong learning. 

It used to be you could get a high school degree and walk right onto the line and walk right into the middle-class. But now, we’ve got to continually enhance our skill set. That’s what this new department is really focused on … now it’s all housed in one (place).

As I introduce the budget, you’ll see some of the ways I hope to really enhance that work and make sure Michigan is a state of lifelong learners.

When I first became governor, I set our goal at “60 by 30,” so that’s 60% of our adults with a post-secondary certificate or degree by 2030. We were under 45% at the time, we’re now north of 50% even with the pandemic we’re making progress.

That’s good but we’ve got to stay at it. This department is going to be a real crucial asset in that work.

Gilchrist: All three of my children are in Detroit public schools. This is deeply personal to me that we get this right. MI-LEAP is structured with three offices.

One is an office of early childhood education, establishing, organizing and streamlining the way that the state can support our early education professionals and the apparatus that will allow us to get free pre-k to every four-year-old in the state of Michigan.

To have child care providers know that they are well-supported by the state of Michigan, that they will have a pipeline of professionals that can just love on our kids and educate them and prepare them to be early readers and I’m excited to see what this department can do to deliver that.

That investment in early learning positions young people to be successful in elementary, middle and high school. 

BridgeDetroit: The mayoral administration in Detroit has lobbied for the land value tax in the state of Michigan. If that makes it through, is that something that you will sign into law Gov. Whitmer?

Whitmer: That has not made it to my desk yet and it is always hard to say what something is finally going to look like because they often go through many iterations. But yes, I think the mayor has made a compelling case.

I understand that it’s not universal and perhaps it may take some changes as it works its way through the Legislature, but I’m inclined to look favorably on it.