Detroit Dems may derail party's plans to ram through leftist agenda during lame-duck session

Two Democrat lawmakers in Michigan have thus far bucked their party and refused to vote to pass a series of bills leftists were hoping to ram through in the waning days of 2024.

For now, Democrats enjoy "trifecta" control over the Michigan House, Senate, and governor's office. With Republicans poised to take over the majority in the House next month, Democrats were hoping to pass several bills relating to gun control, tax hikes, and other leftist pet projects, but they will need every Democrat vote or hope for some Republican crossovers to make that happen.

So far, state Rep. Karen Whitsett and state Sen. Sylvia Santana, both Detroit Democrats, have refused to play ball.

Whitsett pledged to stay home rather than travel to Lansing for the votes on Wednesday. "I’m staying home for my constituents," she said. "We’re not going to be voting on garbage bills that do nothing for our community and have a negative impact."

Santana made similar statements. "I will not be in attendance to vote for the governor's corporate welfare agenda while Democrats ignore priorities that impact urban communities," Santana told the Detroit News in a text message. "We have supported a progressive agenda only to have Black community agenda set aside until the last hours of TRI-fecta."

'I've never seen any lame duck like this.'

Santana is hoping to draw more attention to some criminal justice measures.

Rep. Whitsett appears particularly concerned about protecting tipped employees such as restaurant waitstaff. If legislators do nothing, the base hourly wage for tipped employees in Michigan, which currently sits at $3.93, will increase incrementally over the next few months and years until it skyrockets all the way to $15 by 2030. While their hourly rate will increase, tips are expected to decrease as restaurants raise the price of food to offset the added staffing costs.

Whitsett also wants to address water rates and to settle upon a plan to fund state roads. Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was first elected in 2018 largely on her pledge to "fix the damn roads," which are notoriously dilapidated compared with roads in the surrounding states. One suggestion is to create toll roads, though that idea has received mixed reviews.

Whitsett's determination coupled with House Republicans' refusal to attend the legislative session on Tuesday prompted leftist Democrat Attorney General Dana Nessel to threaten criminal charges against them.

"Article IV of the Michigan Constitution defines the role of the Legislature and how it is to be constituted. The chief purposes of the Legislature are to enact new laws and amend or repeal existing laws," Nessel posted to Facebook on Wednesday. "What Rep. Whitsett and the MI House Republicans have chosen to do today is literally criminal."

Technically, House Speaker Joe Tate, yet another Detroit Democrat, has the power to "call the House," which would compel all missing representatives to the chamber. He can even force police to escort intransigent members there against their will. However, he has not yet exercised that privilege and seemed reluctant to do so last week.

Despite threats from a "complete party-line hack" like Nessel or a possible "call the House" from the speaker, state Republicans aren't going to budge, state Sen. Jim Runestad (R-White Lake) told Blaze News.

"We're holding strong," he said. "We're not going to give them any votes."

Runestad explained to Blaze News that the measures Democrats have attempted to pass during the lame-duck session are being introduced without passing through committee first, making them potentially "catastrophic for the citizens of Michigan." Yet, he said, Democrats "just don't care."

"I've never seen any lame duck like this with more slapped up bills that have no vetting at all," said Runestad, who was first elected to the Senate in 2018 after serving two terms in the state House. "Just some guy in the back room, some activist typing up bill after bill and throwing it up on the floor, amendments that no one's read."

"No one's reading the bills," he continued. "So we're not going along with it."

Runestad expects that if Santana and Whitsett continue to hold out for a couple more days, the session will be adjourned.

This is hardly the first time Rep. Whitsett has publicly defied the Democratic Party. Last year, she refused to vote for the Reproductive Health Act unless it included a provision requiring a 24-hour waiting period before a woman could undergo an abortion.

"I do not think it is too much to ask when someone's terminating a life, a 24-hour pause to be able to say for sure this is the decision you want to make, 24 hours is not too much," she said at the time, Blaze News previously reported.

Whitsett also ruffled Democrat feathers in 2020 when she met with President-elect Donald Trump during his first term in office. That meeting and some kind words about Trump prompted her fellow Democrats to vote to censure her.

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