Updates About Governor

The Michigan Court of Appeals recently vacated the convictions of Joseph Morrison. Morrison was a member of the Wolverine Watchmen militia group and was convicted in 2022 for providing material support for an act of terrorism, gang membership felonies, and felony firearm charges in connection with the 2020 plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

The three-judge panel was unanimous in their decision that ruled kidnapping does not qualify as a violent felony under the statute that was used to support Morrison’s terrorism conviction. His terrorism conviction was used as the underlying offense for the gang membership and felony firearm convictions, meaning they also had to be vacated. The court sent the case to Jackson County Circuit Court for a new trial, finding that jurors on the original trial may have relied on kidnapping as the underlying violent felony when reaching their verdict.

The decision came under heavy criticism among Michigan’s elected Democratic lawmakers. Attorney General Dana Nessel announced that her office intends to appeal the ruling.

Governor Whitmer recently signed legislation allocating $152 million for infrastructure upgrades at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in preparation for a new mission. The signing ceremony took place at the 2026 Mackinac Policy Conference, where Whitmer thanked both President Biden and President Trump as well as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for the effort.

The funding will be used for various upgrades, repairs, and construction projects such as runway improvements and new jet hangars. Whitmer and Brigadier General Daniel Kramer stressed the importance of the investment to both Macomb County and Michigan’s broader economy and military future.

The Michigan Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on DHHS recently released their budget recommendations for the department for Fiscal Year 2026-2027 (FY 27). The proposal came in at $40.4 billion ($7.6 billion GF/GP), a gross increase from last year of $10.5 billion ($206.9 million GF/GP). The Senate came in $500 million under Gov. Whitmer’s proposal.

Notably, the Senate recommendation did not include new taxes proposed by the Governor on digital advertising, tobacco, vapes, and other nicotine products, or the changes to online gambling taxes, that would generate an estimated $800 million to assist in covering Medicaid costs. While the Senate did not include any identified Medicaid cost savings in its budget, Gov. Whitmer’s proposal included $150 million in savings and House Republicans called for $300 million. The Senate also proposed 485 new Full-Time Employees (FTEs) compared to the 589 new positions recommended by the Governor.

A brief overview of the Michigan House Republicans proposal can be found here.