Rick Pluta

Ann Arbor

Managing Editor at WUOM-FM (Ann Arbor, MI)

Senior Capitol Correspondent and Producer at Michigan Public

Contributor at WEMU 89.1

sometimes I forget how to tweet

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Articles

Whitmer signs bill to forgive school days lost to ice storms

4 days ago | wdet.org | Rick Pluta

Northern Michigan school districts forced into an extended shutdown due to massive ice storms this spring will have a waiver from attendance mandates under a law signed Monday by Governor Gretchen Whitmer. “Many Michigan families are still reeling from the effects of the ice storms that devastated northern Michigan earlier this year,” said Whitmer in a statement released by her office.
Whitmer signs bill to forgive school days lost to ice storms

4 days ago | michiganpublic.org | Rick Pluta

Northern Michigan school districts forced into an extended shutdown due to massive ice storms this spring will have a waiver from attendance mandates under a law signed Monday by Governor Gretchen Whitmer. "Many Michigan families are still reeling from the effects of the ice storms that devastated northern Michigan earlier this year,” said Whitmer in a statement released by her office.
Uncertainty and incivility: 5 takeaways from the annual Mackinac Policy Conference

1 week ago | michiganpublic.org | Zoe Clark |Rick Pluta

Hi! You're reading the It's Just Politics newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the It's Just Politics podcast for all the political news you need each week. The annual Detroit Regional Chamber Mackinac Policy Conference is an annual exercise in political, informational, boozy and caloric excess, so we’re going to stay away from the near-futile task of summing it all up here.
Whitmer: Trump would break promise if he pardons kidnapping plotters

1 week ago | wemu.org | Rick Pluta

Governor Gretchen Whitmer says President Donald Trump would break a promise he made to her if he pardons two men who were convicted of conspiring to kidnap her. Whitmer spoke with Rick Pluta at the Detroit Regional Chamber Conference on Mackinac Island. He started by asking the governor what she makes of these possible pardons. TRANSCRIPTION:Governor Gretchen Whitmer: Well, I think anything short of condemning political violence does a disservice to everyone.
Whitmer: A pardon by Trump for murder plotters would break a promise

1 week ago | wgvunews.org | Rick Pluta

The two men are serving long federal prison sentences after losing attempted appeals. But President Trump said last week that he would consider pardons. Governor Whitmer says if that were to happen, Trump would be reversing a promise he made to her in a White House meeting. “I talked to the President about a month ago and he asked me how I’d feel about this and I said I think it would be the wrong decision.
Whitmer: Trump would break promise if he pardons kidnapping plotters

1 week ago | michiganpublic.org | Rick Pluta

Governor Gretchen Whitmer says President Donald Trump would break a promise he made to her if he pardons two men who were convicted of conspiring to kidnap her. Whitmer spoke with Michigan Public Radio’s Rick Pluta at the Detroit Regional Chamber Conference on Mackinac Island. He started by asking the governor what she makes of these possible pardons. Governor Gretchen Whitmer: Well, I think anything short of condemning political violence does a disservice to everyone.
Michigan House speaker announces new budget review committee with deadline looming

1 week ago | michiganpublic.org | Rick Pluta

Republican state House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) announced Wednesday that a new legislative will review spending and regulations, stoking concerns that this will push adopting a new budget past the deadline. Hall said he is looking to put the Legislature into a stronger position to manage the budget process and spending by state departments.
What early polling tells us about the 2026 race for Gov, U.S. Senate

1 week ago | michiganpublic.org | Zoe Clark |Rick Pluta

The annual Mackinac Policy Conference is underway. Put together by the Detroit Regional Chamber, more than 1,500 business leaders, lawmakers, lobbyists, and philanthropists are meeting on Mackinac Island to discuss policy - and politics. In preparation for the conference, commissioned by the Chamber, the Glengariff Group released new polling highlighting the race for Michigan’s next governor and U.S. Senator.
Lawsuit challenges key state budget practice

1 week ago | wgvunews.org | Rick Pluta

A libertarian-leaning think tank has filed a lawsuit to block spending two on pork-barrel projects in the state budget in hopes of discouraging similar spending in future budgets. The Mackinac Center argues in its filing that the 2024-25 state budget doles out pork barrel funds for ballparks in Lansing and Utica in violation of the Michigan Constitution, which says spending for “local or private purposes” can only be done with two-thirds supermajority votes of the House and the Senate.
Lawsuit says state budget earmarks for specific local projects are unconstitutional

2 weeks ago | michiganpublic.org | Rick Pluta

A libertarian-leaning think tank has filed a lawsuit to block spending two on pork-barrel projects in the state budget in hopes of discouraging similar spending in future budgets. The Mackinac Center argues in its filing that the 2024-25 state budget doles out pork barrel funds for ballparks in Lansing and Utica in violation of the Michigan Constitution, which says spending for “local or private purposes” can only be done with two-thirds supermajority votes of the House and the Senate.