Michigan Capitol Confidential

Michigan Capitol Confidential serves as a news platform for residents in Michigan looking for an alternative viewpoint to the typical "bigger government" solutions in policy discussions. CapCon provides reports from a free-market standpoint, focusing on public officials who advocate for reducing government size, those who oppose it, and those whose voting records contradict their stated positions.

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Michigan’s updated pandemic playbook heavy on lockdowns, light on proof

1 week ago | michigancapitolconfidential.com | Jamie A. Hope

Michigan's current pandemic plan cites evidence that does not appear to support its lockdown measures, according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services updated its pandemic emergency plan in 2024, several years after the last of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s lockdowns came to an end.
Gilchrist-led trip spent $245,000 on 2024 overseas trip

1 week ago | michigancapitolconfidential.com | Scott McClallen

Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist led a delegation that spent about $245,000 on a five-day economic development trip to Europe, according to more than 1,300 spending documents obtained through a record request. Gilchrist was highest-ranking official in a group consisting of at least 14 people. When not in meetings, members visited the Imperial War Museum, the Churchill War Room and the Brooklands Museum.
Carrollton teacher hopes that Michigan lawmaker ‘chokes on a bag of [expletive] and dies’

2 weeks ago | michigancapitolconfidential.com | Jamie A. Hope

This article contains partially expunged profane, vulgar and obscene language. A Carrollton Public Schools teacher delivered a threatening and profanity-laced speech during a Bay City commissioners meeting earlier this week. Michigan Capitol Confidential confirmed with multiple sources that the speaker is Matthew Sylvester, a history teacher at Carrollton Public Schools.
Consumers Energy requests another rate hike one week after approval of $154 million increase

2 weeks ago | michigancapitolconfidential.com | Jamie A. Hope

Attorney General Dana Nessel criticized Consumers Energy on April 1 for seeking a rate hike request shortly after the Michigan Public Service Commission approved a $154 million increase it sought in an earlier request. The earlier request, from 2024, was settled on March 21, 2025, Danny Wimmer, press secretary for Nessel, told Michigan Capitol Confidential in an email.
Whitmer seeks $7.8M for road funding solution, six years after pledging to fix the roads

2 weeks ago | michigancapitolconfidential.com | Scott McClallen

In 2019, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer campaigned on fixing the damn roads. She pitched a 45-cent-per-gallon gas tax hike that lawmakers rejected. Six years later and as a second-term governor, Whitmer called again for new taxes to fix the roads. She wants to raise the corporate income tax from 6% to 8.5% to raise $1.6 billion, tax marijuana 32% at the wholesale level to raise $470 million, and to make $500 million in unspecified spending cuts.
Conservation officers may soon need warrants to enter private land

2 weeks ago | michigancapitolconfidential.com | Scott McClallen

Michigan’s conservation police officers should get a warrant before entering private property, according to a new bill. House Bills 4073 and 4074 aim to require the police force within the Department of Natural Resources to obtain a search warrant before entering private property and wear body cameras. State Rep. Dave Prestin, R-Cedar River, testified on March 26 before the House Natural Resources and Tourism Committee.
Farmers, builders accuse state environmental agency of bullying and overreach

2 weeks ago | michigancapitolconfidential.com | Jamie A. Hope

More than 10 agriculture professionals alleged bullying, intimidation and harassment by state environmental officials at a recent hearing. Agricultural professionals who have had run-ins with the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy descended on the Capitol on March 18, some with tractors in tow, to air their grievances. The environmental agency has strangled the state’s food and farming industry, according to testimony in the over three-hour hearing of the House Oversight Committee.
EGLE flap leaves 150,000 tons of waste headed for Michigan landfills

2 weeks ago | michigancapitolconfidential.com | Jamie A. Hope

As tractors lined the streets around the Michigan Capitol, legislators heard testimony last month that the state’s environmental agency had abused its power and had unnecessarily caused waste to be sent to landfills. A renewable energy company that converts organic waste into electricity left the state in 2023, a witness told lawmakers at a March 18 hearing at the House Oversight Committee, adding that state regulators had pushed the company out of Michigan.
Michigan’s outdated food stamp cards cost poor families $846K in stolen benefits

2 weeks ago | michigancapitolconfidential.com | Scott McClallen

Poor Michigan families had more than $846,856 stolen from them in fiscal year 2025 because the food stamp program in the state hasn’t updated its card technology from magnetic stripes to chips. This lax security protocol allows criminals to drain food stamp accounts, sometimes from halfway around the world.
Michigan Education board member claims funding cuts after record funding

3 weeks ago | michigancapitolconfidential.com | Jamie A. Hope

A Michigan Department of Education board member decried the lack of funding in public education during a March 11 meeting. Schools must deal with “significant cuts in funding, which means schools are trying to do at least what they’re doing with less if not trying to do more with less,” said board member Mitchell Robinson. Robinson said school districts have focused on standardized tests and narrowed the curriculum by cutting subjects such as music and social studies.