President Joe Biden met with congressional leaders May 9 in hopes of coming to an agreement to raise the country’s debt limit, or the cap on how much the federal government can borrow to pay for its functions and programs. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced that the country reached its debt limit in January, prompting “extraordinary measures” to maintain government functions as lawmakers negotiate a deal. On May 1, Yellen warned that the U.S. could hit its debt limit by June 1, which could trigger a national financial crisis. With the June 1 deadline looming, The Michigan Daily examined how a potential default on the national debt would impact University of Michigan students.

In an interview with The Daily, Justin Wolfers, U-M professor of economics and public policy, explained how the national debt works and why it has become a politically polarizing issue.

“In important respects, government debt is like regular debt, when you spend more than you take in,” Wolfers said. “The government doesn’t have any savings, so therefore if you decide to spend more than you take in, you must borrow. That’s what the government debt is.”

The federal government generally incurs financial debt by issuing bonds, a type of loan from the government to public and private buyers. According to Wolfers, historically, when the government ran out of bonds, Congress would increase the limit without stipulations. However, Wolfers said political polarization in the last 20 years has made raising the debt limit less politically feasible, risking economic distress.

“At various points in the last 20 years, one side or the other, but predominantly Republicans, said, ‘Oh if we don’t do this, we can hold the other side up for ransom,’” Wolfers said. “Historically, no one did this because not raising the debt limit would be bad for the economy, bad for the constituents.”

If Congress is unable to reach a deal by the X-date, or the date when government money runs out, Wolfers said the economy may enter a condition similar to the 2008 financial crisis.

“If we show that there’s no reason for global markets to be confident that they’ll be repaid when they lend money to the (United States), that will cause an enormous change in interest rates,” Wolfers said. “That would cause a financial shock of a form that we don’t fully know the answer (to). We do know if everyone’s running around worried that everyone else is secretly broke, that’s going to create the problems we saw in 2008 and 2009.”

Wolfers also emphasized the potential impact of a debt default for students who are on federal financial aid or working for professors with federal grants.

“I imagine there are some number of students on federal financial aid, and if they’re waiting for the next check from the government, it’s not coming,” Wolfers said. “I know many students work for faculty who are on federal grants, and those grants are not coming.”

In an email to The Daily, University spokesperson Kim Broekhuizen said the University is monitoring the situation, though at this point is unable to determine how students relying on financial aid would be affected.

“The impact that this would have on federal aid is not known at this time,” Broekhuizen wrote. “The situation is being monitored closely by the Office of Financial Aid, but there isn’t enough information available to speculate on how financial aid for U-M students would be affected, if at all. The underlying statutes and determinations of federal student aid do not change if the U.S. government were to default on its debts.”

Broekhuizen said the University would provide assistance to students affected by a default through OFA programs, but recognized that most difficulties students may face would be a product of broader effects on the economy.

“(The Office of Financial Aid) has existing practices to address the needs of students and families experiencing unique hardships and those will still be in place regardless of what happens with the debt ceiling conversations,” Broekhuizen wrote. “The impact of the U.S. government defaulting on its debts isn’t specific to Higher Education so the effect on U-M students will be tied to the effect on the overall economy. Not enough is known at this time to anticipate the resulting needs of U-M students and families.”

According to Broekhuizen, U-M students received $301.2 million in federal financial aid during the 2021-2022 school year, with 40.7% of presumed eligible students receiving some form of federal aid.

Citing evidence from the 2008 financial crisis, Wolfers said rising seniors may also face difficulties finding employment after graduation if the U.S. defaulted on its debt.

“If we have a financial crisis, the next generation of seniors are going to graduate into a recession,” Wolfers said. “The students who graduated in 2009 had a really hard time getting a job. In fact, there’s research to show that many years later, their wages are lower than folks who graduated during better economic times. So it changes your post-college life literally for decades.” 

Rising LSA sophomore Aaron Castro, who relies on federal financial aid and programs, said he feels worried about the potential harms of the debt default on the cost of his education. 

“Anyone receiving federal funding, like (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits) for example, they will probably not receive their funds very quickly or at all,” Castro said. “So that’s sort of concerning. And everything will probably get a little more expensive due to the possibility of another recession coming from this, so students would take a big hit if we couldn’t get this passed.”

House Republican and Democrat leaders met with Biden Tuesday and told reporters they expect a deal to raise the debt ceiling in the coming days. Speaking in a press conference at the White House on Wednesday, Biden said government leaders were focused on avoiding a debt default.

“Every leader in the room understands the consequences if we failed to pay our bills,” Biden said. “And it would be catastrophic for the American economy and the American people.”

While Congressional leaders may come to an agreement to raise the debt ceiling, Wolfers said it could be difficult to vote on the agreed-upon legislation, citing House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s slow election to the speakership, taking a historic 15 rounds of voting.

“The concern is that in the current Congress, (House Speaker Kevin) McCarthy couldn’t even organize his own party to elect himself Speaker of the House,” Wolfers said. “How confident are you that he can organize his own party to pass a debt limit raise?”

Daily Staff Reporter Joshua Nicholson can be reached at joshuni@umich.edu. Summer News Editor Astrid Code contributed reporting to this article.

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Family, friends, faculty and graduates of the Ford School of Public Policy gathered at Hill Auditorium Sunday afternoon to celebrate this year’s graduating classes. The school awarded four doctorate degrees, 107 Master’s degrees and 78 Bachelor’s degrees. 

The commencement ceremony opened with remarks from Celeste Watkins-Hayes, interim dean of the Public Policy School. Watkins-Hayes began by commending graduates for their achievements.

“We gather here today in this beautiful space to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of our 189 outstanding graduates,” Watkins-Hayes said. “Smart, resilient, public-minded people who will be leading —  and more importantly serving — our communities.”

Watkins-Hayes then described the mission of the Public Policy School and said she hopes the graduates continue to embody the University’s values after graduation. She highlighted the achievements of former President Gerald Ford, for whom the Public Policy School is named, as a source of inspiration for students.

“We inspire and prepare diverse leaders grounded in service, conduct transformational research and collaborate on evidence-based policymaking to take on our communities and our world’s most difficult challenges,” Watkins-Hayes said. “Service is at the core of the legacy of our nation’s 38th president and one of the University of Michigan’s most distinguished graduates.”

U-M alum Annie Maxwell delivered an address to the graduating classes on how a U-M education will prepare them for the shifting nature of the current political landscape. Maxwell said she admires graduates for choosing a public policy degree during a time of political unrest and turmoil.

“When I applied (to the Public Policy School) in the spring of 2000, the world was a very different place, and, in many ways, a more stable place,” Maxwell said. “I decided on a public policy degree in about as optimistic and naive a way as possible. But you, as a class, made a very different decision. The world is a much more dynamic and, dare I say, chaotic place than it was 20 years ago.”

The undergraduate and graduate student classes at the Public Policy School each elected a student speaker to represent them at commencement. Graduating Public Policy senior Joe Timmer represented the undergraduate class of 2023 and said he enjoyed watching himself and his classmates grow into the people they are today.

“Our graduation is a big deal, worthy of the pomp and circumstance of this ceremony and all the celebrations with family and friends that happen after, but the ceremony isn’t really about anything we actually did today,” Timmer said. “Every day leading up to this day is the reason that we got here. I hope today can be a celebration beyond your graduation. I hope that it can be a celebration of the person who walked in your shoes every day leading up to it.”

Public Policy graduate student Aissa Wandarama, speaker for the Master’s graduating classes, said despite struggling during her time at the Public Policy School, she came out the other side a stronger person.

“I hold a sense of pride and accomplishment for the personal growth and learning experiences I have gained here,” Wandarama said. “I recognize that this moment would not be possible without overcoming the challenges that I face as a woman, a woman of Color, an African, a Muslim and an immigrant. I felt the demands of grad school on top of the demands of being a full-time parent.”

At the closing of the ceremony, Watkins-Hayes presented the 2023 graduates of the Public Policy School. 

“Graduates, we’re grateful to have served you and we know that you’ll continue to serve others.,” Watkins-Hayes said. “I believe in you, I’m proud of you and I know that what we taught here will serve you well. Never forget that the Ford School is your home in Ann Arbor. Go forward and go blue.”

Summer Managing News Editor Mary Corey can be reached at mcorey@umich.edu.

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Each month, The Michigan Daily publishes a compilation of bills in the Michigan legislature for students at the University of Michigan to know about.

The following article explains five bills that have been introduced, passed or signed into law by the Michigan legislature or Gov. Gretchen Whitmer throughout the month of April. 

1. Implementation of “red flag” laws 

Status: Passed by both chambers

First introduced on Feb. 16 by state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, Senate Bill 0083, formally known as the Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, would allow a court to temporarily confiscate an individual’s guns if there is a reasonable risk that they may seriously harm themselves or others with the firearms in their possession. The bill was passed by the House on April 19th. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has said she plans to sign the bill in the coming weeks. 

When the bill is signed, Michigan will join 19 other states with “red flag laws.” . A study by the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California-Davis credits California’s red flag law with preventing 58 instances of gun violence and suicide since its enactment in 2016, concluding that the law is an effective means to prevent gun violence. 

The bill follows other gun control measures signed by Whitmer in recent weeks, including universal background checks and secure storage laws. In a press release following the legislature’s passage of the bill, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel expressed her support for the policy.

“What is clear, after years of witnessing horrific gun violence across school campuses, places of worship, and elsewhere, is that some people simply should not have firearms,” Nessel said. “This law will allow concerned friends, family, and law enforcement to act in a way that prevents senseless gun violence and deaths in our state.”

2. Removal of A-F ranking system for public schools 

Status: Introduced in the Senate

Introduced by state Rep. Matt Koleszar, D-Plymouth, House Bill 4166 would revise 1976 PA 451 to eliminate the requirement for the Michigan Department of Education to assign letter grades to public schools based on student performance. Under the current law, the MDOE is required to annually rank Michigan public schools by Sept. 1 on a variety of metrics and implement accountability measures for schools ranked in the bottom 5%. If the bill is signed into law, the MDOE would rank schools on a list of individual metrics instead of assigning an overall letter grade.

When introducing the bill, Koleszar said the current law too heavily generalizes school performance across the state.

“The A through F system has also been criticized by many school officials, citing that it is too simplistic and could unfairly hit schools with a bad grade overall when the school is improving in some areas,” Koleszar said. “It is also argued that the system is overly general.”

The bill passed the House and was assigned to the Senate Committee on Education for review.

3. Ban on using mobile devices when driving 

Status: Introduced in the House

First introduced March 9 by state Rep. Matt Koleszar, House Bill 4250, which is part of a package alongside House Bill 4251 and House Bill 4252, would prohibit the use of mobile devices when operating a motor vehicle.

The bill amends the current law, which only prohibits texting and driving, to ban all uses of mobile devices while driving including phone calls and social media. The bill also prohibits using a mobile device when in a running vehicle, not just while actively driving. 

State Rep. Tyrone Carter, D-Detroit, who co-sponsored H.B. 4251, said he believes the current law is not up to date with current technology.

“Michigan’s distracted driving laws need to be updated to ensure the safety of our drivers,” Carter said. “Simply banning texting is not enough with the evolution of technology and the convenience of smartphones. I am hopeful these laws will help to protect our loved ones and get them home safely each day.”

The bill has been referred to a second reading in the House.

4. Cursive instruction in Michigan public schools 

Status: Introduced in the Senate

First introduced in February by state Rep. Brenda Carter, D-Pontiac, House Bill 4064 would allow the MDOE to develop and implement cursive instruction coursework for public schools. As passed by the House on April 13, the bill would not require the department to implement a cursive program, but would strongly encourage it in addition to making the program available by the 2024-2025 school year. 

If signed into law, the bill would make Michigan the 22nd state to mandate cursive writing instruction in public schools. While cursive is not included in Michigan’s most recent education standards, the MDOE has said it already has a model program for instruction which can be immediately implemented once the bill is signed.

In a statement issued after the bill’s passage by the House, Carter said cursive was key to improving cognitive skills in the state’s elementary students.

“The benefits of ensuring our kids are taught cursive in school are far more than just teaching them how to sign their names,” Carter wrote. “By passing this bill, we will help children develop better memories and improve their cognitive function. It is a well-known fact among the scientific community that children and adults alike need to learn and develop handwriting skills.”

The bill has been delivered to the Senate and referred to the Committee on Education.

5. Repeal Michigan’s law criminalizing sodomy 

Status: Introduced in the House

Introduced on April 19 by state Rep. Noah Arbit, D-West Bloomfield, House Bill 4431 would amend the Michigan Penal Code to repeal the state ban on sodomy. While Michigan’s sodomy law was deemed unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in the 2003 case Lawrence v. Texas, the ban is still in the penal code, and some activists have expressed concern over Justice Clarence Thomas’ comment that the court should reconsider the Lawrence case. If Lawrence v. Texas was overturned, Michigan’s sodomy ban would immediately go back into effect. 

The bill, alongside House Bill 4432 and House Bill 4433, would remove references to sodomy in the penal code and add in penalties for bestiality. Under the current law, sodomy is a Class E felony that could result in up to 15 years in prison. 

Daily Staff Reporter Joshua Nicholson can be reached at joshuni@umich.edu.

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About 165 community members and University of Michigan students gathered in the Michigan Union Thursday evening for a discussion on race and politics in urban spaces across the United States, with an emphasis on Postwar Detroit, organized by The Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies.

The keynote speaker of the event was Thomas Sugrue, a professor of history and social and cultural analysis at New York University. Sugrue was joined by Angela Dillard, chair of the U-M History Department, and U-M history professor Matthew Lassiter. Associate history professor John Carson, who helped organize the event, began the discussion by introducing the speakers.

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Sugrue said the resources at the University of Michigan helped him write his first book, The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit. He said he spent many hours in the Bentley Historical Library on campus doing research for the book. Sugrue opened the event by talking about his roots as a Detroit native and explaining how growing up in the city has played a significant role in his work. 

“I grew up on Detroit’s West Side in a pretty modest neighborhood that went from being all white to predominantly Black in just about four years when I was a kid,” Sugrue said. “That’s part of the reason I decided to write about Detroit.”

Sugrue continued his keynote address by providing an overview on how systemic racism has played a role in the history of Detroit, leading to a state of ‘urban crisis,’ a point when living conditions in a city begin to deteriorate. Surgue said many of the urban crisesthe city faced started before the 1967 race riots — a series of violent confrontations between Detroit police and Black residents that led to mounting political and social tension in the city.

“The history of inequality in Detroit and America is fundamentally a political history shaped by a long history of political failure,” Sugrue said. “Or maybe to think about it differently, (it was shaped) by a political system that was meant to bring failure to a larger system by creating, reinforcing and protecting those who benefited from poverty and racial inequality.”

Sugrue discussed various topics related to Detroit and the experiences of African American people in urban areas. They discussed gentrification, the process by which high-income, college-educated people who are often white move into underdeveloped, non-white neighborhoods. Gentrification can cause cultural and economic shifts that may drive out longtime residents, who are often low-income and people of Color. The panelists also talked about the resulting disparities in gentrified neighborhoods. Sugrue said the primary challenge cities like Detroit are facing is a lack of affordable housing, which is exacerbated by gentrification.

“What we’re seeing is a pattern that is playing out in lots of places,” Sugrue said. “They look a lot like Detroit in terms of the scope and scale of gentrification: When you get out of the gentrified core, those cities are essentially still in ‘urban crisis’. Detroit is continuing to experience disinvestment, impoverishment (and) a collapse of the economy of urban infrastructure and institutions.”

As the conversation turned to urban policing, Lassiter said the Detroit police have historically served to further segregate the city. 

“(The Detroit police was) an all-white institution (and) — really through the late ’60s — a white supremacist institution that terrorized Black people along and across the color line,” Lassiter said. “They operated the way we would imagine a police department would operate in a Jim Crow southern city.”

After the event, Business sophomore Hunter Heyman told The Daily he attended the event to develop his interest in the intersection between race and urbanization on behalf of the Urban Planning Student Association.

“Understanding the race and political history behind urban development is something I’ve always been interested (in),” Heyman said. “Something we’ve talked about a lot was urbanism with a focus on community input. Having that same (idea) coming from historians is very positive.”

Business freshman Paige Davis also attended and said the event deepened her understanding of the racial history of Detroit. 

“What I found most interesting was how they talked about the Detroit Police system being a white supremacist organization back in the (the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s),” Davis said. 

Sugrue told The Daily in an interview before the event that he hoped the panel discussion would help put the conflicts we face in the present day into a historical perspective.“Ultimately, the questions that I’m grappling with are some of the biggest questions that we in American society are still trying to figure out,” Sugrue said. “I hope that a historical perspective will help us to understand the present that we’re (living) in and ways to imagine a different future.”

Daily Staff Reporter Joanna Chait can be reached at jchait@umich.edu and Daily News Contributor Ashwath Subramanian can be reached at ashwaths@umich.edu.

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Kim Dong Yeon, the governor of the Gyeonggi province — the largest province in South Korea — presented the 11th annual Sang-Yong Nam lecture on democracy at the University of Michigan Museum of Art Monday afternoon. About 100 students and Ann Arbor community members attended the event, which was hosted by the Nam Center for Korean Studies along with the Ford School of Public Policy.

Kim earned his doctorate from the School of Public Policy in 1993 and has served as a Korean government official since 2014. After serving as the Minister of Economy and Finance and the Deputy Prime Minister of the country, Kim took office as governor on July 1, 2022. 

The event is also where the Sang-Yong Nam Award is presented, which annually grants $3,000 to a graduating senior or a recent graduate of the Korean Studies program. Nam Sang-Yong, the namesake of the Center for Korean Studies, was the department’s largest benefactor, having donated more than $4 million to the program.

In an interview with The Michigan Daily at the lecture, LSA junior Jinny Kim said it was a special event because it commemorated Nam and his contributions to the department.

“I think this event is really big because it’s the one time that the Nam family comes out to celebrate (since) their father’s passing and also just what he has done for our center,” Jinny Kim said. 

LSA senior Olivia Daniel was announced as this year’s recipient of the Sang-Yong Nam Award. LSA Dean Anne Curzan presented the award.

“The Nam Center shares Elder Nam’s commitment to create important connections across campus and around the world,” Curzan said.

In her acceptance speech, Daniel spoke about how the center facilitated her interest in Korean studies and culture. 

“I immersed myself in Korean culture through Nam Center events, studied abroad at Yonsei University and presented at academic conferences devoted entirely to Korean studies,” Daniel said. “I am so grateful that I have been able to contribute to this vibrant community.” 

Following the award presentation, Kim Dong Yeon began his lecture, with some parts given in Korean and other parts in English. Korean literature professor Ryu Youngju served as a translator for the Korean portions of Kim’s lecture.

Kim began the lecture by discussing his experiences as a Korean student studying in the United States at the University of Michigan. He said he hoped to provide other students from all socioeconomic backgrounds in his country with the same opportunity. Kim recalled visiting a group of middle school students who felt as though financial limitations prevented them from studying overseas.

“I asked myself, ‘Okay, I’ve given them hope, but would they be able to realize their hope if they have a dream?’ ” Kim said. “The so-called spoon metaphor — being born with a silver, golden spoon in your mouth — is increasingly characterizing Korean society.”

Kim spoke about the “After You” Program, which he created during his tenure as the president of Ajou University in the Gyeonggi province. He said the program was intended to provide funding for students who want to study abroad, but might not be able to afford to do so.

Kim said he hopes to give students living in the Gyeonggi province a chance to study at the University of Michigan through the Gyeonggi Youth Ladder, a program that helps make study abroad experiences financially feasible for students, similar to the “After You” Program. Kim said Korean students will likely be in Ann Arbor as soon as this summer.“(The students) will be here in July,” Kim said. “If you see them, please say hello and please make them feel at home.”

Kim went on to discuss modern Korean politics for the remainder of the lecture, citing two issues in Korean society: political polarization and the “winner-take-all” system — which he describes as Korean elites consolidating political power. 

“The consequence of this structure and the deepening of this problem is by polarization in both the economy and politics in South Korea,” Kim said. “Bi-polarization leads to greater conflict and to further black-and-white representation of reality.”

The current president of South Korea is Yoon Suk-Yeol, a member of the right-wing People Power Party. The country’s other major political party is the centrist-liberal Democratic Party, of which Kim is a member. The polarization between the two parties stems in part from allegations of corruption made against Yoon and former Korean president Moon Jae-In, who is a member of the Democratic Party. 

Kim said he believes there are a few ways to reduce political polarization and the issues it causes. He suggested supporting local start-ups to bolster the domestic economy, focusing on climate change, allowing for increased social mobility, discouraging political entrenchment and encouraging more youth participation in politics.

“As a Wolverine, my promise to you and my request to you is to take interest in me, what I do in the province,” Kim said. “My goal would be to selflessly devote myself to the very necessary changes that the times are demanding.” 

Daily Staff Reporter Ji Hoon Choi can be reached at jicho@umich.edu.

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For the first time since 1984, the state of Michigan’s House, Senate and governorship are all controlled by Democrats following the 2022 midterm elections. In January 2023, lawmakers laid out their plans and priorities for this Democratic trifecta, including protecting civil and reproductive rights, lowering costs for Michigan families, protecting the environment and building out the state’s infrastructure. One hundred days in, The Michigan Daily’s Government beat is highlighting major policy proposals and changes that have been spearheaded by Democratic lawmakers in the state so far.

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The University of Michigan’s chapter of Roosevelt, a student-run progressive think tank, hosted the first-ever Progressive Policy Summit Wednesday evening at Palmer Commons. Twenty progressive organizations from the Ann Arbor community featured at the event, including AA for Public Power, Environmental Consulting Organization and The American Civil Liberties Union.

Sofia Wynn, outreach chair for Roosevelt at Michigan, told The Michigan Daily the organization aims to give undergraduate students a platform to draft policies covering a variety of areas. Wynn said the think tank was hoping to host organizations working towards the advancement of society at the summit. 

“We (say) ‘progressive’, as not so much a specific thing, but just (to refer to) people who are trying to take action,” Wynn said. “(We were) just reaching out and seeing how many people and what breadth of issues we could cover (through our event).”

The summit featured presentations from each featured organization with allotted time for networking in between the talks. Wynn spoke on why the organization provided attendees with opportunities to connect with advocacy efforts related to the Ann Arbor community. 

“We really want to promote working together and (forming) partnerships,” Wynn said. “A lot of people are doing similar things and are stronger in numbers. So having people support (those) groups is essential to the overall missions of all our organizations.”

Zackariah Farah, U-M alum and current staff member at Michigan Medicine, spoke at the event on behalf of Ann Arbor for Public Power, one of the attending organizations. Farah said the organization focuses on addressing the harmful practices of energy sources in Michigan. Farah said Ann Arbor for Public Power believes DTE is one of the least reliable and most unaffordable power utilities in the entire country. Ann Arbor for Public Power instead proposes that the city relies on public power utilities instead.

“The only (energy reliability) mechanism has been deeply corrupt, corrupted by (energy organizations’) large donations to political candidates, as well as huge lobbying efforts in Lansing; you can talk to … our state legislators on this. They’ll tell you how dire the situation is,” Farah said. “Public power utilities, on the other hand, are directly responsible to the people and we can hold them accountable through democratic elections and through direct local oversight.”

LSA sophomore Molly Amrine represented the Econ Policy Group at Wednesday’s event. Amrine said this year the group is focusing on repealing the 2015 Public Act 105 of Michigan’s Wage Preemption, which prevents counties and municipalities from setting their own minimum wage proportional to the local cost of living. 

“We have wage preemption with Public Act 105 in 2015, and this requires that all counties and municipalities in Michigan follow the $10.10 cent minimum wage, regardless of any preexisting legislation that may have put local wages above that level,” Amrine said. 

Amrine said the group also created a policy memo on the issue last semester. As the group works to receive endorsements from local and state legislators this semester, Amrine said they have already been endorsed by five legislators, including state Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, and Lansing City Councilmember Ryan Kost. 

Wynn said they believe the summit successfully brought members of the U-M community together and that Roosevelt wants to continue extending their reach to anyone who needs help with advocacy, writing and legislative processes.

“I wanted to create an opportunity where we could openly share what we’re doing as a beacon of hope, as well, because things look really dark when you’re just looking at your one issue,” Wynn said. “But here, we’re able to bring everyone together to produce some hope.”

Wynn said Roosevelt intends to continue their Progressive Policy Summit annually and involve even more community members. She also said Roosevelt hopes to use the event to aid freshmen in finding organizations that align with their values.

“The goal of this was to kind of start the ball rolling for an annual Progressive Policy Summit,” Wynn said. “Collaboration is not like a one time thing. … We want to continue to build (these relationships).”

Daily News Contributor Rhea Narayan can be reached at rhean@umich.edu.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis traveled to Midland, Mich. for the Midland Republican Party’s annual Dave Camp Spring Breakfast Thursday morning. The event highlighted Florida’s policies in areas like education, COVID-19 and law enforcement and was attended by Michigan Republicans such as House Minority Leader Matt Hall, R-Comstock Township. 

About 50 protestors gathered across from the Great Hall Banquet and Convention Center where the breakfast was held, holding signs reading “Proud to be woke” and “Ban bigots not books.” 

Kate Stymiest, who graduated from Alma College in 2022 and lives in Mount Pleasant, Mich., told The Michigan Daily she is originally from Midland and traveled to the event to protest DeSantis’ policies and beliefs. 

“I believe that the policies that Ron DeSantis stands for are only going to bring about fascism and wreck our efforts to create an equal and diverse country,” Stymiest said. “I think they’re dangerous and it’s just going to lead to more death and suicide of trans kids, of gay kids, of women who carry children or don’t want to carry children.” 

Inside the convention center, Cathy Leikhim, chair of the Midland County Republican Party, kicked off the programming by expressing her gratitude to attendees and DeSantis specifically for supporting Thursday’s event. 

“Governor DeSantis, your presence at today’s event has elevated our local party, and it has energized Republicans from far and wide across the entire state of Michigan,” Leikhim said. “We know your time is valuable, but we thank you for sharing the blueprint that you have for your great state of Florida with us.”

Bill Schuette, former Michigan Attorney General and 2018 gubernatorial candidate, said he and Midland County Republicans are working to elect more Republicans in 2024.

“We in Midland, and across the 83 counties in Michigan, need to have principled conservative leadership,” Bill Schuette said. “And our goal, our objective, our mission is to take back the statehouse in 2024 and elect a Republican to the presidency of the United States of America.” 

Currently, the state’s House, Senate and governorship are all controlled by Democrats following the 2022 midterm elections. State Rep. Bill G. Schuette, R-Midland, spoke to the audience after his father to criticize recent actions by state Democrats, including the introduction of a host of gun control bills to the legislature, as well as the repeal of the state’s right-to-work law and the “read-or-flunk” provision of the Read by Grade Three law.

“Michigan’s third-grade reading scores are ranked near the bottom of the entire nation, and the far-left Democrats and the state Board of Education solution is to remove Michigan’s third-grade reading requirement,” Bill G. Schuette said. “So instead of eliminating reading requirements, we should eliminate the state Board of Education. Parents are in charge of their child’s education, not state bureaucrats.”

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the repeal of the “read-or-flunk” provision March 24 after it was passed largely along party lines in the state House and Senate. State Democrats have said the “read-or-flunk” policy, signed by Whitmer’s Republican predecessor Rick Snyder, harms students psychologically and disproportionately targets low-income and minority students.

DeSantis then took the stage to highlight legislation he has signed since he was first elected in 2018, saying he has and will continue to use his executive powers to further his conservative agenda. 

“In 2018, I got elected the governor of Florida by 32,000 votes out of over 8 million votes cast — less than one-half of one percentage point,” DeSantis said. “A lot of people were telling me ‘Don’t rock the boat, closely divided state, you got to kind of lay low, bide your time’ and all this stuff. And I understood that advice, but I rejected that advice. My view is that I may have earned 50% of the vote, but that entitled me to wield 100% of the executive power, and I intended to use that to advance a bold agenda.”

DeSantis is widely expected to run for president in 2024 but has yet to officially announce his campaign. Former President Donald Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have all officially declared their Republican candidacy for the presidency in 2024, with Trump poised as the frontrunner for the Republican presidential primary in recent polls.

Amid speculation about his potential candidacy, DeSantis has traveled to multiple early primary states including Iowa and New Hampshire, as well as visits to New York, Chicago and Philadelphia — all Democrat-led cities — to speak about supporting law enforcement. 

In his remarks, DeSantis foregrounded legislation he signed to prevent progressive criminal justice reforms like ending cash bail and reducing police budgets. 

“We did legislation to prohibit local governments from defunding the police,” DeSantis said. “We recruit police officers from around the country and if they come to Florida, they get a $5,000 signing bonus but we’re proud to stand with the people who wear the uniform. We also reject soft-on-crime policies, like eliminating cash bail.”

DeSantis added that efforts to bolster law enforcement in the country must also extend to border security, citing a mass influx of migrants into states like Florida and Texas that share land and maritime borders with other countries. 

“The rule of law is yes, the law and order in our cities and in our towns and communities, but it also means you need to have law and order at our Southern border,” DeSantis said. “In Florida, we’ve really led the way to combat illegal immigration. When I became governor, we banned sanctuary cities in the state of Florida. We sued Biden and won over his catch-and-release policy, which is not lawful.”

DeSantis’ ban on sanctuary cities has since been struck down by a federal judge in Miami. His ongoing lawsuit against the catch-and-release policy, which allows undocumented migrants to be released on parole from detention centers, claims the practice is not lawful. U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell sided with the state of Florida in the case, though the Biden administration is expected to file an appeal. 

DeSantis also discussed Florida’s approach to the COVID-19 pandemic and criticized Anthony Fauci, former chief medical advisor to the president of United States, and the Biden administration for their recommendations and policies on masks and vaccines, including the requirement that all companies with 100 or more employees require vaccines or mandate regular testing. This policy has since been struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.  

“We were the first state in the country to ban COVID shot mandates for schoolchildren,” DeSantis said. “We were the first state in the country to ban vaccine passports and we were the first state in the country to call a special session of the Florida legislature when we saw corporations and the Biden administration trying to cause people to lose their jobs if they did not get a shot. So we’ve enacted protections in Florida so nobody had to choose between a job they need and a shot they don’t want.” 

DeSantis also highlighted his controversial decision to reopen schools at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic as a critical piece of his broader agenda on education. 

“We’ve had more families move into Florida since I’ve been governor than anytime before,” DeSantis said. “And yes, we made sure schools were open, which was not true in most parts of the country in 2020 and we did a lot of things but I think it’s our approach to education that appeals to a lot of parents.”

As governor, DeSantis has signed an array of legislation related to education on race, gender and sexual identity, including a 2021 ban on critical race theory in schools — which prohibited the teaching K-12 students about the history of racism in the U.S. — and the 2022 Parental Rights in Education Act, known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by its critics, which prohibits education on gender and sexuality in public schools. More recently, DeSantis banned AP African American Studies from the state of Florida, arguing that it violates the state’s existing laws on education and will soon consider a bill that would ban teaching elementary school students about menstruation. 

DeSantis has also continued to restrict access to opportunities for transgender children outside of the classroom, including signing a law in 2021 which bans transgender student-athletes from competing in school sports. He highlighted this law in his remarks, as well as a policy that would revoke the medical license of any health care professional who provides gender-affirming hormones or surgery to minors. 

DeSantis said he has been disappointed by Republicans’ performance in recent elections and hopes to see the rest of the country adopt campaign and legislative approaches similar to his own. 

“What I see around the country with Republicans is they started to develop a culture of losing,” DeSantis said. “We saw it in Wisconsin with the Supreme Court race, we saw it with the very disappointing midterm elections. In Florida, we have a culture of winning, we have a culture of execution and we have a culture of delivering results.”

Daily News Editor Samantha Rich can be reached at sammrich@umich.edu.

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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the repeal of the state’s right-to-work law March 24, reversing legislation which allowed employees in unionized workplaces to opt out of paying union dues and fees.

Twenty-six states currently have right-to-work laws in place, though they remain hotly contested, especially among organized labor advocates. After right-to-work was initially passed by a Republican-controlled legislature and signed into law by former Gov. Rick Snyder in 2012, Michigan is now the first state to repeal a right-to-work law in 58 years.

The repeal requires members of unionized workplaces to pay dues to unions, meaning greater resources for organizing and collective bargaining efforts. Before the repeal of the law, employees could opt out of paying union dues and fees in a unionized workplace. 

Supporters of the repeal argue right-to-work legislation reduces the collective influence of unions and allows for more “free-riders” — those who benefit from union representation in bargaining and labor disputes without contributing towards the costs of these endeavors.

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Rackham student Amir Fleischmann, contract committee chair of the Graduate Employees’ Organization, said he supports the repeal of right-to-work because he disliked how it required unions like GEO to expend resources to represent people who did not pay into the organization.

“For us, (right-to-work) means that workers who don’t support their union, who (don’t) pay any money into their union, are still entitled to representation,” Fleischmann said. “If they get into a grievance, it’s our volunteers and our lawyers who are in the meeting with them, even though they don’t pay a cent.”

Sociology lecturer Ian Robinson told The Daily that because the University of Michigan is publicly funded, its employees are still subject to federal right-to-work legislation under the 2018 Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees decision. Robinson said though the repeal of right-to-work in Michigan will have an impact on union organizing in the state in general, it will not explicitly affect employees of the University.

“The important thing to understand on this campus is that … we’re all public-sector workers and we’re governed by this Supreme Court of the United States decision,” Robinson said. “The repeal of the law in Lansing affects all of the private-sector workers that are covered by it, but not any of the public-sector workers. It really has no impact on any of the University’s unions.” 

Nat Leach, president of the University’s chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America, told The Daily they feel hopeful for the future of labor organizing in the wake of the repeal.

“In the short term, I know that the repeal of (right-to-work) is a small sign of the overall resurgence of the labor movement,” Leach said. “Organizers like myself in Michigan and across the nation are pleased to finally see the end of (right-to-work) and are motivated to keep fighting for the working class even more.”

In an email statement to The Daily, College Democrats wrote they believe the repeal will benefit Michigan workers. 

“The repeal of so-called right-to-work and the restoration of the prevailing wage has come after a decade of persistent efforts from unions, legislators, and pro-labor allies,” the statement read. “Michigan is a union strong state, and the repeal of RTW levels the playing field for working folks to bargain for the good wages, benefits, and safe workplaces.”

The University’s chapter of College Republicans wrote a statement in an email to The Daily when asked for their opinion on the repeal of the right-to-work law. Although the repeal of the right-to-work law does not require employees who pay union dues to join the union, U-M College Republicans emphasized the importance of having a choice when joining a union. 

“Republicans believe that hard-working American men and women have the right to decide for themselves if they want to join a labor union,” the statement read.

In a press release, Michigan House minority leader Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, raised concerns about the repeal’s impact on the state’s ability to attract businesses.

“Without right-to-work, businesses will find more competitive states for their manufacturing plants and research and development facilities, and workers and careers will drift away,“ Hall said.

The repeal of right-to-work has been heralded by many as a major victory for organized labor. U-M alum Justin Yuan, an organizer for the Huron Valley Area Labor Federation, a union affiliated with the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), told The Daily he hopes the repeal will lay the foundation for future labor victories in Michigan.

“The repeal of right-to-work isn’t significant not just because we repealed right-to-work, but because of what we are set to (do),” Yuen said. “We have to really invest not only in getting good candidates in office, but (also) in the fundamental stuff, which is new organizing.” 

Fleischmann said though he felt the repeal of right-to-work would empower unions in the state, there is still work to be done, such as making it legal for public workers to go on strike.

“Laws in the state of Michigan are still stacked against working people and our unions,” Fleischmann said. “Public-sector workers don’t have the right to strike in the state of Michigan, and it is incredibly unjust.”

Robinson said he hopes the repeal of right-to-work will increase union membership in Michigan and by extension increase union strength and influence.

“In order to really change the trajectory our state economy has been on with growing inequality, polarization and all of the negative costs of that, we really need to strengthen the labor movement and building membership is a key part of that,” Robinson said.

Daily Staff Reporter Levi Herron and Daily News Contributor Ashwath Subramanian can be reached at llherron@umich.edu and ashwaths@umich.edu.

The post What the repeal of right-to-work means for Michigan workers appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

About 30 attendees gathered in the Henderson Room of the Michigan League Saturday morning for a policy discussion and workshop session hosted by Michigan Political Consulting. The event, available to all students, featured a talk with Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor and workshop groups led by policy experts.

Taylor opened the event by discussing ongoing Ann Arbor initiatives, including A2ZERO, the city’s plan to reach carbon-neutrality by 2030. As the city continues to roll out these initiatives, Taylor said it is important to be cognizant of past inequalities to make sure the programs are able to help the entire community.

“It’s important that we use our services to improve equity within the community,” Taylor said. “That’s one incredibly important part of the A2ZERO program … We have a street tree program, we have an urban forestry management plan.”

Taylor then discussed Ann Arbor’s relationship with the University of Michigan, highlighting how the University doesn’t pay property tax on most U-M buildings. Organizations that are exempt from local property tax have the option to give their city compensation for this lost revenue in payment called Payment in Lieu Of Taxes. Taylor said the lack of a PILOT from the University creates tension with the city of Ann Arbor.

“The University does not pay a PILOT,” Taylor said. “They have graciously declined whenever (the city has) asked (of them), … but these conditions exist with other universities that pay PILOTS.”

LSA junior Daniel Klein attended the policy discussion and told The Daily he appreciated how the mayor presented a different view of Ann Arbor — one that can be hard to see as a U-M student.

“I think sometimes being a student here at the University of Michigan, we get so wrapped up in the University’s perspective that it’s hard to also remember sometimes that we have other neighbors,” Klein said. “So it was just great to hear what the city thinks and what the city is working on to make a more inclusive environment for everybody.”

After the discussion with Taylor, attendees were divided into small groups for workshop sessions. The workshops were led by various professional political consultants on topics ranging from budgeting campaigns to election strategy.

LSA sophomore Olivia Spaulding, one of the event’s organizers, told The Daily the event was intended to show students what careers in policy can look like.

“We wanted to sponsor an easily accessible event for students at the University of Michigan … to get a feel for what different careers and policies look like,” Spalding said. “When University of Michigan students think of what they can do with the policy major, a lot of them just think pre-law or working for a campaign.”

Daily Staff Reporter Ryan Kersten can be reached at ryankers@umich.edu.

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