Heating Rural Homes in Michigan, Weed Roads & Taxes in Michigan, Michigan Supreme Court Losing Member, and a Big Michigan Election Year
– INFORMED BREVITY –
Heating Rural Homes in Michigan
One million plus rural Michiganders use and depend on propane to heat their homes. In the Upper Peninsula and other rural areas in Michigan, supply and price of propane is obviously very important.
Where does that propane come from? Canada. So as our government and Canada’s government are going at it over tariffs and immigrants, remember this important fact of daily life in Michigan rural areas.
Weed, Roads and Taxes in Michigan
Seems like on every corner in every Upper Peninsula city and around the state we see cannabis retail outlets. The cannabis industry is big business in Michigan and a big tax payer. Right now if you buy recreational marijuana you pay a 10% excise tax to the state and you pay the state’s 6% sales tax on your purchase.
By now every Michigan resident has heard Governor Whitmer’s slogan “Fix the Damn Roads.” Well she has come up with an additional funding source for road funding.
She proposes to add a 32% wholesale tax on marijuana that would raise $470 million dollars a year for roads. That is on top of the sales tax and excise tax you already pay on a weed purchase. Governor Whitmer says Michigan’s marijuana tax is the fourth lowest in the nation.
The Weed industry is not happy. Nor are marijuana customers too happy but we have seen no polling on this question. What do you think?
Michigan Supreme Court to Lose a Member
The Chief Justice, Elizabeth Clement, has informed Governor Whitmer she is resigning from the court no later than April 30th. She was appointed to the Court by Republican Governor Snyder.
The Supreme Court is lacking rural voices and this is an opportunity for Governor Whitmer to replace Justice Clement with a person from a rural area. By the way, there is not a member of the court from the Upper Peninsula and has not been one for decades and decades. Who from the Upper Peninsula might fill this position? Send us some names.
Despite Having an Election Just 100 Days Ago, 2026 Already Developing as a Big Michigan Election Year
Okay, okay I know we are tired of hearing about elections, seeing election advertisements on television, in our mailboxes and on our social media, but some BIG elections here in Michigan will be happening.
This month US Senator Gary Peters announced that he is not running for reelection in 2026. Lots of names are floated around.
One is Mike Rogers who lost to now US Senator Slotkin. Rogers only lost by four tenths of a percent so he starts out as the most likely Republican to run for this slot. The Democratic bench includes former US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who recently relocated to Traverse City.
The list also includes State Senator Mc Morrow , who has become a regular on cable television, Attorney General Nessel and Lt. Governor Gilchrist. There will be more names from both parties added to this list in coming months.
By the way, Upper Peninsula Congressman Jack Bergman recently said he does not plan on seeking this open seat in the US Senate.
Term limits will make the following positions open in 2026: Governor, Attorney General and Secretary of State. In addition, the State Senate and House will be up for grabs.
Now with all these positions up for election in 2026 think about all those television advertisements, streaming ads and your mailbox filled with political advertisements. Ugh. Just thought I would cheer up your winter day this week. Enjoy.
Quotes That Make Us Go Hmmm
“Deficiency in judgement is properly that which is called stupidity; and for such a failing we know no remedy.” Immanuel Kant.
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Colorado tried to tax weed heavily & street dealers loved it. Legal sales had essentially no impact on volume of illicit sales! There’s almost always a way to get around high taxes on products.
The governor has been using the “fix the damn roads” mantra for some time. We in the U.P see very little in the 6 years that was supposedly her priority when she came into office. Not expecting any change as her only method is to tax more. I am not a marijuana user, but a majority of taxpayer money spent in the state goes towards education with no measurable, except diminishing capabilities of our students. Throwing money time and time again, getting consistent negative results time is negligence of taxpayer money. I expect the next 2 years to be the same. What ever happened to the lottery money revenue that was supposed to support education? As our state leads the nation in lack of government transparency, we cannot be optimistic that the road conditions will get better until we have better governing.