Detroit Democrats embroiled in Michigan House drama

Detroit lawmakers are throwing a wrench in Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's lame duck priorities.

Sen. Sylvia Santana, D-Detroit, says she joined Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Detroit, in being missing session Wednesday because Democratic leaders are prioritizing corporate interests over “the Black community agenda.”

What is going on in the Michigan House and why are a bunch of Detroit area officials at the center of it all?

Let me explain: House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, is running out of time to pass legislation Democrats have been pushing since they took control of the state Legislature two years ago.

House Republicans, who are about to regain control of the House next year, won’t attend session over a refusal from Democrats to vote on changes to Michigan’s paid sick leave and tipped wage laws. Their absence forces Democrats to have all 56 members of their slim majority present to pass proposals without Republican support.

Rep. Karen Whitsett, who has broken from Democrats before on abortion and COVID-19 treatments, represents 90,903 constituents across northeast Dearborn and northwest Detroit. She says her refusal to vote on bills that “Democrats just lost on” (referring to the presidential election) is based on what’s right for her constituents.

Whitsett told me on Monday House Republicans would likely be absent one day before a spokesperson for the Republican speaker-elect Matt Hall confirmed Republicans would boycott session.

Here’s what’s happened in the hours since then:

— Whitsett’s unfulfilled list of demands meant she remained absent from House session, leaving Democrats without enough members to pass bills.

— Sen. Sylvia Santana, D-Detroit, called out Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for threatening to not sign anymore bills unless legislators approve proposals on road funding and corporate incentives. Santana posted a meme on Facebook Tuesday night before declaring she would be absent, stripping senate Dems of a needed vote.

— Attorney General Dana Nessel called Whitsett and Santana’s actions “literally criminal” in a Facebook post Wednesday morning. Santana hit back, saying: “It would be a Progressive Tough on Crime AG to call 2 Black women criminals for taking a principled stand on behalf Black people.”

— Rep. Tyrone Carter, D-Detroit, held a press conference Wednesday morning defending Tate, blaming Democratic members for lacking a “team mentality.”

— Speaker Pro Tem Laurie Pohutsky, D-Livonia, has urged Tate to issue a call of the House, which could involve police escort to force absent members back to the chamber. She told Craig Mauger and Beth LeBlanc she’s not the only one. Pohutsky told me that that conversation happened Friday last week after Republicans walked off.