April 25, 2025 | This Week in Government: House OKs Public Safety Trust Fund

Legislation to enact the Public Safety Violence Prevention Trust Fund passed the House in a nearly unanimous vote on Tuesday.

“We’re going to be direction historic funding to the communities that need it most,” said Rep. Alabas Farhat (D-Dearborn), one of the bill sponsors. “What we’re doing here is tackling the worst of the worst crimes, and we’re getting right at it. We’re trusting local leaders to do it.”

The bills, HB 4260 and HB 4261, (See Gongwer Michigan Report, April 17, 2025), which would earmark $115 million in sales tax revenues for public safety in counties, cities, villages and townships, cleared the House in a 104-4 vote.

Rep. Steve Carra (R-Three Rivers), Rep. Carrie Rheingans (D-Ann Arbor), Rep. Phil Skaggs (D-East Grand Rapids), and Rep. Dylan Wegela (D-Garden City) voted no.

During a floor speech, Wegela said there was an inherent opportunity cost for the legislation.

“What these bills aim to do is move $115 million from the general fund to local law enforcement. I ask this body to think of the opportunity costs,” he said. “What else could be done with $115 million dollars… We owe it to our communities to explore the crime prevention that comes from ending poverty, reforming criminal justice, and reinventing our public safety institutions.”

Farhat said it was important to consider the opportunity cost of not providing law enforcement with the funds that would be used to prevent violent crime.

“What’s the cost of doing nothing?” he said. “Another 200 death a year in Detroit? Another 50, 100 in the rest of the state? What’s the cost of doing nothing?”

Rep. Mike Harris (R-Waterford), the other bill sponsor, said that if the state expects high quality policing, it needs to be willing to pay for it.

“If we’re going to hold our officers to a high standard and expect them to do professional policing, we have to be willing to invest in it,” he said.

The legislation, which cleared both chambers last term but ultimately died in lame duck, will now advance to the Senate for consideration.

The Michigan Supreme Court has a 6-1 majority of justices with a Democratic background, and for the first time two Black justices serving concurrently with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer‘s appointment Wednesday of Court of Appeals Judge Noah Hood to the high court.

Hood will serve the remaining 20 months in the term of former Justice Elizabeth Clement. He will have the opportunity run for a full, eight-year term in 2026 with a designation as an incumbent justice.

“I am honored to appoint Judge Hood to the Michigan Supreme Court,” Whitmer said in a statement. “He has served the people of Michigan on the bench since 2019, when I was honored to appoint him first to the (Wayne) Circuit Court and later, to the Court of Appeals. A proud Detroiter, graduate of Harvard Law, and active member of the legal community with both trial and appellate court experience, he will bring important perspectives to the highest court in our state. I want to thank him for his many years of public service and look forward to many more on the Supreme Court.”

Hood, a 38-year-old Detroit resident, could potentially serve four full terms on the court even with the age limit barring residents from running for judge once they turn 70.

His appointment leaves Justice Brian Zahra as the lone nominee from the Republican Party on the court.

Hood, presumably, will stand for election in 2026. Chief Justice Megan Cavanagh also is up for reelection.

“I have had the distinct honor of serving the people of the state of Michigan for the past six years,” Hood said in a statement. “I am deeply grateful to our governor for her decision to appoint me to serve on our Supreme Court. I am also grateful for what it represents. For as long as I serve, the people will always be able to count on me for even-handed justice.”

Hood is a rare, for recent times, dose of judicial experience on the court. Besides Hood, only Zahra among the current justices served as a judge prior to joining the Supreme Court. The other justices had practiced law, taught the law as a professor, or both.

Prior to Whitmer appointing him to the Wayne Circuit Court in 2019, Hood was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Michigan and the Northern District of Ohio. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and his law degree from Harvard Law School.

It was not immediately clear when Hood would formally resign his seat on the 1st District of the Court of Appeals and assume his seat on the Supreme Court.

Whitmer named Mariam Bazzi, a 46-year-old Dearborn resident, to replace Hood on the Court of Appeals.

Bazzi currently serves on the Wayne Circuit Court, having been elected and then reelected after Gov. Snyder appointed her in 2017. Bazzi is the first Arab-American woman to be appointed to the Court of Appeals.

Whitmer called Bazzi a “trailblazer, community leader and proud Michigander” and said she would bring experience to the appellate court.

“I am deeply honored and humbled to be appointed by Gov. Whitmer to serve on the Michigan Court of Appeals,” Bazzi said in a statement. “I extend my heartfelt thanks to the governor and her dedicated selection team for their time, effort, and commitment throughout this process. It is a profound privilege to serve the people of this great state, and I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the fair and impartial administration of justice. I also extend my warmest congratulations to our new Supreme Court Justice and to my fellow appointees to the Court of Appeals.”

Whitmer also appointed two new judges to the Court of Appeals to fill vacancies.

Named to the 2nd District to replaced former Judge Mark Cavanagh, who retired, was Christopher Trebilcock, a 50-year-old Royal Oak resident. Trebilcock is a senior principal at the Clark Hill PLC firm, specializing in employment, labor, and election law. He represented Whitmer in legal matters involving her campaign committee and a nonprofit fund tied to the governor.

Whitmer called him a skilled attorney with decades of experience in the law. He becomes the first person born and raised in the Upper Peninsula to serve on the Court of Appeals, though the U.P. is in the 4th District. The 2nd District is in the northern Detroit suburbs.

“As a proud Yooper, I am deeply honored to accept this appointment. The values I learned from my upbringing and education – service, integrity, and critical thinking – have guided me throughout my career,” Trebilcock said in a statement. “I am humbled by this opportunity and the trust placed by Gov. Whitmer in my ability to serve the people of Michigan. I also want to thank my colleagues at Clark Hill for their unwavering support, mentorship, and friendship. I look forward to getting to work and serving the state that raised me and shaped my values.”

In the 3rd District, which covers most of west Michigan and stretches east into the Ann Arbor area, Whitmer named Daniel Korobkin, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, to succeed former Judge Jane Markey, who retired. Markey was once a Republican nominee to the Michigan Republican Court, meaning this now flips a Court of Appeals seat.

Whitmer said Korobkin brings years of legal experience.

Korobkin, besides his ACLU work, also teaches part-time at the University of Michigan Law School and Wayne State University Law School.

“I am truly humbled and honored by this incredible opportunity for public service,” Korobkin said in a statement. “I am immensely grateful to Gov. Whitmer for this appointment, and I look forward to serving the people of the State of Michigan on the Court of Appeals.”

The ACLU praised Whitmer’s appointment of Korobkin.

“While we are deeply saddened to see Dan leave, we could not be prouder of his contributions to the ACLU of Michigan and his appointment to the Michigan Court of Appeals,” said ACLU of Michigan Board President Nathan Triplett in a statement. “Dan’s brilliance, leadership, and commitment to civil liberties has not only made our legal program one of the strongest in the nation but has improved the lives of Michigan residents with his devotion to protecting and expanding our rights with a focus on those most vulnerable to civil rights attacks.”

With the latest appointments, the Court of Appeals now has 12 judges either appointed by a Democratic governor or who were elected with Democratic support and 12 judges either appointed by a Republican governor or elected with Republican support. There is one judge who was directly elected to the bench without support from either party.

The Senate Appropriations Military, Veterans, and State Police Subcommittee approved its budget Thursday for the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, allocating $26 million in one-time funds to support upgrades at the Selfridge Air Base in Mount Clemens.

The proposal would fund compliance efforts at the base with National Guard air installation use zone recommendations and the shifting of its runway to the north.

Sen. Kevin Hertel (D-Saint Clair Shores) said the continued investment in Selfridge is “critical not only for Macomb County but also for the region and state as a whole” as construction begins and the state vies for a new fighter mission to be assigned to the base by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Also included in the Senate’s recommendation is $2.5 million General Fund to continue a program providing grants of up to $250,000 to nonprofit groups assisting homeless veterans and $1 million to support veterans affected by cuts to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

“We know that many veterans across our state have been impacted by these federal funds to the Department of Veterans Affairs, and this is to set up some programs to help them find jobs here in the state of Michigan,” Hertel said. “I think it’s important to what we’re facing today.”

The Senate’s budget recommendation for the department totals $291.5 million ($129.5 million General Fund), and is slightly lower than Gretchen Whitmer’s recommendation for the department, which totals just higher at $293.1 million ($131.1 million General Fund).

Despite debate and opposition on the floor, the House on Wednesday passed legislation that would increase the mandatory minimums for people caught dealing fentanyl and other narcotics.

HB 4255, sponsored by Rep. Sarah Lightner (R-Springport), revises the penalty provisions for narcotic drugs, primarily establishing new penalties for violations involving heroin, fentanyl, or carfentanil. HB 4256, sponsored by Rep. Ann Bollin (R-Brighton), amends the sentencing guidelines, and raises the felony classification of crimes involving the same drugs.

“When I was looking at this fentanyl package, basically what I said is, we’ve been doing this for and I want to figure out what we can do to make it better, to put more teeth in it, to give our prosecutors more tools in their toolbox, right?” Lightner said. “This is one of the situations where we need to disrupt the supply chain.”

HB 4255 passed 66-40, with Rep. Kelly Breen (D-Novi), Rep. Jennifer Conlin (D-Ann Arbor), Rep. Denise Mentzer (D-Mount Clemens), Rep. Reggie Miller (D-Van Buren Township), Rep. Jasper Martus (D-Flushing), Rep. Karen Whitsett (D-Detroit), Rep. Angela Witwer (D-Delta Township), and Rep. Mai Xiong (D-Warren) voting yes.

HB 4256 passed 65-41. Martus was the only Democrat who changed his vote between the two bills.

The legislation enacts mandatory minimums to help get drugs off the street, Lightner said.

“I get it, people had concerns with that. They were like, ‘They had them 40 years ago. Those didn’t work,’” she said. “A lot of things have changed in 40 years.”

Rep. John Fitzgerald (D-Wyoming) said the bills failed to provide a comprehensive solution to the problem.

“Your son or daughter who has a few extra counterfeit Adderall that they probably shouldn’t have in their pocket may be subject to a five-year minimum sentence. And I don’t know how that is the lesson that we need to be instilling in the people who probably need help with substance abuse issues,” he said. “And there are other ways to hold traffickers to account.”

Rep. Amos O’Neal (D-Saginaw) said there was a racial component to the legislation that could not be ignored.

“Historically, with tough on crime and crime issues in general, the end result is when arrests are made or addictions are happening, it’s normally in the urban community, and the recipients of that are Black and brown individuals,” he said “The end result of this legislation and other legislation like it that came before is the incarceration of black and brown individuals.”

O’Neal also said the state was already doing things to address the problem with fentanyl, like vocational villages, but they needed more time to be fully effective.

Lightner pushed back against the concerns, saying they were never raised with her, and the bills weren’t about punishing people who have substance abuse problems.

“It doesn’t matter what ethnicity you are, what race you are, that it doesn’t matter,” she said. “And really, I think they diverted from the heart of the legislation. The legislation isn’t aimed at the people that have substance use disorders. That legislation is aimed at the traffickers that are peddling this crap to our kids and our community, and they play off people’s addictions for money.”

Lightner said she was already discussing the bills with Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) and hoped to get a hearing in the Senate. One change that might be made is adjust the amount of drugs in possession.

The Michigan Strategic Fund Board voted Tuesday to approve the creation of the Michigan Innovation Fund program signed into law by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in January.

The fund, which originated with a bipartisan package of bills from the last Legislature, was rubber stamped by Whitmer at Ford’s Detroit Central Station partnership with NewLab at the beginning of the year. With the MSF Board’s affirmative vote, implementation of the fund with an initial $60 million officially begins.

The Innovation Fund will be used to provide early-stage capital to startups and entrepreneurs, which officials from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and several of the state’s research universities said is sorely needed.

“In 2024, the University of Michigan reported over 600 new inventions, and we launched 28 new startups. But despite this incredible innovation output, about half of the university startups leave Michigan in search of early-stage capital, and when these startups leave, they take with them the jobs, the clinical trials and the long-term economic benefits,” said Kelly Sexton, U-M’s vice president for research-innovation partnerships. “This is why the Michigan Innovation Fund is such a critical step forward for our state. It directly addresses this early-stage capital gap and builds on the MEDC’s longstanding legacy of supporting statewide commercialization infrastructure.”

Jim Baker, senior associate vice president for research and innovation at Michigan Technological University, said the fund will help support startups and entrepreneurs in areas of the state where it may be inherently more challenging to launch an entrepreneurial venture.

“The challenges for companies raising capital across the Great Lakes region are substantial, and they’re amplified in the rural areas of the state where local and regional access to capital providers and, more importantly, the valuable networks they provide access to are limited,” Baker said. “Michigan is truly blessed with a strong and growing foundation of talent and resources for founders to leverage on their paths of success and filling the capital gap at the early stages of startup execution in a highly collaborative and geographically distributed manner, as the Michigan Innovation Fund enables, will lead to an increase in establishment of startups throughout the state and accelerate their path toward growth and investment commercial revenue and hiring of high skilled and high wage employees.”