Michigan Lawmakers Block Whitmer Order In Rare Move

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The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality will not see changes anytime soon. In a rare move, the Republican-led Michigan Senate has rejected Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s order to restructure the DEQ, the first time lawmakers have outright blocked a governor’s move in more than 40 years since the Milliken administration.

The chamber voted 22-16 Thursday, more than a week after the GOP-controlled House voted. Republicans oppose portions of the order that would abolish new oversight panels that were given a regulatory role under 2018 laws and create a new office to investigate “environmental justice” complaints. Whitmer says the commissions add too much bureaucracy to environmental rule-making and permitting. Democrats and environmentalists also contend they give businesses too much sway.

Republicans counter that the panels have not had a chance to get going, and they give landowners, farmers and businesses an “equal footing” with overzealous regulators.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.