State Representative Joey Andrews says 2025 was a strange and remarkably slow year in Lansing.
Looking back, Andrews tells us a big black mark for the Legislature in 2025 was its failure to pass the budget by its usual deadline, but he adds at least the spending plan, when finally approved, had wins for roads and Medicaid. As for things he worked on, he says there were some big accomplishments.
“The bipartisan nuclear package, which I worked a lot on during my first term and Representative [Pauline] Wendzel, who chaired Energy this year and has been a big part of as well,” Andrews said. “We were able to get that through the House. It’s sitting in the Senate now and think we’re pretty optimistic about that getting a hearing in the new year. So, I think that’s a big win that really set us up for success if we can get it passed.”
The legislation seeks to encourage the development of small modular nuclear reactors in Michigan and attract the nuclear industry and its workers to the state. Andrews is also proud to see legislation ensuring the continued operation of methane digesters in Michigan be approved in 2025.
Looking ahead, Andrews expects another slow year due to election-year dynamics but says there are some key priorities he’s set his sights on.
“We’re going to be reintroducing our short-term rental legislation early next year, and we’ve got a Republican sponsor on that as well, so it’ll be another bipartisan package. We’re going to work on trying to get those nuclear bills through the Senate to the governor’s desk so that we can position Michigan well in that regard, and hopefully, we’ll get a budget done more timely this year, maybe even on time.”
Andrews is expecting a major push from Democrats to help Michiganders amid rising costs for just about everything.
“The Democratic caucus is working on a big affordability package that is going to be, I think, sort of our marquee bill package going in the next year, talking housing affordability, energy affordability, childcare, healthcare. Things that the state can tackle, not crazy big things that the feds obviously need to worry about. But the things that we can do in Michigan to sort of get some relief and address some structural problems. So I think, probably first quarter next year, I’d expect to see some news on that coming down the pipe.”
As for Republicans, Andrew expects they’ll push property tax reform.
Andrews adds that he hopes lawmakers learn from what he calls a dysfunctional year, saying prolonged delays and inaction risk undermining public confidence in state government as Michigan heads into 2026.
“I think it’s really a leadership problem more than anything. Talking to a lot of my Republican colleagues in the House, a lot of them are frustrated with how slow things are moving. And I genuinely think there’s a lot of bipartisan legislation that we could have passed if the Speaker hadn’t decided that he wanted a low number of bills to pass.”
Andrews tells us the House Speaker set a goal of passing a record low number of bills in 2025, something that he did manage to achieve. However, he is hoping the leadership will allow more to get done in 2026, even though it’s an election year.
