Tag: michigan

24% Michigan marijuana tax, a key piece of the legislative budget deal, has passed

After much hand wringing and consternation from lawmakers who feared detrimental effects to Michigan’s cannabis industry, the Michigan Senate voted early Friday morning by a thin margin to pass a 24% wholesale tax on marijuana products sold in the state.

The measure is estimated to raise $420 million in new revenue to fund road repairs and construction in the new fiscal year, a key component of the budget deal reached by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) and Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids).

If the vote had failed, the entire deal would more than likely fall apart, sending the respective chambers and the governor’s office back to the negotiating table. Such a development would have also sent the state into a full government shutdown. House leadership said Thursday that it would not entertain another continuation budget after the one passed Wednesday expired after Oct. 8.

Although many members of the cannabis industry rallied at the Capitol and lobbied lawmakers against passing the legislation, the implications of the entire deal falling through weighed heavily on the Legislature’s mind.

The House and Senate on late Thursday and early Friday morning passed their respective conference budgets to fund the whole of government, K-12 schools and higher education, but all of that hinged on passage of the marijuana tax.

The bill passed by a slim 19-17 vote, which had nearly as much bipartisan dissent as it did support.

Brinks and the following senators voted in favor of the bill: Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing), Rosemary Bayer (D-West Bloomfield), Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton), Mary Cavanagh (D-Redford Township), Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit), John Cherry (D-Flint), Kevin Daley (R-Lum), Erika Geiss (D-Taylor), Veronica Klinefelt (D-Eastpointe), Dan Lauwers (R-Brockway), Ed McBroom (R-Vulcan), Sean McCann (D-Kalamazoo), Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak), Jeremy Moss (D-Bloomfield Township), Dayna Polehanki (D-Livonia), Sam Singh (D-East Lansing), Roger Victory (R-Georgetown Township) and Paul Wojno (D-Warren).

Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) voted no against the bill. He was one of the legislation’s strongest opponents. 

Irwin was joined by Sens. Thomas Albert (R-Lowell), Joseph Bellino (R-Monroe), Jon Bumstead (R-North Muskegon), John Damoose (R-Harbor Springs), Roger Hauck (R-Mount Pleasant), Kevin Hertel (D-Saint Clair Shores), Michele Hoitenga (R-Manton), Mark Huizenga (R-Walker), Ruth Johnson (R-Groveland Township), Jonathan Lindsey (R-Coldwater), Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Township), Jim Runestad (R-White Lake), Sylvia Santana (D-Detroit), Sue Shink (D-Northfield Township), Lana Theis (R-Brighton) and Michael Webber (R-Rochester Hills).

A large portion of the day was spent debating the measure in caucus meetings and whipping votes to ensure the tax did not go up in smoke.

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Michigan Marijuana Industry Rallies Against Tax Hike Proposal That’s Advancing In The Legislature

The proposed new wholesale tax on marijuana products to fund road repairs in the next state budget and years down the road is much too high and would result in job losses for a booming Michigan cannabis industry, advocates and lawmakers said Tuesday as they rallied for a lower tax rate.

At least two Democratic lawmakers who attended the rally—state Reps. Donavan McKinney of Detroit and Mike McFall of Hazel Park—also signaled that they were working behind the scenes to get that rate much lower before a final vote is taken.

At present, both McFall and McKinney said they would vote no on the final budget if the rate remained.

Michigan lawmakers reached a loose framework to fund the government last week, but it included a new 24 percent wholesale tax on products sold at dispensaries across the state. That sent the cannabis industry and their allies into a frenzy as they warned that such a tax would hamstring the industry’s growth and result in fewer jobs.

On Tuesday afternoon, lawmakers were still in the throes of hammering out a final budget plan, with no clear end in sight despite signals that the government would stay open and not shut down on Wednesday when the new fiscal year begins (though by the end of the day lawmakers passed a temporary budget extension through October 8).

Still, the money for the Legislature’s road funding plan had to come from somewhere, whether that was from schools—which advocates rallied against Tuesday—or from the new proposed tax on pot for potholes.

Those working for or on behalf of the cannabis industry gathered for a rally on the Capitol steps in Lansing to send lawmakers and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), who had earlier in the year proposed a more than 30 percent tax, a clear message: Keep off their grass.

“Our industry is not their piggy bank. Our wallets are not their budget overruns,” said Mike DiLaura, CCO and general counsel for House of Dank, one of many cannabis companies operating in Michigan. “It is our time, not just as an industry, but as citizens of this great state, to put our feet down and say, ‘enough is enough.’”

DiLaura continued by saying that the industry has, since recreational cannabis was legalized in 2020, raised nearly $2 billion in taxes for Michigan over the last five years.

“But they say it’s not enough,” DiLaura said. “When will it ever be enough?”

Several other advocates and industry leaders spoke at the rally, all mentioning that even if they lost the battle to either stop the tax hike or reduce it, they would continue the fight in court or seek a full repeal of the law down the pike.

The rally also featured two allies in McKinney and McFall.

Both said they voted against the proposal in House Bill 4951 when it passed the House last week, noting that their communities have greatly benefited from recreational cannabis shops and associated businesses like grow operations.

“Hazel Park was all in on marijuana from the very beginning. As some of you might know, we even gave Tommy Chong the key to the city at one point,” McFall said. “But what a lot of people don’t realize is how this is going to impact local municipalities. They’re talking about cutting revenue sharing, which is the money that goes back from the state. This is also going to impact that.”

McFall said Hazel Park got half a million in tax dollars last year, and that money helped pay for emergency services and other amenities.

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FBI Suspects Michigan Church Shooter Hated People of the Mormon Faith

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Sept. 29 that the man accused of killing at least four people and injuring eight more at a church in Michigan hated Mormons.

“From what I understand, based on my conversations with the FBI director, all they know right now is this was an individual who hated people of the Mormon faith, and they are trying to understand more about this, how premeditated it was, how much planning went into it, whether he left a note, all of those questions have yet to be answered but certainly will be answered by the FBI,” she told Fox News in an interview on Sept. 29.

Leavitt said that search warrants are being executed at the home of the suspect, Thomas Jacob Sanford, to “get to the bottom of why he would commit such an act of evil.”

Sanford’s family is cooperating with the FBI, according to Leavitt. She did not provide more details about the suspect, who was killed by police during the incident.

Sanford, 40, allegedly drove a truck into a chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) in Grand Blanc before opening fire and setting the structure on fire during a Sunday service, officials said. The attacker allegedly used gasoline to start the fire and also had explosive devices, but it wasn’t clear whether he used them, according to James Dier of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Investigators were searching Sanford’s residence. Authorities did not say what they found or provide any additional details, including whether he was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church.

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GUESS WHO’S NOT ABOVE THE LAW? MI SOS Benson In The Hot Seat After DOJ Sues Her For Blocking Access to Michigan’s Dirty Voter Rolls

On Thursday, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced the filing of federal lawsuits against six states — California, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania for failure to produce their statewide voter registration lists upon request. The lawsuit against Benson was filed in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, charging that she is violating federal law by stonewalling investigators and demanding that she be compelled to turn over the records.

Michigan residents have watched Secretary of State Benson mock efforts by state lawmakers and threaten citizens who ask for transparency in elections since 2020, all in an effort to shield her dirty rolls from scrutiny.

The statement from the DOJ reminds Americans about the importance of well-maintained voter rolls: “Clean voter rolls are the foundation of free and fair elections,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Every state has a responsibility to ensure that voter registration records are accurate, accessible, and secure — states that don’t fulfill that obligation will see this Department of Justice in court.”

“States are required to safeguard American elections by complying with our federal elections laws,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Clean voter rolls protect American citizens from voting fraud and abuse, and restore their confidence that their states’ elections are conducted properly, with integrity, and in compliance with the law.”

Yesterday, in response to the lawsuit against her, the defiant Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson, mocked the DOJ’s demand for transparency, saying, “It’s important for every Michigander to understand what’s at stake here – the U.S. Justice Department is trying to get us to turn over the private, personal information of more than 8 million state residents. That includes people’s driver’s license numbers, Social Security numbers, and other personally identifiable information.” Benson called it an”  illegal and unconstitutional power grab,” adding, “I told them they can’t have it.”

Perhaps someone should inform Jocelyn Benson that the government has access to the Social Security numbers of all American citizens. It’s not the American citizens who are legally registered to vote in Michigan that the DOJ is concerned about; it’s the ILLEGAL aliens and fake voters created during her 7 years in office that the DOJ is interested in reviewing.

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Alleged Mormon Church Shooter Identified — 42 Yr-Old Military Vet — Reportedly Has “ANTI-Trump/Pence” Sign on Fence Attached to His Garage

This morning, only moments after the violent attack on churchgoers in Grand Blanc, MI, the Gateway Pundit reported about the incident.

At the time of the incident, very little was known about the gunman who opened fire at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on McCandlish Road.

Early reports claimed that 6-8 victims of the gunman had been taken to the hospital, although the exact toll was not confirmed. Later, it was discovered that one person was killed by the alleged shooter and an additional 8 individuals were taken to the hospital. The church caught fire during the incident, triggering a massive four-alarm emergency response.

At a recent press conference, Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye did not name the shooter, but did say that the suspect of the mass shooting inside the Mormon Church was a 40-year-old man from Burton, MI, a neighboring city just outside Grand Blanc, roughly 60 miles north of Detroit.

Now, it’s been confirmed that the alleged shooter, who was killed by law enforcement, is Thomas Jacob Sandford, a 40-year-old former U.S. Marine who fought in Iraq.

Law enforcement sources confirmed that investigators were stationed outside Sanford’s home on Atherton Road, which has been cordoned off as a crime scene. Property records list Sanford as the owner of both the residence and a 2008 GMC Sierra pickup truck, the same vehicle used to ram into the church during the attack.

The New York Post claims an old Facebook post by Sanford’s mother says the gunman — who died at the scene in a shootout with cops — served in Iraq from 2004-2008.

Law enforcement sources confirmed that Sanford, from nearby Burton, Michigan, is the shooting suspect. Sources told the Post that authorities also found several improvised explosive devices on church property, which a bomb squad was investigating.

The Gateway Pundit looked up the alleged shooter’s home address and found a Trump-Vance sign wedged behind a STOP sign on what appears to be his property, according to records. We verified his address on SmartBackgroundCheck.com and CheckMyVote.org, where we were able to view his voting record. It appears that the alleged shooter registered to vote in the 2018 midterms following Trump’s first presidential election victory in 2016.

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Iraq War veteran Thomas Sanford ID’d as gunman who attacked Grand Blanc LDS church, killing 2 and setting it ablaze

The deranged madman who killed at least two people and wounded nine others at a Michigan Latter-day Saints church, torching the building and opening fire on fleeing congregants and their families, has been identified as 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford, The Post can confirm.

Sanford, a US Marine veteran, according to his mom’s Facebook page, rammed his Chevy Silverado truck into the building before unleashing the assault on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, armed with a semi-automatic rifle.

An old Facebook post by Sanford’s mother says the gunman — who died at the scene in a shootout with cops — who served in Iraq from 2004-2008.

Law enforcement sources confirmed that Sanford, from nearby Burton, Michigan, is the line suspect.

The source of the blaze was not immediately known, but sources told The Post authorities found several improvised explosive devices on church property which a bomb squad was investigating.

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Michigan Lawmakers Pass Marijuana Tax Increase That’s Projected To Bring In $420 Million In New Revenue Every Year

A plan to raise money for road repairs by increasing marijuana taxes quickly advanced through the Michigan House late Thursday as part of what officials called a larger framework for a state budget deal.

The proposed Comprehensive Road Funding Tax Act would impose a 24 percent tax on the wholesale price of marijuana sold or transferred to a retail shop, beginning in January.

That would generate an estimated $420 million a year, according to the nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency. Most of the funding from the proposed Comprehensive Road Funding Tax Act would go into a new Neighborhood Road Fund for local roads and bridges.

The pot tax proposal passed the Republican-led House with bipartisan support in a 78-21 vote just hours after it was unveiled, with opposition from 10 Republicans and 11 Democrats. It now goes to the Democratic-led Senate for further consideration.

A separate bill approved Thursday—and tied to the pot tax proposal—would extend new federal income tax exemptions on tips and overtime pay to state filers for three years. That would benefit qualifying workers but cost the state more than $150 million annually between 2026 and 2028, according to the fiscal agency.

The votes came shortly before Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Senate Democratic Leader Winnie Brinks and Republican House Speaker Matt Hall announced a framework agreement to pass the budget before a potential government shutdown next week.

That will include a road funding plan totaling between $1.5 billion and $1.8 billion in annual funding, according to Hall, R-Richland Township.

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New York man sentenced for online threats against Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel

A 40-year-old New York man has been sentenced to federal prison for threats he made against Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel in 2023. 

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan on Monday announced that Kevin Delgado would receive a year and a day in prison after pleading guilty to one count of transmitting threats in interstate commerce earlier this year. 

According to court documents, Delgado posted a threatening response in response to a post Nessel made honoring her friend, community leader and activist Samantha Woll, who was murdered. He told Nessel to “watch every step u take,” called her a string of insults which included a homophobic slur, and said she would be “#murdered.”

The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Frances Lee Carlson.

While pleading guilty, Delgado admitted that he threatened Nessel because of her religion and her perceived sexual orientation. Nessel is Jewish and gay. 

“The sentencing of Kevin Delgado sends a strong message that public officials elected to serve the people cannot be hindered by threats and must be able to do their jobs free from intimidation,” Reuben Coleman, acting special agent in charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office said in a statement. “The FBI in Michigan will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to identify, and hold accountable, those who issue dangerous threats against officials dedicated to protecting and serving our communities.”

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NJ Man Secures Nearly 1 Million Documents From Detroit’s 2020 Election, Including Copies of Absentee Ballots and Signed Envelopes in One of Largest Election FOIA Hauls In U.S. History

TICK TOCK…Detroit election officials and Michigan’s dirty Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson have officially been put on notice.

After years of being gaslighted by some of the most dishonest people in election history, The Gateway Pundit, along with some of the most respected election investigators in the state, are about to blow the lid off the lies about Detroit’s “secure” 2020 election that helped to give Joe Biden an inexplicable victory in the must-win state of Michigan.

On Election Night 2020, President Donald J. Trump appeared to hold commanding leads in key battleground states — approximately 100,000 votes in Wisconsin, 300,000 in Michigan, and 700,000 in Pennsylvania. For Joe Biden to erase those margins, his performance in the outstanding vote would have needed to be dramatically stronger, particularly in heavily Democratic strongholds such as Detroit, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia.

As the night wore on, reports emerged — often inconsistent — that some precincts had stopped counting, sent workers home, or restarted tabulations under unclear circumstances. To this day, there is confusion and disagreement over the extent of these pauses and whether any state laws or procedures were ignored in the process. What cannot be disputed is that vote totals from Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania continued to change throughout the night, long after many Americans had gone to bed.

By the early morning hours of November 4, Wisconsin had flipped blue, followed soon after by the must-win state of Michigan. Days later, Georgia and Pennsylvania flipped for Biden as well. For many observers, the abrupt turnarounds — combined with conflicting reports of election-night disruptions — fueled deep skepticism about the integrity and transparency of the process.

Michigan lawmakers and election integrity investigators have spent an untold number of hours and resources to prove the election in Detroit was rigged. To date, they have not been able to secure the documents needed to verify what they believe happened that led to an inexplicable victory for Joe Biden in the presidential race.

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School district may have ‘intentionally deceived’ parents on girl’s gender transition, judge rules

AMichigan school district may have violated the due process rights of parents by “actively concealing” their daughter’s identification as a boy, referring to the girl by her given name with parents and her “masculine” name at school, a federal judge ruled, exacerbating conflicts in the lower courts that may trigger Supreme Court review.

U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney, known for siding with a school district that banned students from wearing “Let’s Go Brandon” sweatshirts, greenlit Dan and Jennifer Mead‘s Fourteenth Amendment claims against Rockford Public School District for violating their “fundamental rights as parents” and “deprivation of liberty without due process.”

He dismissed the Meads’ free exercise claim, however, saying surreptitious social transitions don’t “compel students (or their parents) to believe or do anything,” contrary to the mandatory exposure to LGBTQ “storybooks,” compelled school attendance and flag-salute requirement struck down by the Supreme Court in precedents from the 1940s to this year.

The President George W. Bush nominee noted the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is binding on him, last month upheld an Ohio gender identity school restroom policy as “facially neutral” in a challenge by Muslim and Christian students. (Their only potential relief was damages, since Ohio mandated restroom access by sex during the case.)

The 1st Circuit, which oversees Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Rhode Island and has no Republican-nominated judges, reached the opposite conclusion as Maloney on parental rights and due process earlier this year, prompting parents Stephen Foote and Marissa Silvestri to petition the Supreme Court.

Several friend-of-the-court briefs are backing the Massachusetts parents, including detransitioners who abandoned transgender identities after medicalization and a prominent transgender child psychologist who argues parents are integral to transitions.

The 3rd Circuit, covering Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey, heard a similar case this summer and already has precedents upholding parental authority, including an opinion joined by future Justice Samuel Alito on “actions that strike at the heart of parental decision-making authority on matters of the greatest importance.”

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley called Maloney’s ruling “potentially precedent-setting” on parental rights in public schools. He highlighted Maloney’s finding that the Meads’ allegations “show some amount of coercion or interference” from the district, implicating their right to make “fundamental decisions” for the girl.

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