We sat down with state rep Gretchen Driskell (D-Saline) to chat about the need for voting reform and her bid for the 7th U.S. Congressional seat.

State rep Gretchen Driskell talks about upcoming election and voting reform

This week we talk to U-M political science professor Vincent Hutchings and the Director of African American Engagement for the GOP in Michigan about race and the Donald Trump candidacy. 

How Donald Trump is raising the racial stakes this election

A recent report from the Economic Policy Institute shows that the one percent just keeps getting richer and the 99 percent is losing wealth in America. Two professors have very different viewpoints on the issue. 

Is income inequality a problem or are we just jealous of the one percent?

This week we talk about the straight-ticket voting controversy and Donald Trump's latest speech in Michigan. 

Straight-ticket voting and Trump's quest for black voters

This week we talk about the proposal to close failing schools in Michigan with Ben DeGrow, director of education policy at the Mackinac Center and David Zuhlke, legislative liaison for Middle Cities Education Association.

Slash and burn isn't the way to fix education

The controversy surrounding a Michigan orchard that refused to allow a same-sex couple to get married highlights the state's archaic discrimination laws. We spoke with openly gay state Rep. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) and religious freedom advocate state Rep. Gary Glenn (R-Larkin Township) about where the issue stands in Lansing. 

Why is it still legal to refuse same-sex couples service in parts of Michigan?

This week we spoke with attorney Jeffrey Hank of MLegalize about the fight to get a marijuana legalization initiative on this year's ballot. He talks about the history of the state's byzantine laws relating to citizen's getting something on the ballot.  

Here’s how Michigan stamped out the ballot initiative to legalize marijuana

This week we talked with U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow about the passage of the Water Resources Development Act, which will bring some much-needed relief to Flint. 

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow on how Flint is finally close to federal help

This week we checked in with MLive's Capitol reporter, Emily Lawler, about what went on in Lansing this week, including a possible expansion of the FOIA law and an unlikely beer tax.

Should the public have access to the governor's records? Should they tax beer?

The green slime was back again in Lake Erie this summer. It's gone now, but experts are conducting an autopsy. While the algae bloom wasn't as big as it was in year's past, it was more toxic. Still, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality won't add the lake to a list of impaired waters, which would trigger more stringent pollution controls. We spoke with Tim Davis, a biologist with the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, about it.

How bad was the green slime in Lake Erie this summer?

Politics. Big Issues. Michigan. These are the topics discussed on Impact Michigan, a weekly podcast produced by MLive's statewide news team.

Impact Michigan

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