LANSING, Mich. — Ahead of her State of the State address on Wednesday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer held two roundtable discussions on Tuesday, speaking with constituents to gather input on the issues she says she will highlight in her speech.
At the first discussion in Lansing, those at the meeting voiced their concerns on issues including inflation, the economy, education and healthcare. One woman described her struggle to both keep afloat in the current economy while caring for her child with special needs.
"Being a poor single mother with regular resources raising a child with unique needs is a battle in itself," the resident said.
Another described her difficulty in getting out of her current financial situation.
"I'm 23 years old, I have no credit and I don't have room to build the credit," the resident said. "I don't have the budget."
Alongside these household issues, Whitmer told reporters after the meeting about other priorities she would mention and actions she may consider in the new term. In the wake of deadly mass shootings over the weekend in California, one such issue the governor spoke to was that of gun violence.
"Putting more resources into law enforcement, having some common sense gun safety measures are two ways that we can work to bring down gun violence in Michigan," Whitmer said. "We know that some simple things like background checks and red flag laws, secure storage laws are ways that we could mitigate the gun violence that we're seeing play out across this country every single day."
Whitmer confirmed to reporters that gun violence will be one of the issues she will address, alongside broader economic concerns.
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