Whitmer rolls out themes on pre-State of the State tour            

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is on a statewide tour to pre-sell and fine-tune the State of the State she will deliver next week.

The governor made stops in Royal Oak and Warren. In Macomb County, the governor said she wants pandemic recovery plans to create more opportunities for minority- and female-owned businesses. She also said she wants to get more people into post-secondary education and job training programs.

“You’ll see us continue, I think, to forge a path that makes our economy stronger, that creates opportunity for Michiganders and, hopefully, helps us grow our population and lure more people into this great state,” she told reporters following the closed-door meeting a restaurant in Warren.

Whitmer gave a broad preview of topics she expects to touch on in the speech, but with few details.

“Educating our kids, making sure that Michigan is a competitive place for business, ensuring that we’re fixing those roads and rebuilding our water infrastructure, closing the skills gap,” she said. “These are the things that really matter as we recover from COVID, and having a conversation with people of Macomb is one part of that.”

For the second year in a row, Whitmer will deliver the speech remotely and away from the state Capitol. The Legislature’s Republican leaders are not expected to be in attendance.

The State of the State address will be followed soon after by Whitmer’s budget proposal to the Legislature – and all of that before an expected reelection campaign this coming summer and fall.