LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – Michigan will receive nearly $1 million in grants to reduce lead exposure from children at schools and childcare facilities.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced funding to protect children from lead in drinking water on Wednesday. The grant program requires recipients to use the 3Ts—Training, Testing, and Taking Action—to reduce lead in drinking water. The $26 million grant funding was distributed to 55 states and territories, including the District of Columbia; Michigan will receive $930,000.

The EPA said lead can severely harm mental and physical development in children while also slowing down learning and irreversibly damaging the brain. In adults, lead can cause increased blood pressure, heart disease, decreased kidney function, and cancer.

“The science is clear: There is no safe level of exposure to lead,” said Acting Assistant Administrator for Water Bruno Pigott. “As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, this $26 million will help protect our children from the harmful impacts of lead. EPA is also investing $15 billion under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to remove lead pipes and is providing technical assistance to communities to help them develop and implement lead pipe replacement projects.”

The funding was authorized by the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act and is provided to states, the District of Columbia, and participating territories as grants for lead testing and remediation in schools and childcare facilities.

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Chicago — None of the six state officials able to serve as Michigan’s governor or acting governor are physically in the state this week, prompting allegations from some Republicans that the lack of a chief executive within the state’s boundaries is unconstitutional.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in an interview Wednesday night from the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago said she remains the governor and that she would return to Michigan should anything occur that requires her attention.

“I am the governor. I’m always the governor of Michigan. It’s 24/7,” Whitmer said. “Obviously, if there is something official that needs to be done I can get back over the state line in about an hour.”

The Michigan constitution requires that, should a governor be absent from the state, his or her powers and duties be transferred down in order of succession to one of the state’s five highest elected officials: Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Attorney General Dana Nessel, Speaker Pro Tempore in the Senate Jeremy Moss and House Speaker Joe Tate.

Gilchrist, Benson and Nessel have signed bills in the past under the title of “acting governor” while Whitmer was out of state.

But each of those five successors and Whitmer have been present at Michigan Democratic delegation breakfasts at the Hilton Chicago, with the delegation at the United Center and at other events throughout the Windy City this week.

Whitmer in 2019 also appointed five individuals to succeed her in the event of an emergency in which no one in the line of elected officials is able to perform the duties of the office. But those individuals are meant to be called on in the event of a disaster. Those individuals are State Treasurer Rachel Eubanks, former Lt. Gov. John D. Cherry, Wayne County Executive Warren Evans, businessman Gary Torgow and U.S. Debbie Stabenow.

Evans and Stabenow also are in Chicago.

Whitmer, when asked if Eubanks was intended to be acting governor during the Democratic National Convention, said she was not.

State Rep. Bryan Posthumus, R-Cannon Township, called the governor and her successors’ absence a “constitutional crisis” and reflective of the Democratic legislative majorities’ infrequent session days this year. The Senate and House — which has struggled to pass legislation with its slim 56-54 majority — have met sparingly throughout 2024 and are not scheduled to come back into session until September.

“There are really critical things at stake now in Michigan,” Posthumus said. “The Supreme Court just put down a ruling that could decimate the entire service industry.”

Posthumus was referring to a recent Michigan Supreme Court decision that overturned a Republican-led effort to curb minimum wage and paid sick leave laws. The decision has left restaurants and businesses in a panic amid the threat of sudden increase to minimum wage, the elimination of the tipped wage and the implementation of mandatory paid sick leave rules.

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Attorney Steven Liedel, who served as chief legal counsel for former Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the Whitmer transition team, rejected the idea that the situation was unconstitutional. The constitutional language governing the line of succession activates those individuals if or when there is a power or duty that needs to exercised, Liedel said.

“There’s nothing that says someone needs to be vested at all times,” Liedel said.

And, as a practical matter, “she’s in Chicago,” Liedel said. “All she has to do is take a plane, a car, a bus or train and the moment she crosses into Michigan, she can exercise any of the powers of governor.”

Liedel also questioned whether the role of the five individuals named in 2019 was only activated upon a disaster. There’s no precedent on the matter, he said, and it’s never been interpreted by an attorney general or court.

Attorney Mark Brewer, a longtime election lawyer and former chairman for the Michigan Democratic Party, said the concerns from Republicans were “silly” and somewhat ironic. It is likely, Brewer said, that Republicans found themselves in similar situations when they controlled the state’s six highest elected offices.

“That’s just a silly, hypocritical argument by the Republicans,” Brewer said. “They were in the same boat at one time.”

eleblanc@detroitnews.com

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – A new report from the Michigan State Police shows an increase in the number of bicyclists who were struck by a vehicle in the past five years.

With more people choosing to ride their bikes for exercise, transportation, or just for fun, the City of Lansing is working to raise awareness about bike safety laws.

Those laws are meant to protect bicyclists, people walking, and drivers.

Lansing’s Public Service Director, Andrew Kilpatrick, weighed in on how the new state police report highlights a growing concern for bike safety here in Mid-Michigan.

“We are definitely not seeing a decrease and that’s what we want to see.” Kilpatrick said, “So, we need to look at the reasons why they’re not decreasing.”

According to Kilpatrick, more bike lanes and more signage has helped reduce the number of bike versus car fatalities in Mid-Michigan, but said that the overall number of bike versus car incidents is still too high.

“Whether it’s distracted drivers or lack of facilities or lack of education and work to decrease that.”

City officials are working to keep bike riders, like Jim Detjen, safe on the roads. “I’m training for riding in the DALMAC.”

Detjen said while he’s out on this year’s weekend bicycle tour, safety is his number one priority. “We are just very cautious.”

“You notice, we have this bell, we have lights on the front and the back so people can see.” Detjen also said, “My helmet is pretty bright and we often will wear vests that are fluorescent so people can see us.”

Jeff Carek, with the League of Michigan Bicyclists, said his group worked with state lawmakers to create more protection for people on bikes.

“We pushed for and got a three-foot passing law passed in the State of Michigan.”

He said the law “basically states motor vehicle drivers are required to give three feet between the widest portion of their motor vehicle and the widest part of the bicyclist when they pass.”

Riders and drivers, Carek said, need to help each other make sure they make it home safe. “We need to let everybody know our intentions. We need to signal our turns.”

“We need to signal our stops and let everybody know what we are doing on the roadway.”

Kilpatrick said Lansing has added roughly two miles of bike facilities per year since 2022 and said they are in the process of updating the city’s walking and biking plan.

There were 24 bicycle fatalities in Michigan last year. In half of those cases, the rider was not wearing a helmet.

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