9 & 10 News
February 22, 2021
Former Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives Lee Chatfield announced his resignation as CEO of Southwest Michigan First Monday morning.
Chatfield was recently hired as CEO of the Kalamazoo based economic development group, but faced criticism for his past stances on LGBTQ rights and his lack of business and economic development experience.
For the betterment of the Kalamazoo community, the businesses that the board of directors represent, the staff at SWMF and for the sake of my conscience, please see the letter of resignation I offered this morning. I remain grateful for having had this incredible opportunity. pic.twitter.com/loS4v0kH3t
5 things the Michigan Legislature failed to address in 2020
Updated Dec 23, 2020;
Posted Dec 23, 2020
Protesters congregate at the Capitol Building during a protest against emergency business shutdown orders amid the coronavirus pandemic in Lansing on Thursday, April 30, 2020. Neil Blake | MLive.com
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LANSING, MI - The legislative agendas of Lee Chatfield and Mike Shirkey looked very different in 2020 than they did in 2019.
With COVID-19 dominating every aspect of life in 2020, the Republican leaders in the Michigan Legislature shifted focus to address the pandemic. While they fulfilled promises such as boosting education funding, lowering auto insurance costs and passing criminal justice reforms, one major shortcoming was obvious: No plan to mitigate disease spread made it out of either chamber.