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    • How might Donald Trump’s agenda affect Lansing?
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    How might Donald Trump’s agenda affect Lansing?

    Harry Posted on

    Lansing State Journal staff
    | Lansing State Journal

    LANSING — The coming days and weeks will shed more light on how President-elect Donald Trump expects to pursue his agenda during his second term in the White House.

    Trump, who won the presidency in 2016 but lost his bid for a second term against President Joe Biden in 2020, soundly defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in Tuesday’s election.

    His platforms during the campaign included improving the economy, curbing illegal immigration, and reducing violent crime.

    Here are five ways a second Trump administration could impact the Lansing area.

    Title IX and transgender athletes

    Universities may see new regulations related to Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in federally funded educational programs. Expansions that Biden has enacted, including those regarding sexual orientation and gender identity, will likely be cut, meaning protections for LGBTQ+ students will disappear.

    “The most important thing Donald Trump said he would do on Day 1 is to ban transgender women from participating in women’s sports in schools,” said Liz Abdnour, a Lansing-based attorney who specializes in Title IX.

    But it may not end there. Abdnour said he would also monitor the removal of other protections, such as protections that prohibit people from being discriminated against because of their gender identity and sexual orientation.

    However, Michigan has special protections in state law that prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ+ people. The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination against people because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.

    Abdnour said federal law should not interfere with state law because of the constitutional separation of powers.

    Trump’s former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos tightened the definition of sexual harassment to comply with Clery Act rules. For a school to investigate a complaint, the harassment must be so “severe” and “pervasive” that it “effectively denies” the person equal access to a school program or activity. Trump rules allowed counsel for a person accused of misconduct to cross-examine the accuser. They also excluded behavior that did not occur within the scope of the institution’s educational program or activity. This meant that universities had no obligation to investigate sexual misconduct that occurred off campus.

    The Trump administration investigated Michigan State University’s failures to comply with the Clery Act over how the university handled sexual assault reports regarding Larry Nassar and other campus-wide safety issues. The report found that the university’s failures “may have posed an ongoing threat” to the campus community.

    The university was eventually fined $4.5 million by DeVos’ department.

    Crime and death penalty

    Matthew Schneider, who was the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan during Trump’s first term, said there will be clear policy differences between Biden and Trump in terms of which cases are tried and how they are pursued. But many things federal law enforcement does may not change, he said.

    ““Ninety percent or more of the policies and actions actually stay the same,” he said. “Because when someone robs a bank, it doesn’t really matter who is president.”

    The first and likely most visible changes will come as the Trump administration determines who will run the U.S. Attorney’s offices in Michigan and other states and who will run the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.

    Schneider said big changes will follow, pointing to immigration cases, opioid investigations and the use of the death penalty.

    “We will definitely see an increase in investigations against people who come to the country illegally and commit crimes,” he said. “This was (first) investigated under the Trump administration. I actually handled these cases myself.”

    These cases may not be in the hundreds next year, Schneider said, but even dozens of cases would be a noticeable increase. Similarly, federal death penalty cases are not common in Michigan, but Schneider expects the Justice Department under Trump to put the sentence back on the table.

    In July 2021, Biden-appointed Attorney General Merrick Garland ordered a moratorium on federal executions to allow the Justice Department to review death penalty policy.

    That may have affected whether Rashad Trice, who pleaded guilty to kidnapping and murdering a young child in Lansing in 2023, will face the death penalty in his federal trial. Ministry of Justice evaluated the death penalty but he objected. Trice pleaded guilty in state and federal courts and is serving two life sentences without parole.

    He also said opioid-related investigations are also likely to increase, especially cases of overdose deaths in which the drug dealer may be blamed.

    Will Trump send $500 million to Lansing’s GM plant?

    Will the $500 million renovation of the Lansing Grand River General Motors plant for electric vehicles happen?

    Mayor Andy Schor said Friday he hopes so, adding that he wishes the federal government would follow through on the Biden administration’s commitment earlier this year to preserve 650 jobs and add 50 more.

    Vice President-elect J.D. Vance made comments in October questioning whether the Trump administration would accept the grant.

    A week later, during a stop in Detroit, Vance attacked federal support. “table scraps” In light of what he predicts will be significant job losses in the automotive industry during the EV transition.

    GM said discussions with federal officials are ongoing.

    “We are in the negotiation period with the DOE to finalize the plans,” GM’s Colleen Oberc said. “No additional details are available at this time.”

    Schor said Vance indicated he couldn’t guarantee a vehicle replacement, but the mayor hoped it was just a matter of maintaining the bet that the conversion would preserve American jobs and continue to seed the EV industry.

    “When President Trump looks at this, they will see that more money is going to red states than blue, and that money is helping to preserve jobs and help people get back on their feet, so their communities can grow,” Schor said.

    General Motors announced in July that it would invest $900 million. Biden administration pledges $500 million more for facility remodelingIt announced last year that it would stop production of the Camaro at the end of the 2024 model year.

    It was part of the Biden administration’s announcement of more than $1 billion in grants to help remodel or reopen 11 auto plants, including more than $650 million for two plants in Michigan for EV incentives.

    LGR still produces the Cadillac CT4 and CT5 (including the V-Series). GM said last year it would lay off more than 350 Lansing auto workers starting Jan. 1 due to the end of Camaro production, and city officials at the time urged the company to find new products to produce in mid-Michigan.

    ‘It has been difficult’ for small businesses

    Inflation, rising prices of almost everything, and supply chain issues have made owning a small business a struggle everywhere.

    The Lansing area is no exception, said DeAnna Ray-Brown, owner of Everything is Cheesecake, a bakery in South Lansing.

    “It was difficult,” he said. Ray-Brown said the price of the vanilla, sugar, butter and cream cheese her business needs to make cheesecakes and cookies has doubled in the last few years.

    Ray-Brown said it would be beneficial if the new administration’s policies could reduce these costs. “I’m optimistic, but at the same time, this has been extremely difficult, not just as a business owner, but as a regular consumer.”

    Ray-Brown said she was concerned that increasing tariffs on imported goods, which Trump touted during his campaign, could increase costs.

    “I don’t know how this will directly affect us,” he said.

    Matt Gillett, owner of Saddleback BBQ and Slice by Saddleback, said restaurants can only raise prices enough to offset increased costs.

    He said positive economic initiatives would make him “hopeful.” “I think having more money in the consumer’s pocket is always a good thing.”

    But Jamie Robinson, who owns several businesses in Mason, including Darrell’s Market & Hardware and Bestseller’s Books & Coffee, said he doesn’t believe the president’s administration could have much impact on inflation or the supply chain.

    Robinson said the Covid-19 pandemic has affected both of them and they are still recovering.

    “This started happening when Trump was in office before,” he said. “I think the driver for our economy is still the COVID recovery and everything that’s happening in the supply chain. “We are all paying the price for this.”

    Migration and a change that ‘happens every four years’

    Trump promised to deliver Largest deportation program in US history.

    Although it is difficult to keep track of the undocumented immigrant population, many sources put the total number in the United States at between 10 and 12 million. An estimated 75,000 to 175,000 of these undocumented people live in Michigan, according to the report an incoming report Pew Research Center.

    While this is a relatively small portion of the national population of more than 335 million, any comprehensive effort to remove that many people from the state would have an impact on many fronts.

    Joe Garcia, CEO of Catholic Charities in Ingham, Eaton and Clinton Counties, said his agency will continue to help immigrants in need, whether through a resettlement program that serves federally approved participants numbering from 65 to several hundred at any given time. through other services available to all who need it.

    “Even with a similar administration, there is a change every four years,” Garcia said. “We do the best with what we are allowed to work with and go from there.”

    The agency’s St. Vincent and Cristo Rey campuses provide assistance with food, medical access, personal needs and other services.

    “We’re in Michigan,” Garcia said. “It’s going to get colder here pretty soon. If someone needs a winter coat and we have one to give, they’ll take it.”

    State Journal reporters Matt Mencarini, Rachel Greco, Mike Ellis, Sarah Atwood and editor Susan Vela contributed.

    Harry
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