Rick Pluta
MPRN Capitol Bureau ChiefRick Pluta is Senior Capitol Correspondent for the Michigan Public Radio Network. He has been covering Michigan’s Capitol, government, and politics since 1987. His journalism background includes stints with UPI, The Elizabeth (NJ) Daily Journal, The (Pontiac, MI) Oakland Press, and WJR. He is also a lifelong public radio listener.
Rick was one of the first Michigan political reporters to write about “pay-to-play” fundraising, and the controversies surrounding recognition of same-sex relationships. He broke the news that Gov. John Engler was planning a huge juvenile justice overhaul that included adult-time-for-adult-crime sentencing, and has continued to report since then on the effects of that policy decision.
He co-hosted the weekly segment “It’s Just Politics” on Michigan Radio with Zoe Clark.
Rick is fascinated by the game of politics, and the grand plans and human foibles that go into policy-making. You will never find him ice-fishing.
Follow him on Twitter at @rickpluta
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The two cases were filed by restaurants and fitness centers that argue the state’s COVID-19 shutdowns and restrictions robbed them of income that they deserve to recover.
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Emails obtained by The Detroit News suggest the goal was to either reverse the results, hold the total electoral vote count below 270, or simply call the results into question.
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The Michigan Republican Party’s governing board meets this coming weekend to decide whether to remove state chair Kristina Karamo.
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The new year will bring an automatic pay increase to minimum wage workers in Michigan. And it may not be the final minimum wage boost of 2024.
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The Michigan Supreme Court ruled Wednesday to uphold a lower court ruling that allows former President Donald Trump to appear on the ballot in 2024. Michigan is a pivotal state.
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The Michigan Supreme Court says it will hear arguments in January on whether the state owes money to businesses affected by COVID-19 shutdown orders.
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Two former senior aides to then-House Speaker Lee Chatfield are facing a raft of felony corruption charges. And the state’s top law enforcement official says she expects more people will face prosecution.
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A group trying to keep former President Donald Trump off the Michigan ballot says a Colorado Supreme Court decision will assist its effort.
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The group Free Speech for People has already lost in lower courts but still hopes to prevail in its argument that Trump is not eligible to appear on the ballot.
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The plaintiffs are a bipartisan group of voters and activists who say Trump should be barred from running under the insurrection clause of the U.S. Constitution.