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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State House and Senate committees will convene Tuesday for their first joint hearing on bills to ensure juveniles facing criminal charges have proper legal assistance. -
Lawmakers are working off recommendations made by a task force named by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2021.
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer put abortion rights, a clean energy plan and guaranteed paid worker leave on her agenda for the Legislature’s fall session that begins next week.
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Abortion rights groups want Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to call for striking lingering abortion laws still on the books. A Whitmer spokesperson said they will likely get their wish.
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The Michigan Attorney General’s office won’t appeal a ruling that it violated Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act and says it will share copies of evidence used in court against defendants charged with plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
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In a scathing decision that included a reference to the dystopian novel “Brave New World,” U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Ludington agreed with four families who claimed the state was not diligent enough in getting their permission.
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Another ally of former President Donald Trump is charged with voting machine tampering in an effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Michigan.
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Governor Gretchen Whitmer says she’s looking to expand human services spending and business incentives as she looks ahead to the next state budget.
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Former Michigan attorney general candidate Matt DePerno and former state Representative Daire Rendon — both Republicans — have been charged with election-related crimes.
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The Michigan Supreme Court said the state Legislature was not clear whether benefit caps in the 2019 auto no-fault law applied retroactively to people injured prior to the date the law went into effect.
