Midwest Policymakers Rally to Transform State Governance: Jonathan Williams on The Hugh Hewitt Show

“A lot of the policy innovation is going to, once again, happen in the Midwest. The region needs it. The country needs it.”

That was the message ALEC President and Chief Economist Jonathan Williams shared on The Hugh Hewitt Show while hosting the Great Lakes Regional Legislator Academy in Michigan, where the focus was on competition and innovation in state governance.

“It’s a great day to be up in Michigan to talk with a lot of great free market leaders from all over the region,” Williams said as he welcomed listeners to his home campus at Northwood University. “We have legislators here from five or six different states, including Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. Competition, at the end of the day, is a very healthy thing, whether in business or certainly in government.”

Water resources emerged as a vital topic during the Academy. Williams recalled a recent meeting between President Trump and Michigan Governor Whitmer, emphasizing that “water is absolutely a key element of things” along with shared electricity grids, energy security, and economic growth.

The conversation then shifted to national issues, including the Medicaid reforms in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” Williams challenged media narratives that labeled the legislation as “cuts,” explaining that “what Speaker Johnson and Leader Thune and President Trump did… was to say, let’s root out the waste, fraud and abuse… and do some common-sense things like work requirements for able-bodied adults without children.” He added these requirements “poll at 80 or 90%” and ask for just “20 hours a week of work or volunteering.”

Turning to judicial matters, Hewitt praised Missouri’s move to adopt ALEC’s model to eliminate state-level “Chevron Deference.” Williams reported rapid growth in states embracing this reform.

“I think we’re up towards a double-digit amount of states that have worked on our ALEC model to get rid of that Chevron deference. It was fixed at the federal level with Loper Bright, but at the state court level, it still needs to be addressed.”

North Carolina’s new REINS Act also drew attention. Williams explained, “If a rule or regulation costs over… $4 million a year, it needs the approval of the legislature.” The bill passed with a massive bipartisan vote to override Governor Stein’s veto.

“It was a great step in the right direction for North Carolina,” Williams concluded.