Dear Neighbor,
No matter how much money you make or which neighborhood you call home, every family deserves access to opportunities and pathways to advancement. Throughout my time in public office, I’ve remained laser focused on championing policies and investments to make life better for you and your family.
From cutting taxes for working parents to expanding access to affordable housing and higher education, I’m always fighting to put your family’s needs first— the way it should be.
My office is here to serve you, and I encourage you to reach out at any time to provide feedback on legislation, share new ideas, or if you need assistance navigating state departments.
In service,
Sarah Anthony
State Senator, 21st District
(517)373-6960
SenSAnthony@senate.michigan.gov
Cutting Taxes and Lowering Costs for Working Families
From my first day in the Senate, I’ve been focused on lowering costs for Michiganders like you. One of the first bills I voted for quintupled the state Earned Income Tax Credit to help 700,000 residents save an average of $3,150 per year. But my colleagues and I didn’t stop there. Through family-centered policies and investments, we’ve been lowering costs in every aspect of life.
Child Care
Made major investments to lower child care costs and secure universal free PreK, helping families save $10,000 annually.
Food Access
Secured free breakfast and lunch for all students, regardless of zip code or household income, ensuring kids can focus in the classroom, and saving families an estimated $850 per child every year.
Health Care
Expanded access to Medicaid to provide better coverage, including fully covering the cost of giving birth.
Secured $4.5 million in the 2024 state budget to help erase Michiganders’ medical debt.
Introduced legislation to require hospitals to offer financial assistance programs for patients burdened with high medical bills.
Higher Education
Supported scholarships for adults to go back to school to pursue a degree or skilled trade through Michigan Reconnect.
Made the biggest investment in college affordability in a generation through the Michigan Achievement Scholarship.
Created the Community College Guarantee to provide free community college for all students.
Housing
Secured the first ever protected funding for affordable housing in Michigan — helping support safe, affordable housing for veterans, seniors, and working-class families.
Fought to expand eligibility for the Homestead Property Tax Credit and provide meaningful tax relief to nearly half a million Michigan residents to help them keep up with the cost of living.
Investing in the Building Blocks Parents Need to Thrive
As the cost of living continues to rise under the Trump administration and its chaotic policies, more working families are struggling to get by. I was proud to join my colleagues in the Senate to introduce bold, transformative legislation to lower costs for working families, provide financial relief for parents, and make sure kids in Michigan have the best start possible.
Working Parents Tax Cut
Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit was game-changing for Michigan families, but there’s still more we can do to support middle-class families and ensure that anyone who works hard can get ahead in Michigan. That’s why my Senate Democratic colleagues and I recently proposed a tax cut of $5,500 for working families with children under the age of three.
This Working Parents Tax Cut would help put more money in your pocket so you can afford the necessities, plan for the future, and set your kids up for success.
Rx Kids: A Prescription for Improving Families’ Physical and Economic Health
Rx Kids is a first-of-its-kind program in the United States, initially launched in Flint in 2024, before expanding to seven other communities across the state in early 2025. Now, we’re working to pass legislation to expand this program to our community and others around Michigan. Rx Kids supports parents and babies by providing all pregnant moms, regardless of income, with a no-strings-attached cash allowance of $1,500 during pregnancy and $500 each month throughout the baby’s first year. Research shows that direct, cash support for new parents helps improve housing security, access to nutritious food, and maternal and child health.
Making Child Care More Affordable
Michigan parents continue to sound the alarm on the lack of affordable, accessible child care options in our state. We hear you loud and clear: the cost of child care can put a massive strain on any household budget. As a result, parents are forced to either make difficult cuts to their budget or leave the workforce entirely. This problem isn’t just negatively impacting families — it’s dragging down our entire economy.
To fix the crisis we’re facing, we need bold changes to make child care affordable for families and sustainable for child care professionals. Our “Building Blocks” plan will do just that and help more families access the high-quality care they need. More specifically, my bill in the package would cut burdensome red tape to make it easier for providers to open and operate child care centers, including in-home care centers.
Read more about our proposal to lower the cost of parenting at SenateDems.com/Building-Blocks.
Keeping Families Healthy
Lowering Your Medication Costs
While drug companies rake in record profits, too many people are forced to choose between picking up their medication or paying for groceries. That’s why we’ve introduced legislation to create a Prescription Drug Affordability Board right here in Michigan. This legislation awaits further action in the Michigan House.
- An independent board of experts — with no ties to the pharmaceutical industry — would review high-cost drugs.
- If a drug is found to be excessively priced, the board could set a fair upper payment limit that the cost could not exceed.
- The process would be data-driven and transparent, keeping Big Pharma in check.
To Support Healthy Families, We’ve:
- Codified popular provisions of the Affordable Care Act into state law.
- Eliminated burdensome hurdles for IVF and surrogacy.
- Secured dedicated funding to support uterine fibroid research and education efforts.
- Expanded access to free and low-cost contraceptives and family planning services.
- Dismantled barriers that prevented people from becoming paramedics to help address our current shortage of emergency services providers.
- Ensured rural hospitals have the resources they need to care for patients effectively.
Protecting Renters
About a quarter of Michiganders are renters, yet they lack basic legal protections to ensure safe and affordable living conditions. To address this critical issue, I introduced the Tenant Empowerment Package. The legislation is designed to protect tenants’ rights and strengthen Michigan law, providing renters with the tools they need to advocate for their rights. More specifically, the package would:
Give tenants the ability to fix unsafe conditions in their home if their landlords fail to make the repair.
Ensure adequate notice for rent increases to give people time to plan, budget, and prepare.
Allow the electronic return of tenant security deposits to modernize this process for landlords and tenants alike.
How You Can Get Involved
Become a citizen co-sponsor of these bills and help build the momentum this legislation needs to move forward.
And if you have any personal experiences with being a tenant, I encourage you to share your story with us. It’s the voices and stories of community members that are essential to shaping stronger protections for renters and ensuring this commonsense legislation becomes law!
senatedems.com/anthony/cosponsor-tenant-empowerment-package/