Dear Neighbor,
It’s an honor to serve as your state Senator. I am committed to the well-being and success of the kids and parents in our community and have been working hard to provide support and opportunities for you and your family.
An investment in our kids is an investment in our future, and regardless of what their interests and aspirations are, these game-changing resources for our kids and classrooms will set them up for success.
As always, if you have any feedback on legislation, ideas you want to share, or need any assistance navigating state departments, please feel free to contact my office.
Sincerely,
Mary Cavanagh
State Senator
District 6
(517) 373-7748
SenMCavanagh@senate.michigan.gov
SenatorCavanagh.com
Lowering Costs and Investing in Students
As your state Senator, I helped deliver a bold 2025 state budget last year, to secure transformative investments for students, schools, and staff in District 6 and across Michigan. Along with raising per-pupil funding statewide and reducing school payroll burdens, we also:
Expanded Free Breakfast and Lunch to All Students
Ensured that all Michigan public school students, including more than 50,000 attending Detroit and Redford Public Schools, could receive free breakfast and lunch for the ’24-’25 school year
Prepared More Kids for Kindergarten
Opened more opportunities for children to gain early insight into math, reading, social, and thinking skills by increasing Michigan’s free Great Start Readiness Pre-K Program.
Secured Resources to Help Every Student Thrive
Our funding formula equitably distributes funding to school districts so that we can ensure all of our kids get a high-quality education, no matter where they live. We also made important investments in before and after school programming to help students discover new opportunities.
Supported our Teachers
Provided resources like the MI Future Educator Stipend and the Grow Your Own program to get more teachers in the classroom, ensuring our kids are receiving a world class education.
Giving Parents the Building Blocks They Need to Thrive
To provide much-needed financial relief to working families struggling to get by, Michigan Senate Democrats have introduced bold, transformative legislation to provide the “Building Blocks” Michigan needs to make raising kids more affordable for families in every corner of the state and give young kids the best start possible.
Rx Kids: A Prescription for Improving Families’ Physical and Economic Health
Rx Kids supports parents and babies by providing all pregnant moms in a community, 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. Our proposal will expand this program statewide to serve more families.
Read more about our proposal
to lower the cost of parenting by scanning the QR code with your phone or visiting SenateDems.com/Building-Blocks.
Working Parents Tax Cut
My Senate Democratic colleagues and I recently proposed providing 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 give your kids a
better opportunity to succeed.
Making Child Care More Affordable
One of the biggest expenses facing parents is childcare, and the problem isn’t just negatively impacting families — it’s dragging down our entire economy. To fix the crisis we’re facing, we need a big, wholesale change to make child care affordable for families and sustainable for child care professionals and entrepreneurs. Our “Building Blocks” plan will do just that and help more families access the high-quality care they need to succeed.
