Dear Neighbor,
During my campaign for Michigan Senate, residents shared with me the struggles they have endured over the past few years. Some stories were quite personal, while others were narrated by constituents who are committed to building a better Michigan for everyone. I carry those stories with me each day, and they were on the forefront of my mind while I was sworn in to serve as Senator for the 27th District of Michigan just last month. I feel immense gratitude to the voters who have entrusted me to work on their behalf, and I am happy to share that the work to rebuild the Michigan our residents deserve has already begun.
It has been my priority to provide direct support to working families and retirees, and a focal point of the Senate Democratic Majority is cutting through “the politics” to pursue practical policies that will make our state a better place. To succeed as a “majority for the people,” we need to support all Michiganders, from our kids to our seniors. To this point, I am elated to have collaborated with my colleagues in the Michigan Senate to introduce and pass several bills that will provide direct relief to thousands of Michiganders. These bills include:
Lowering MI Costs Plan, Working Families Tax Credit and Retirement Tax Overhaul
I proudly supported the Lowering MI Costs Plan, which was passed by the Senate last week to provide relief to our fellow Michiganders and Genesee County residents who are struggling the most.
Our plan included the creation of the Working Families Tax Credit, which expands the credit of earned income a taxpayer can claim against their state tax liability. This credit quintuples the state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and provides support to working families with low and moderate incomes that are struggling to pay for necessities at the gas pump and grocery store. Simply put, the Working Families Tax Credit is one of the best policies to support work and pull families out of poverty, making it a win-win for Michigan workers and employers.
Lowering MI Costs also finally tackled phasing out the retirement tax, which I have been working to make happen for years. Retirees planned for their future by working hard and committing their lives, time, and energy to building a life in Michigan and making this a great state for us all. Yet today, our seniors are some of our most financially vulnerable residents, living on small, fixed incomes while struggling to keep up with rising food costs, expensive prescription and medical bills, and the Snyder retirement tax. Ending the unfair retirement tax has been a top priority during my time in the legislature, and I am proud to support this effort to ensure seniors can keep more of their hard-earned retirement income. Our plan will put an average of $1,000 back in the pockets of 500,000 retiree households. The plan, led by Sen. Kevin Hertel (D-St. Clair Shores) in the Senate, equalizes the exemption on both public and private retirement income.
Additional & Immediate Community Investment
Additional legislation has been passed to provide our communities with the financial relief they need to continue providing affordable housing, pathways to good-paying jobs, and programs to help prevent water shutoffs and improve infrastructure.
$150 million is being invested to expand access to affordable and attainable housing for Michiganders, as well as a $25 million investment in and creation of the Water Shutoff Prevention Fund. $25 million is being invested in expanding apprenticeship programs to provide pathways to good-paying careers. In addition, $2.5 million is being delegated to the Genesee County Land Bank for blight removal and demolitions, with an opportunity to apply for up to $30 million in competitive land grants.
The Senate Democratic Majority is off to a great start with these bills. We are tackling the challenges our state is facing right now while paving the way for a brighter, better future for the generations to come.
In addition to those bills that have been introduced by my colleagues, I’ve also been busy introducing several bills of my own that I believe will greatly benefit our community. These bills would:
- Require lead screening tests for children and minors to detect lead poisoning during their early childhood doctor appointments, with options for parents to opt-out if needed.
- Expand the use of concrete barriers on highways or portions of highways to protect construction workers making repairs.
- Lessen the fines for deer hunters who do not complete the mandatory report of their deer harvest or retain their harvest confirmation number.
- Allow licensed electricians to work on renewable energy infrastructure, like solar panels, for public utilities and other companies.
- Ensure that children are drinking clean water in schools and childcare centers by requiring annual water sampling and providing funding for water filters.
- Provide additional mental health support for conservation officers by including them in the existing mental health requirements of our law enforcement officers.
I’m excited to introduce these bills and to start the work that will make positive changes for our children, our workers, and our communities.
As a Senate Appropriation Committee member, I look forward to working on more solutions in the full budget process over the next several months. Thanks for entrusting me to help rebuild a better Michigan for all.
If you’d like to learn more about my background and my passion for serving my state, East Village Magazine was kind of enough to do an interview with me. You can find that article here.
State Senator
District 27