Dear Neighbor,
As April showers subside and May flowers bloom, spring is now well underway! I hope you get an opportunity to get outdoors and enjoy the warmer weather and brighter blue skies. Michigan has so much to offer in the springtime — from over 1,300 miles of bike trails and America’s national pastime at Comerica Park to world-class freshwater coastlines, rivers, and lakes perfect for fishing, boating, or kayaking.
Both in Lansing and throughout District 27, our team has stayed busy crafting a balanced state budget, making progress on legislative priorities, and connecting with constituents. Learn more below, including way Senate Dems have been working to lower costs for you and families around the state.
As always, if you need assistance of any sort, or have any questions or concerns you’d like to share, please feel free to reach out to my office. You can reach me and my team in Flint and Lansing by emailing [email protected] or calling (517) 373-0142.
Sincerely,
John Cherry
State Senator
District 27
- This week, Michigan Senate Dems announced our agenda to tackle the affordability crisis facing residents statewide, including plans to lower household costs, tackle auto insurance rates, combat rising energy bills, and take on the high costs of healthcare. Learn more below.
- Join my team for a Community Health Care Forum focused on mental health in Burton on Thursday, May 21. Details below.
- May is Foster Care Awareness Month, an important time to recognize and remember the 10,000 kids in Michigan who are currently in need of supportive, stable homes. If you’ve ever considered fostering, or are looking for other ways to support Michigan’s foster kids, learn more below about how you or someone you know could make a difference in a child’s life.
Senate Housing Committee Votes Unanimously to Advance Mobile Home Reform
This week, the Senate Committee on Housing and Human Services voted unanimously to advance our Mobile Home Reform package. Since my election to the Michigan Legislature, one of my top priorities has been to reform the laws protecting mobile home parks and their residents. In late April, I led an effort to introduce a bipartisan package, Senate Bills 934–939, which make the first critical updates to Michigan’s mobile home laws in 40 years.
Michigan is home to roughly 1,200 licensed manufactured housing communities and more than 140,000 manufactured homes — making it the thirteenth-largest mobile home park state in the country. For a significant share of Michigan’s working-class families, seniors, and retirees, these communities represent the only unsubsidized affordable homeownership available.
Yet the state also has the second-highest concentration of private equity-owned mobile home parks in the nation, with nearly 200 parks and more than 50,000 home sites in the hands of private equity firms and hedge funds. The legal framework regulating these communities has not been meaningfully updated since 1987, resulting in a growing pattern of unlicensed operations, deteriorating infrastructure, sudden park closures, and water service shutoffs that have left Michigan families with little recourse — while putting responsible park owners at a competitive disadvantage against operators who simply ignore the law.
Built across partisan lines, our package takes a comprehensive approach, tackling these issues head-on by strengthening market integrity, establishing a fair playing field for responsible operators, and finally giving residents the tools necessary to protect the homes they have worked their whole lives to own. I’m proud to have secured this important Committee vote and look forward to getting Senate Bills 934-939 voted out of the Senate in the coming weeks.
Making Life More Affordable for Michiganders
From the gas pump and grocery store to your ever-increasing utility bills — it feels harder and harder to catch a break these days. The affordability crisis facing our state isn’t just top of mind for my Senate Democratic colleagues and I. It’s at the top of our priority list.
Unveiled this week, our A Michigan You Can Afford Agenda aims to deliver the financial relief Michiganders like you need and deserve by working to lower household costs, tackle auto insurance rates, combat rising energy bills, and take on the high costs of healthcare. This comprehensive approach, fully outlined here, includes:
- Cutting auto insurance rates by 10%.
- Putting a stop to constant and excessive utility rate increases.
- Making free breakfast and lunch permanent for every school kid.
- Banning private equity firms from buying up housing, ensuring Michigan homes go to Michigan families.
- Capping interest and late fees on medical debt and banning it from appearing on credit reports. (Learn more about ways we’re ensuring access to affordable healthcare below.)
- Giving families a tax break on back-to-school supplies.
Alongside our 2027 state budget proposal we recently passed, Senate Dems are working around the clock to lower costs for you and your loved ones, helping you to breathe a little easier and have more peace of mind. Read more here.
Michigan Senate Acts Unanimously to Strengthen Communities Statewide
Clean drinking water. Safe roads. Responsive police and fire crews. Reliable trash service. While often overlooked, these are the essential services provided by cities, counties, and other local units of government that you count on for your day-to-day needs. But as the state revenue that flows into these communities fluctuates from year to year, so too does the quality and consistency of these services.
That’s why, just last month, every single Michigan Senator voted to address this issue, passing long-awaited legislation to establish a new Revenue Sharing Trust Fund. This new fund would be a gamechanger for Michigan cities, villages, townships, and counties, ensuring a sustainable source of revenue for local governments to better plan and provide quality resources and services for their residents. I was proud to vote “yes” on this bill and deliver the solutions that communities statewide have been asking for. Learn more here.
Senate Democrats Tackle Rising Healthcare Costs
While Washington Republicans continue to raise insurance costs and strip Americans of their coverage, my Senate Democratic colleagues and I are working to ensure people here in Michigan can access the healthcare they deserve. Announced at the end of April, our Healthcare You Can Afford agenda aims to expand access to affordable healthcare by:
- Creating a state-based healthcare exchange, lowering premiums, and giving Michiganders more options and more control over their health insurance.
- Increasing options for small businesses to shop for better, more affordable health insurance for their employees through association health plans.
- Holding Big Pharma accountable by capping the price of essential drugs through a Prescription Drug Affordability Board and prohibiting drug manufacturers from denying access to low-cost medications.
- Capping interest and late fees on medical debt and banning it from appearing on credit reports.
- Tackling the crisis in rural healthcare head-on, ensuring hospital doors in rural communities stay open.
Learn more here.
Teamsters Local 332 Picket Line
On May Day, I was proud to walk the picket line at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital and stand with the nurses from Teamsters Local 332 who have been on strike for eight months.
Nurses deserve safe staffing, fair treatment, and respect for the critical care they provide our community every day. I came out to listen, connect, and make clear: I stand with workers. Full stop.
Community Health Care Forum
WHEN: Thursday, May 21, from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
WHERE: Genesee Health Systems, 1040 W. Bristol Rd., Flint, MI 48507
Registration is required. Please visit my website to register.
Recognizing Foster Care Awareness Month
In Michigan, there are approximately 10,000 children in foster care in need of supportive, stable homes. The Michigan Dept. of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) has shared that there
is a particular need for families who can support teenagers, sibling groups, and youth with developmental needs. To recognize Foster Care Awareness Month this May, MDHHS has highlighted ways that you or someone you know could make a difference in a child’s life:
- Become a Foster Parent: Learn what fostering involves and explore the steps to become a licensed foster parent.
- Meet the Faces of Foster Care: Read true stories from foster parents, kinship caregivers, advocates, and others who are making a difference in the lives of youth and families experiencing foster care.
- Volunteer or Donate: Find local volunteer opportunities and donation pathways that support children and youth in foster care across Michigan.
Foster children, just like all kids, deserve a fair shot at a good life. One way we’ve been working to support foster children is by passing a bill to ban the state’s current practice of seizing the income from a child in foster care as reimbursement for their care. The children’s funds would be managed for their own benefit, providing a path to stability, housing, and the education or training necessary to be successful when they exit foster care. Passed with the full support of the Michigan Senate for the second year in a row, this bipartisan legislation continues to remain stalled by House Republicans, blocking meaningful support for Michigan’s foster children. This May, I am hopeful Speaker Matt Hall and his Republican colleagues have a change of heart and change course by advancing this bill to the governor’s desk for her signature.
Genesee Health System Hosts ASIST Suicide Prevention Workshop
Genesee Health System is offering a two‑day Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) workshop designed to equip participants with suicide‑prevention first‑aid skills they can use to support family members, friends, co‑workers, and the broader community. The training will take place at Genesee Health System, 1040 W. Bristol Rd., Flint, MI 48507, in rooms 1123 and 1124, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on both days. Breakfast and lunch will be provided.
ASIST is an intensive, evidence‑based program, and attendance on both days is required.
Participants can earn 14 clock hours for social workers, 14 educational hours for other healthcare professionals, and 14 MCBAP CEUs. This training helps strengthen capacity to recognize suicide risk and connect community members to support services.
Click here for more information.
Mott Foundation Seeks Community Input on Flint Parks
The Mott Foundation is supporting a number of initiatives as it celebrates 100 years of partnership with its hometown of Flint. As part of this milestone, the Foundation is inviting residents to share their priorities for city parks across Flint. Residents can vote online and find more information at the link below. The deadline for participation is June 6.
Vote for Flint Parks | Focus on Flint
Those who prefer to share their feedback in person are invited to attend the Mott Foundation Centennial Family Fun Days on Saturday, June 6, from 12:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Flint Cultural Center campus.
Michigan Income Tax Refund Delays
Due to a high volume of early filings this tax season, many Michigan residents are seeing delays with their state income tax refunds. The Dept. of Treasury is working as quickly as possible to process returns, and there are several helpful resources detailed below that are available in the meantime.
Helpful Resources:
- Michigan Treasury eServices: Check refund status, respond to requests, make payments, and send secure messages at michigan.gov/taxes/mitreasuryeservices
- By Phone: Call the Individual Income Tax Contact Center at 517‑636‑4486. Have your Social Security Number, tax year, and reported income available. For shorter wait times, call at 8:00 a.m. and avoid Mondays when possible.
Experiencing Financial Hardship?
If you are experiencing a documented hardship, such as a foreclosure, eviction, or utility shutoff, my office may be able to work with the Dept. of Treasury to request an expedited review once documentation is provided. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office if you need help finding the right information or have any questions.