Dear Neighbor,
I hope you’re soaking up the sunshine and enjoying the warm weather as spring winds down and the official start of summer approaches.
Up in Lansing, our team has been busy working to take everything we hear from folks on the doors, at community events, and office hours and translating that into policy solutions. From tackling the rising costs of healthcare and childcare, to protecting fundamental freedoms like the right to vote, to securing critical investments for Selfridge, I am focused on delivering results for our lakeshore community. Read all about this and more in my newsletter below.
As always, please feel free to reach out to share your thoughts or seek assistance with any challenges you may be facing with state departments — we are here to serve you. You can reach my office by emailing SenKHertel@senate.michigan.gov, calling our Lansing office at (517) 373-7315, or calling our district office at (586) 252-2157.
Sincerely,
Kevin Hertel
State Senator
District 12
- Up in Lansing, my colleagues and I have been busy advancing legislation to make healthcare more affordable, address our childcare crisis, and protect kids from abuse and neglect. Learn about these policies and more below.
- Our office has been fielding concerns regarding a delay in the Michigan Dept. of Treasury’s processing of folks’ state tax returns. If you’re experiencing an issue, please contact our office — we are here to do what we can to help.
- Join me for my upcoming Coffee Hour event on June 12th at 10:00 a.m. at the Pink House Tea Room in New Baltimore. RSVP here.
Introducing Our Healthcare You Can Afford Agenda
Status: Multiple bills are at various stages of the legislative process
Every Michigander deserves to see a doctor and fill their prescriptions without breaking the bank. But Washington Republicans are continuing their assault on American’s healthcare — from raising insurance costs to striping folks of their coverage. That’s why I’m laser-focused on counteracting these attacks to ensure people here in Michigan can access the healthcare they deserve.
Back in April, I joined Senate Majority Leader Winner Brinks to lay out a bold Healthcare You Can Afford agenda. This would help lower healthcare costs by:
- Creating a state-based health care 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 ban it from appearing on credit reports.
- Tackling the crisis in rural healthcare head-on, ensuring hospital doors in rural communities stay open.
A key part of this agenda is the creation of a state-based health insurance exchange, which would transition Michigan away from the federally managed health insurance marketplace and give us the enhanced flexibility to be more creative, more inclusive, and ultimately more cost-effective in the types of insurance products available to Michiganders. This week, the Senate Health Policy Committee heard testimony on this set of bills, and we’ll be taking them up for a vote soon.
To learn more about this agenda, click here.
Protecting Kids from Abuse and Neglect with Wyatt’s Law
Status: Passed by the Senate and sent to the House
During my six years in the Michigan House, I worked alongside a local mom to turn unimaginable tragedy into meaningful change and empower parents across our state with the information they need to better protect their kids. But even after passing Wyatt’s Law back in 2022, I knew our work couldn’t stop there. I continued working with parents, advocates, and stakeholders to evaluate the effectiveness of the legislation and find ways to further improve it.
After working with the Michigan Dept. of Health and Human Services, who found that the current definition of “confirmed serious abuse or neglect” does not encompass the full range of cases they encounter, I introduced legislation that would strengthen Wyatt’s Law to close that gap and ensure all violators are included on the registry. This legislation recently passed the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support and awaits further action in the House.
Read more here.
Making Childcare More Affordable for Working Families
Status: Passed by the Senate and sent to the House
As the father of two young boys, I know accessing quality, affordable childcare is no easy feat. Far too many parents across our state have to choose between paying their grocery bills or paying their childcare bills — and some make the difficult decision to leave the workforce altogether to become a full-time caregiver.
To tackle the affordability crisis facing parents statewide, my colleagues and I recently passed a bold package to lower the cost of childcare for Michigan parents and increase avenues for childcare providers. Senate Bills 310–313 would make childcare more affordable for families and more sustainable for childcare professionals and entrepreneurs by:
- Codifying the innovative bipartisan program, Tri-Share, that splits the cost of childcare equally among employers, the state, and employees;
- Tying the Childcare Reimbursement Rate to inflation to provide certainty and consistency to providers; and
- Updating licensing requirements for childcare centers and removing burdensome barriers to opening and operating centers.
By passing this legislation out of the full Senate, we are one step closer to codifying this critical programming for Michigan families and childcare providers. This legislation now heads to the House for further consideration. In the meantime, you can read more about these bills here.
Fighting Back Against National Attacks on Voting Rights
Status: Moving through the committee process
After months of reports detailing the Trump administration’s efforts to nationalize elections, send military officers to polling locations, and restrict access to mail-in voting — the latest blow to election integrity came last month as the U.S. Supreme Court eviscerated key protections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. But my colleagues and I are fighting back, recently reintroducing legislation that would establish a state-level Voting Rights Act to ensure every eligible voter has access to the ballot box.
Building on our previous efforts to uphold the integrity of the state’s election process, the Michigan Voting Rights Act would protect against voter intimidation, provide transparent election data, and offer language services and more to make our elections more accessible for eligible voters. These bills are currently moving through the committee process in the Senate. Read more here.
Other Legislative Updates
- Legislation to ban surveillance pricing for e-commerce and dynamic pricing for retail stores is moving through the committee process. Used by airlines, rideshares, online retailers, hotels, and grocery stores, these deceptive practices work to benefit businesses’ bottom line at the expense of consumers like you. By banning businesses from setting these custom prices based on personalized algorithms, we can protect both your peace of mind and your hard-earned money.
- As the weather warms up, more folks across our community are getting out to enjoy everything Lake St. Clair has to offer. For many, golf carts are a convenient and popular way to get around. But under current state law, communities like St. Clair Shores are restricted from allowing them on local roads because of outdated population limits. That’s why I introduced legislation to give local communities more flexibility to decide what works best for their residents. St. Clair Shores Mayor Kip Walby recently joined me before the Senate Local Government Committee to testify on why this legislation would benefit communities like ours.
- As we rapidly accelerate into the age of digital and AI advancements, our youth are bearing the brunt of the harmful consequences of Big Tech’s exploitive algorithms. That’s why my colleagues and I introduced legislation to implement stronger safety measures and prevent social media companies and AI platforms from targeting and exploiting minors. In exciting news, this package passed the Senate with bipartisan support and now heads to the House for their consideration.
Gov. Whitmer Signs $152 Million Selfridge Funding into Law
In the Senate, I have the honor and pleasure of representing Harrison Township, which is home to Selfridge Air National Guard Base. The base is not only important to our national security — it’s essential to our economy. Selfridge supports an estimated 5,000 jobs on base, another 30,000 jobs across the state, and generates over $850 million in economic activity each year.
Currently, Selfridge houses the 127th Wing, including the A-10 Warthogs and KC-135 Stratotankers. However, a few years back, the Air Force announced that both the Warthogs and Stratotankers were scheduled for decommission. This news was devastating to the men and women who are currently stationed there, to the veterans who once served and built their lives around Selfridge, and to our whole community who looks to the base with pride and depends on the economic stability it provides.
That’s why as chair of the committee responsible for the Dept. of Military and Veterans Affairs budget, I have worked across the aisle as well as with local, state, and federal leaders to deliver the funding needed to attract a new fighter mission to the base. Over the past few budget cycles, we’ve invested over $60 million for these efforts, which helped us successfully secure a new fleet of F15-EXs, as well as a KC-46A refueling mission. But before we can officially welcome these planes to the base, there is one final piece we needed to secure to ensure the runway, the hangars, and supporting infrastructure are fully prepared for the mission.
That’s why I helped work to secure the final $152 million needed to finish the project and ensure the timely arrival of the base’s new mission. Just last week, the governor signed this funding bill into law — putting us on track to make Selfridge a premier 21st-century military “super base” whose impact will support our community for decades to come.
Read more about this exciting news here.
Insight and Action from Our Small Business Roundtable
From family-owned restaurants and cafés to neighborhood shops and service providers, small businesses create jobs and economic opportunity while bringing people together. But right now, they’re being squeezed from every direction, and the current economic climate is making it harder for them to keep their doors open.
To learn more about how everything from tariffs and trade barriers are impacting their operations, employees, and long-term growth, I sat down with a group of local small business owners. While we’ve already accomplished several wins for our small businesses — including protecting servers’ tips and securing investments to help small businesses get off the ground and grow their operations — there’s still more work to do. And this roundtable discussion will help inform future policy conversations and ongoing efforts to ensure Michigan remains a place where small businesses can succeed.
One topic that was brought up was the rising cost of providing healthcare to their employees. And this is not a concern just for folks here in our lakeshore community, but for people across the state and the country. For four decades, the cost of health insurance has remained the number one issue for small businesses — and as costs have increased upwards of 23% over the last few years, this is becoming even more challenging and unsustainable.
Hearing their concerns, I got to work and introduced another component of our Healthcare You Can Afford agenda; one that is targeted towards reducing insurance costs for both small business owners and their workers. Currently, small businesses often lack the leverage needed to negotiate lower insurance costs unlike larger corporations. To enhance small businesses’ power, this legislation would allow them to band together, pool resources, and put together insurance options that reduce costs.
Read more about this legislation here.
Update on State Tax Returns
Our office has been fielding concerns regarding a delay in the Michigan Dept. of Treasury’s processing of folks’ state tax returns. I am sorry that some across our lakeshore district and across our state are experiencing this frustrating situation.
The department has been transitioning from a 40-year-old legacy system to a more modernized system, and during this transition, they have been experiencing some difficulties. Throughout this process, our office has been in constant contact with Treasury, doing everything we can to flag problem cases and resolve them as soon as possible.
If you have experienced a delay in getting your state tax return, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team. We’ll continue to stay in close contact with the department and keep pressure on them to get your refund back.
Stay Protected at the Gas Pump
Right now, Michigan drivers are paying an average of $71 for a full tank of gas, as the Iran war has disrupted global oil markets. According to the AAA, Michigan drivers are paying 70 cents more per gallon of gas than a month ago and $1.66 more per gallon of gas compared to this time last year.
Below are some consumer protection resources to ensure you are filling up with quality, more affordable gas:
- The Michigan Dept. of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) is a useful resource for staying safe at the pump. If you have concerns about fuel quality or received a short/incorrect measure, you may file a complaint online or call the motor fuels quality hotline at (800) 632-3835.
- If you suspect or have information about potential unfair gasoline pricing practices, please call the Attorney General’s Office at 8(77) 765-8388 or file a gasoline price gouging complaint online.
- To find cheaper gas in their area, Michiganders can use popular tools from AAA and GasBuddy. For additional resources, call 211 or visit Michigan Association of United Ways.
It is one of my top goals as your State Senator to have myself and my office be as accessible to you as possible. To share your thoughts on legislation or seek assistance with an issue, please join me at one of our upcoming district events:
Coffee Hour with Sen. Kevin Hertel
WHEN: Friday, June 12 from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
WHERE: Pink House Tea Room, 36341 Front St., New Baltimore, MI 48047
Community Office Hours with Team Hertel
Weekly Office Hours in St. Clair Shores
WHEN: Every Thursday from 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. and by appointment. (Please note: no office hours will be held on Thursday, Feb. 19)
WHERE: District Office, 22424 Greater Mack Ave., Saint Clair Shores, MI 48080
Harper Woods Office Hours
WHEN: Tuesday, June 9, from 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
WHERE: Harper Woods Public Library, 19601 Harper Ave., Harper Woods, MI 48225
New Baltimore Office Hours
WHEN: Tuesday, June 16, from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
WHERE: MacDonald Public Library, 36480 Main St., New Baltimore, MI 48047
Algonac Office Hours
WHEN: Tuesday, June 23, from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
WHERE: Algonac Public Library, 2011 St. Clair River Dr., Algonac, MI 48001
Mount Clemens Office Hours
WHEN: Tuesday, July 7, from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
WHERE: Mount Clemens Public Library, 150 Cass Ave., Mount Clemens, MI 48043
Please note that these office hours are hosted by staff.
If You Need Help
If you have a problem dealing with any department of state government, such as accessing unemployment benefits, my office is available to help resolve it. While we usually cannot assist with local or federal issues, we will always do our best to help direct you to the appropriate person or organization for help.
You may always feel free to email me at SenKHertel@senate.michigan.gov. You can also call our Lansing Office at (517) 373-7315 or our District Office at (586) 252-2157.
Keep Up to Date
Our bi-weekly newsletters are full of updates on what Team Hertel has been working on both in Lansing and District 12 to deliver results for Michiganders. To keep up to date with what we’ve been up to — sign up here to receive my bi-weekly newsletter, or access previous editions online here.
For more frequent updates, I also encourage you to follow our team on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and BlueSky.