DETROIT (Jan. 27, 2021) — Sen. Sylvia Santana (D–Detroit) has issued the following statement on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s State of the State address this evening, in which the need to find common ground to grow our economy and get Michiganders back on their feet was mentioned, including access to vaccines and health care resources as related to the COVID-19 crisis:
“It should not matter if you live in Detroit or Escanaba, or if your skin is Black or white, for every Michigan resident to have equitable access to health care. This task isn’t easy, but to bring about systemic change, we must acknowledge that our Black and Brown brothers and sisters have continually been left behind by a health care system that does not work for everyone.
“I’d like to remind the people of Michigan that when we come together, we can do anything. In the Legislature, we’ve already proven that we can tackle difficult issues as evidenced by our bipartisan work this past year on beginning to reform and the right the wrongs in our criminal justice system. Just like that system overly and inconsistently treated people of color and the poor differently for a long time, we can apply these same lenses of justice and equity as we study the disparities that exist in our current health care system.
“There are a lot of struggling Michiganders right now who are counting on us to find common ground and get the job done of passing laws that will bring them relief and restore hope — and I know we can do it because we’ve done it before, so let’s get started.”
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Sen. Santana represents the 3rd Senate District in Wayne County that includes the cities of Dearborn, Detroit, and Melvindale.