Local wins include critical investments in public education, healthcare, infrastructure and community development
LANSING, Mich. (July 28, 2023) — Last month, Michigan Senate Democrats passed their first majority-led state budget in 40 years. This budget features transformational change for Michigan and the kids, families, workers, business owners and seniors who call Michigan home. During negotiations, Sen. Sam Singh (D-East Lansing) fought for critical investments in Shiawassee County to update infrastructure, increase access to healthcare and employment, and more.
“The legislature passed a state budget that made historic investments in public education, health care, infrastructure and community development. I was proud to be able to secure funding that sees those investments localized in our district,” said Sen. Singh. “These projects will expand access to healthcare, educational opportunities and recreation in Shiawassee County, which will continue to attract families and businesses to the area. I look forward to seeing how these investments will positively impact our residents, schools and community as a whole.”
A key investment in Shiawassee County’s recreational infrastructure is $4.4 million to support connecting the Fred Meijer Clinton-Ionia-Shiawassee Trail to the City of Owosso, and many more miles of existing trails. This is a much-needed investment to support recreational hobbies for locals and ensure that all have access to well-kept natural areas.
“Owosso’s bicycling community has been pushing for this trail connection for almost 20 years. But as with any project this size, funding was always the problem. I must commend the passion and drive of Owosso’s two-wheeled community to help us get this done,” said Nathan Henne, Owosso City Manager. “I’d also like to thank Senator Singh and his staff for their leadership throughout this process. We still must do the physical work, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel now.”
Ensuring that residents in District 28 have accessible healthcare and updated medical facilities is critical. That is why $1.3 million was invested to allow Memorial Healthcare in Owosso to be included in the Michigan Rural Access Pool grant program. The program supports community hospitals, critical access hospitals and rural hospitals with providing services to residents with low incomes.
“We were very happy to be able to increase the Rural Hospital Access Pool by $1.3 million in next year’s state budget to include Memorial Healthcare in the program,” said Sen. Singh. “This critical funding will help ensure Shiawassee County’s sole hospital will continue to provide high-quality healthcare throughout mid-Michigan. Memorial has long been a pillar of our community, and I was pleased to be able to partner with their leadership on this initiative.”
“We face ongoing fiscal challenges due to declining reimbursement levels and the large number of impoverished and uninsured patients we serve in rural mid-Michigan,” said Memorial Healthcare President and CEO Brian Long. “Senator Singh’s understanding of our needs and his work adding Memorial to the Rural Access Pool within the state budget will help us tremendously in our mission to continue delivering high-quality, compassionate healthcare.”
To help support professional development, $450,000 was invested in the Shiawassee Regional Education Service District (SRESD) to support programmatic efforts at the SRESD through their new Career & Technical Educational Program. Thanks to a recent millage, which supported building the infrastructure needed to create a Career and Technical Education (CTE) program, this critical funding will support the education efforts this program offers.
“By approving the millage last August, Shiawassee County residents affirmed their support for a sustainable funding model for the Career and Technical Education programs through the Regional Education Service District,” said Sen. Singh. “I was very pleased to able to bring additional state funding to help cover some of the transition costs related to the great work the RESD is doing to centralize CTE programs and make them more accessible to students throughout the county.”
“The Shiawassee RESD is laser focused on providing the CTE programming in high-demand, high- wage careers for high school students from all over Shiawassee County in programming areas that might not be feasible for our local districts due to programming costs and/or sufficient student interest to run a course,” said David Schulte, Superintendent of the Shiawassee RESD. “This additional funding that Senator Singh was able to procure from the state will provide assistance in transporting students to our new Shiawassee RESD consolidated and centralized location as we train the skilled workforce needed to support local small businesses.”
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