I recently introduced a plan with Senator Ruth Johnson to protect current rights for cities, townships, and villages in Oakland County to opt out of any joint endeavor their county government might try to establish under the Municipal Partnership Act. The bills are in response to calls by Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, and others to remove our current right to opt out of regional transit and raise property taxes for a new plan.
This plan luckily will not have to be signed into law as House Bills 5229 and 5550 are both dead. From the tireless work of the entire Oakland County Republican delegation, our property owners will not be overtaxed to fund a broken transit system. I have called on House leadership to take a comprehensive, new approach to review current best practices, new technologies, and public-private partnerships to solve our regional transit issue. This approach can help us develop a better, more equitable plan that will not burden our property owners with unfair, over-burdensome taxes.
Rep. Schroeder and Sen. Ruth Johnson at an event in Waterford Township.
I also had two of my bills pass out of the House Committee on Energy. HB 4806 and 5445 will make electric vehicle charging stations more practical and widely available across the state. Michigan has the creative minds and innovators to remain the industry standard bearer in transportation and mobility. What we don’t have are policies that make the everyday use of electric vehicles more practical. This legislation is an important step in the right direction. We must take action swiftly to remain competitive — and to help give Michigan drivers who want to choose electric vehicles the charging stations they desperately need.
Rep. Schroeder testifying in support of her legislation in Energy Committee.
During her State of the State address, the governor announced she would borrow $3.5 billion in bonds to finance road repairs, a plan that will be detrimental to future generations who will be forced to pay back that money. What’s most disappointing is that our local roads won’t see any improvement as a result of this massive debt.
Road bonds can only be used to fund repairs on state roads, mainly highways, meaning the streets at the end of your driveway will remain in disrepair.
A recently introduced House plan would ensure local roads get the attention they need by amending Michigan’s Public Act 51 of 1951, which established our state’s primary revenue sharing program for state and local road agencies. Funds raised through fuel and registration taxes are deposited in the Michigan Transportation Fund and divvied up to the state highway department, county road commissions and local municipalities, with municipalities receiving the least.
This plan would increase county road commission appropriations by 4 percent and city and village appropriations by 7 percent, ensuring the potholes right outside our front doors are taken care of.
Survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking are often forced to go to great lengths to protect themselves. Some people move across the state, switch jobs, and even change their names to stay safe. Unfortunately, they still run the risk of their abusers finding them through public data, like the voter registry.
That’s why I support a bipartisan plan making its way through the Legislature that will establish an address confidentiality program in Michigan.
The program would give participants a substitute address – usually a post office box – to use in place of their physical address. The substitute address can be used wherever an address is required by a local government, school, court, or other public agency. Mail sent to the substitute address would then be forwarded to the participant’s actual address by the state.
Once a survivor escapes from an abusive situation, keeping their new address a secret from their abuser can be a matter of life or death. Establishing an address confidentiality program in Michigan will help keep crime victims safe and offer them some peace of mind as they rebuild their lives.
A bipartisan task force investigating a concerning trend of spending overruns and inefficiencies plaguing state information technology (IT) projects presented its recommendations to the House Appropriations Committee this month.
A few notable instances spurred the task force’s efforts. A Department of Health and Human Services system related to tracking child abuse and neglect cases has received $231 million in the past several years yet still has persistent and significant defects. About 40,000 Michigan residents were victimized and wrongfully accused of fraud between 2013 and 2015 by a faulty computer system used by the Unemployment Insurance Agency. And a failed 2005 Secretary of State computer system overhaul resulted in service issues, lawsuits and cost overruns.
When these inefficiencies occur, state taxpayer dollars are wasted and other essential funding, such as roads, schools and public safety needs, end up shortchanged.
The task force’s recommendations will help the Legislature partner with state departments to develop more effective IT projects in the future while ensuring taxpayer dollars go farther. Legislation is being drafted to help implement best practices.
Michigan has become known as the “craft beer capital of the world.” The industry has become one of the fastest growing contributors to our state economy, supporting nearly 10,000 jobs throughout the state. But as the industry expands, more and more Michigan brewers are running into a production wall posed by government regulations.
Current state law requires brewers to contract with outside distributors when they have self-distributed up to 1,000 barrels of their product. Michigan’s 1,000-barrel self-distribution limit is the lowest in the country, hindering economic growth for brewers.
Signing contracts with outside distributors is costly and puts smaller breweries at a significant financial disadvantage.
To cultivate an economic climate that allows Michigan’s craft breweries to grow and provide even more employment opportunities, I support a recently introduced plan that would double the number of barrels brewers may self-distribute from 1,000 to 2,000.
I remain committed to slashing burdensome regulations on Michigan businesses.
If you would like a road map or any other booklet from my office, please email me with your name and address!
The booklets you can request are:
- Citizen’s Guide
- Michigan State Capitol
- 10 Questions to ask a tax preparer
- Michigan and the American Civil War
- Veteran’s Benefits
During March I will be going to different schools within Clarkston Community Schools and Waterford School District to read to students. If you would like to have me read to your student, please call my office at 517-373-0615.
|