HB 5434:  Designates a portion of M-11 in Kent County as the “Korean War Veterans Memorial Drive”

Sponsor:  Rep. Glanville (D)                        

Passage:  56-1 with Immediate Effect

– – –

HB 5127:  Expands eligibility for disabled veteran license plates to include partially disabled veterans.

Sponsor:  Rep. McFall (D)                            

Vote Failed:  55-6

– – –

HB 5499:  EGLE

Passage:  56-49 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted NO: This bill doesn’t give taxpayers a good return on their investment. It devotes millions of their dollars to green energy vehicles for the state and gambles on stalled demands for electric vehicles by using tax dollars to greatly expand charging station availability. Regardless of whether or not my constituents own an electric vehicle, they’ll be footing the bill for this expansion.

The governor’s overall budget plan also seeks to raise people’s taxes by $80 million with a 1,289% increase in waste disposal fees at a time when budgets across the state are tight. People can’t afford to be nickel and dimed further by state government. Moving this bill forward is a step toward accomplishing the governor’s budget goals for the year, including that fee increase, and I cannot support that.

– – –

HB 5500:  FY 24-25 General Omnibus spending bill.

Sponsor:  Rep. Witwer (D)                           

Passage:  56-50 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted NO: I cannot support giving a blank check to Governor Whitmer without any oversight and not knowing the amount of funding and what it will be used for. 

– – –

HB 5507:  FY 24-25 SAF Omnibus

Sponsor:  Rep. Witwer (D)                           

Passage:  56-50 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted NO: I cannot support giving a blank check to Governor Whitmer without any oversight and not knowing the amount of funding and what it will be used for. 

– – –

HB 5501:  MiLEAP

Passage:  56-50 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted NO: We are allocating a substantial amount of money into a new, unfinalized, and experimental program. Children’s educational futures shouldn’t be experimented with. I can’t support this plan.

Furthermore, I do not believe that adding more layers of bureaucracy is ever the right solution. This new department could impede coordination between education policy officials.

I believe Michigan’s educational system needs a whole lot of fixing, but creating another level of bureaucracy without addressing the larger underlying problems in the system won’t help children learn to read or address the many other broken aspects of our public schools.

– – –

HB 5502:  LEO

Passage:  56-49 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted NO: I cannot support this budget because I believe we must enhance fiscal responsibility by ensuring SOAR funds are not channeled towards entities associated with “countries of concern” as designated by the U.S. Department of State. For the safety and security of Michigan residents, any project seeking SOAR funding should require thorough overview to evaluate any potential foreign affiliations. The misguided allocation of Michigan taxpayer dollars to the Gotion battery plant underscores the importance of safeguarding public funds. Our state must utilize robust oversight mechanisms. This budget lacks crucial security enhancements for the SOAR fund.

We also need further oversight of economic development programs that would allow for the Legislature to study the effectiveness of our current business incentive offers; a better understanding of the effectiveness and costs and benefits of the programs under LEO, better transparency for grants issued by this department, better legislative oversight over business incentives granted by this department, and increased funding for Pure Michigan.

I also cannot support the Newcomer Rental Assistance Program as included in this budget, as it could result in illegal immigrants receiving taxpayer-funded housing support.

– – –

HB 5503:  School Aid

Passage:  56-50 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted NO: This budget proposal neglects a significant portion of Michigan’s children, leaving behind those who attend nonpublic schools and public charter schools. While public school students receive free breakfast and lunch, students in nonpublic schools are excluded. If the argument is that every child should have access to food, then that should include public and non-public school students alike. Funding discrepancies also disadvantage cyber school students, who receive lower per-pupil funding rates than those in traditional public schools. Additionally, students in nonpublic schools are denied access to extracurricular and elective programs, like FIRST robotics. I believe every student deserves an equal chance at a successful future, and this plan does not reflect that.

This budget raids the teacher retirement funds and diverts funding for the healthcare benefits teachers are owed for other personal priorities. We owe it to taxpayers to clean our debt and commit to proper use of their dollars so future Michiganders are not on the hook for even more money. And we owe it to teachers not put their retirements in jeopardy with this dangerous shell game. This proposal is careless and will set our state further back in the name of funding pet projects, and that is why I voted no.

– – –

HB 5504:  Community colleges

Passage:  56-47 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted NO: I voted no because the budget does not include critical funding for infrastructure, technology, equipment maintenance, and safety expenses.  

I also voted no because the budget does not include language that would eliminate funding for DEI positions and programs.

The budget does not require community colleges to eliminate the administrative bloat that has caused the cost of getting an education to far outpace the rate of inflation. 

– – –

HB 5505:  Higher education

Passage:  56-50 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted NO: I voted no because the budget makes significant changes to the Michigan Achievement Scholarship which impair the state’s ability to ensure that funding is used in pursuit of a degree.

Furthermore, there are no safeguards to make sure that students are pursuing a degree that will lead to a good-paying job, and there are no safeguards to make sure that students are progressing toward graduation.

I voted no because the budget does not include critical funding for infrastructure, technology, equipment maintenance, and safety expenses.  

I also voted no because the budget does not include language that would eliminate funding for DEI positions and programs.

The budget does not require community colleges to eliminate the administrative bloat that has caused the cost of getting an education to far outpace the rate of inflation.

– – –

HB 5506:  Michigan Department of Education

Passage:  56-49 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted NO: We are allocating a substantial amount of money into a new, unfinalized, and experimental program. Children’s educational futures shouldn’t be experimented with. I can’t support this plan.

Furthermore, I do not believe that adding more layers of bureaucracy is ever the right solution. This new department could impede coordination between education policy officials.

I believe Michigan’s educational system needs a whole lot of fixing, but creating another level of bureaucracy without addressing the larger underlying problems in the system won’t help children learn to read or address the many other broken aspects of our public schools.

– – –

HB 5508:  Corrections

Passage:  56-49 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted NO: Michigan’s prisons are woefully understaffed in the governor’s Department of Corrections, yet the department budget proposed in House Bill 5508 simply does not invest enough resources or provide the tools necessary to fill the hundreds of vacant corrections officer positions in prisons across the state.

Additionally, while this bill provides a multimillion-dollar special handout to just one local jurisdiction, it does not adequately increase the reimbursement for county jails that house state prisoners. In fact, the House majority rejected a Republican amendment I supported to double the increase in per-diem reimbursement.

This proposed budget also eliminates key transparency measures that allow lawmakers and the public to hold the administration accountable, including provisions to require disclosure of large severance agreements, mandate online posting of department performance metrics, and allow legislative oversight of transferred funds.

In short, this budget fails to deliver the robust, transparent, fully staffed criminal justice system the public deserves. What’s more, House Bill 5508 is part of an enormous, $80.9 billion state budget proposed by House Democrats, whose budget is even larger than the governor’s executive recommendation. This budget is based on an income tax hike that took effect this January, even though Michiganders deserve the permanent tax relief they were promised under state law.

– – –

HB 5509:  Military and Veterans Affairs

Passage:  57-48 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted NO: Removing reporting requirements is never a way to make government more transparent, yet that’s exactly what HB 5509 does. This budget removes disclosure requirements for when high-ranking employees receive loaded severance packages and ditches interagency cooperation obligations. Michigan ranks near the bottom in government transparency. This budget makes things worse.

– – –

HB 5510:  Michigan State Police

Passage:  56-49 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted NO: The Michigan State Police budget, HB 5510, creates a Climate Change Emergency Disaster Relief Fund that expects local communities to try to prove a severe storm was caused by climate change, putting burdensome restrictions in the way of essential resources. This is ridiculous. I can’t support a budget that forces local municipalities to spend time proving why hail and wind damage happened when they should be securing resources and helping their communities.

MSP is also facing shortages statewide, yet this budget pulls $5 million in funding for training and recruitment efforts.

– – –

HB 5511:  Ag and Rural Development

Passage:  56-49 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted NO: This bill makes government less transparent by removing reporting requirements, including removing metric reporting obligations and disclosure requirements for when high-ranking employees receive loaded severance packages. Michigan ranks near the bottom in government transparency. This budget makes things worse.

The budget also forces taxpayers to bankroll more than $5.6 million in bloated government spending on programs that are not core functions of state government.

– – –

HB 5512:  Department of Natural Resources

Passage:  56-49 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted NO: This bill makes government less transparent by removing reporting requirements, including metric reporting obligations and disclosure requirements for when high-ranking employees receive loaded severance packages. Michigan ranks near the bottom in government transparency. This budget makes things worse.

The budget also forces taxpayers to bankroll an unnecessary $4 million field trip program.

– – –

HB 5513:  Department of Insurance & Financial Services

Passage:  56-49 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted NO: Our local job providers have already experienced a litany of issues the past several years with COVID-19 shutdowns and high costs from inflation. This budget plan wants to further weaponize regulation in the coming fiscal year by adding new taxpayer-funded positions and spending more to make bureaucracy a bigger part of people’s lives.  

My constituents feel strongly that more government is not the answer. I can’t support a plan that aims to burden them with bureaucratic red tape.

– – –

HB 5514:  LARA

Passage:  56-49 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted NO: This bill adds to government bloat by creating over 30 new positions for the Michigan Public Services Commission to carry out new mandates on green energy. Since these positions utilize federal funding, they are not sustainable and will force government into difficult decisions in future fiscal years. It also gives Supreme Court justices raises at a time when many hardworking taxpayers are struggling to make ends meet.

The plan removes critical protections for child safety by eliminating a background check program for child-care center licensure and wastes tax dollars by studying the impact of already-required bias training for health care professionals.

This plan is not an effective use of taxpayer resources. It simply makes government bigger.

– – –

HB 5515:  Judiciary

Passage:  56-49 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted NO: The overall spending plan being pushed by House Democrats expands state government by creating about 400 new bureaucratic positions that will be unsustainable in future years. HB 5515, the House Judiciary budget, contributes to the problem by adding 37 of those positions.

As legislators, we have a responsibility to ensure the long-term fiscal health of our state. Expanding government without a concrete plan for future funding is short-sighted and irresponsible. The unprecedented federal stimulus money our state has received over the last few years will not last forever, and this budget doesn’t adequately account for that reality. This is why I must vote no.

– – –

HB 5516:  General Government

Passage:  56-49 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted NO: By increasing contingency spending limits, HB 5516 gives unelected bureaucrats free rein to spend money without input from legislators or the people they represent. It also strips away important reports that provide transparency and keep state government accountable to the people – including one aimed at exposing and preventing “hush money” agreements with state bureaucrats. This bill also spends our limited taxpayer dollars pushing a radical green agenda the people do not want and takes critical public safety funding away from police and puts it toward social justice programs. Overall, HB 5516 increases government spending, grows state government with positions for about 60 additional bureaucrats, and fails to adequately plan for Michigan’s future by neglecting to make a deposit in the budget stabilization fund.  I cannot vote to support a plan like that.

– – –

HB 5517:  Transportation

Passage:  56-49 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted NO: By increasing contingency spending limits, HB 5516 gives unelected bureaucrats free rein to spend money without input from legislators or the people they represent. It also strips away important reports that provide transparency and keep state government accountable to the people – including one aimed at exposing and preventing “hush money” agreements with state bureaucrats. This bill also spends our limited taxpayer dollars pushing a radical green agenda the people do not want and takes critical public safety funding away from police and puts it toward social justice programs. Overall, HB 5516 increases government spending, grows state government with positions for about 60 additional bureaucrats, and fails to adequately plan for Michigan’s future by neglecting to make a deposit in the budget stabilization fund.  I cannot vote to support a plan like that.

– – –

HB 5556:  DHHS

Passage:  56-50 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted NO: While this budget commits resources to behavioral health, support for first responders and other areas, the bill ties these initiatives to tens of millions of dollars for the continued unchecked expansion of various social programs, including free rent and utility payments, and doesn’t give hardworking taxpayers a good return on their investments.

Legislators have a responsibility to respect tax dollars that are afforded to state government. Continued reckless spending goes against this responsibility. We can and must do better, and that is why I voted no on this budget bill.

– – –

SB 817:  2024 Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund

Sponsor:  Sen. Cherry (D)                             

Passage:  98-7 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted NO: This bill provided for 18 more land acquisitions.  I do not support our government owning anymore land. 

– – –

HB 5522:  Expands the non-voting members of the Midwestern Higher Education Commission for Michigan to include the Director or designee of the Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP).

Sponsor:  Rep. Glanville (D)                        

Passage:  69-38 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted NO: The commission’s bylaws establish that each state is allowed five resident members, this would put Michigan at 7 (two would be non-voting).

– – –

SB 227:  Requires that emergency safety intervention through physical management in child caring institutions comply with standards under the Mental Health Code and any associated administrative rules.

Sponsor:  Sen. Lauwers (R)                          

Passage:  103-4 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted YES: This will ensure that smaller group homes are able to use the same methods as others to address behavioral issues.

– – –

SB 518:  Extends the date until when an interim teaching certificate (ITC) can be issued for special education.

Sponsor:  Sen. Camilleri (D)                        

Passage:  107-0 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted YES: The sunset should be extended to provide more chances to alleviate the special education shortage.

– – –

HB 5096:  Affords the Michigan Strategic Fund Board the authority/flexibility to designate renaissance zones that have not yet been designated as well as authorizes the MSF to extend renaissance zones it has designated.

Sponsor:  Rep. Grant (D)                              

Passage:  69-38 with Immediate Effect *Previous Bill

Why I voted NO: We shouldn’t give the MSF any more power, regardless if it would be helpful or not.

– – –

HB 5534:  Would create a new act titled as the “Trial Court Funding Act of 2024.” The bill would grant new powers to the State Court Administrative Office to determine the amount of court costs that can be imposed on a criminal defendant at time of sentencing. The bill would also plan for and recommend creation of a centralized state system for collecting court costs imposed by local trial courts. Finally, the bill would plan and recommend creation of a new system for redistributing funds from local courts that operate in the black to other local courts that operate in the red.

Sponsor:  Rep. Breen (D)                              

Passage:  56-51 with Immediate Effect *Previous Bill

Why I voted NO: Local control over the operations and funding of the trial courts should not be shifted from local elected officials to unelected Lansing bureaucrats.

– – –

BILL PACKAGE HBs 4523 & 4525:  Allow violent offenders and convicted felons to participate in specialty treatment courts.

Sponsors:  Reps. Hope (D) & Filler (R)                     

HB 4523 Passage:  67-40 with Immediate Effect *Previous Bill
HB 4525 Passage:  71-36 with Immediate Effect *Previous Bill

Why I voted NO: Violent offenders, including murderers, rapists, and persons who commit new felonies while already in a treatment-court program should not be granted the privilege of participating in specialty treatment courts.

– – –

HB 4343:  The Deferred Presentment Service Transaction Act regulates the “payday lending” industry and other deferred presentment lenders. The bill would require the Department of Insurance and Financial Services to submit a report to the legislature on “payday lending” institutions licensed under this act.

Sponsor:  Rep. Conlin (D)                             

Passage:  96-11 with Immediate Effect

Why I voted YES: This would give the legislature more oversight on how businesses are operating under the law.