Below you will find legislative updates from the state Capitol and information about important events within Oakland County and the 15th Senate District. Thank you for taking the time to read my latest newsletter!

Senator Jim Runestad
Serving the 15th State Senate District

I was proud to join Senate Republicans in recently adopting Senate Resolution 114, urging national policies that will lead to energy independence and lower energy costs in the United States, including ending our own governor and attorney general’s efforts to shut down Line 5.

The policies of the Biden Administration and our own governor to halt domestic energy production are hurting people across our state and nation. It is becoming clearer every day that the United States needs to become more energy independent and our policies should support safe energy production through pipelines like Line 5. Struggling Michiganders need relief from soaring energy costs and deserve access to safely produced American energy.

Click here or on the image above to hear me speak in support of SR 114.

The state Senate recently adopted a resolution I co-sponsored to affirm our commitment to the rights of parents to direct the education of their children. Senate Resolution 107 underscores the “natural fundamental right of parents and legal guardians to determine and direct the care, teaching, and education of their children” that has been a cornerstone declaration in Michigan law for over 25 years.

The Michigan Revised School Code states “the public schools of this state serve the needs of the pupils by cooperating with the pupil’s parents and legal guardians to develop the pupil’s intellectual capabilities and vocational skills in a safe and positive environment.”

Click here or on the image above to hear me speak in support of parental rights in the education of their children.

The historic tax cut bill I shepherded as chairman of the Senate Finance committee — and included my proposal to reduce taxes on all seniors — was recently given final approval by the Legislature. Senate Bill 768 would roll back the state’s personal income tax from 4.25% to 3.9% and provide families with a $500 per child tax credit. It would also increase the tax deduction for seniors up to $40,000 for individuals and up to $80,000 for couples, as well as lower the age of eligibility from 67 to 62.

Unfortunately, the governor quickly signaled she will veto this bill, saying state government can’t afford a $2.5 billion tax cut, even though it has an $8 billion surplus. I hope the governor will reconsider her position and return this money to Michigan residents who need it in order to fight the rising costs of record inflation. Her desire to spend this surplus by growing the size of our state government is not what the people of Michigan need at this time.

Michigan passed an auto no-fault reform that had many good provisions, but also a couple of serious flaws, which I recently addressed in the video below.

The governor recently signed Public Act 11 of 2022, also known as the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Licensure and Regulation Act, into law. This bipartisan legislation was passed unanimously in the Senate and 101-4 in the House.

The new law will hold pharmacy benefit managers accountable and will allow pharmacies to be more competitive, provide more affordable prescription drugs to patients across Michigan, and will bring reporting and transparency to a previously unregulated process. These changes will ultimately help combat the rising cost of prescription drugs.

If you are not already subscribed, you can sign up to receive my email newsletter here. And please feel free to share this newsletter with your friends, neighbors and anyone else who would like to stay up to date on what is happening with state government.