Dear Friends,

To better serve you, I am offering this e-newsletter on what’s happening in the 28th Senate District and across our state.

I encourage you to contact me with any state issues. You may call toll-free at 1-855-347-8028 or email [email protected]. Also, please check out my Facebook page. Let me know if I can assist you in any way or if you have an idea to help move our state forward.

Working for you,
Mark E. Huizenga
State Senator

I am celebrating National Reading Month by releasing three videos of me reading children’s books to viewers and by encouraging parents to read to their kids.

Reading is critical to a successful education; and reading to children at a young age can help them develop an interest in learning, foster a creative spirit, and build self-confidence. In honor of National Reading Month, I have recorded three videos to virtually share a love of reading with West Michigan children, and I encourage parents to join in the effort to help our children succeed through reading.

In the videos, I read “Hedgie’s Surprise,” “If You Bring a Mouse to School,” and “‘Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,’ said the Sloth.”

You can access the videos by visiting my website.

An important part of representing everyone in West Michigan is hearing directly from the people about the issues they are facing. I will be holding in-person office hours throughout the district on a regular basis. They give local residents a chance to express their viewpoints about what needs to be done and offer help to people dealing with a variety of state issues.

This month, we are holding in-district office hours on Friday, March 11 from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at New Beginnings, 4735 Lake Michigan Drive NW in Grand Rapids; Friday, March 18 from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at Herman’s Boy, 220 Northland Drive NE in Rockford; and Friday, March 25 from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at Mr. Burger, 5181 Northland Drive NE in Plainfield.

Office hours are open to all residents and no appointment is necessary. Space is limited at some locations, and people are encouraged to take proper health safety precautions. Anyone who is unable to attend the office hours may contact my office.

A Senate bill to provide a $2.5 billion tax cut by reducing personal income tax rates, increasing the tax exemption for seniors, and providing families with a $500 per child tax credit is on its way to the governor.

This commonsense plan provides important tax relief to families, workers and seniors throughout our state who are struggling with increasing costs and the highest inflation in four decades.

Our state government gets its revenue as a result of the hard work of our residents, and when that hard work results in huge surpluses, we owe it to them to return some of the fruits of their labor. We can provide this relief and still invest in improving our state.

Senate Bill 768 would reduce the state’s income tax back to 3.9% and create a $500 tax credit for each child under age 19. It would also increase the tax exemption for all seniors up to $40,000 for individuals and $80,000 for couples and lower the age threshold from 67 to 62.

Last year, I supported Senate Bill 85 to create the Afflicted Business Relief Grant Program to help businesses that experienced financial hardship due to the pandemic. After several attempts to provide property tax relief for shuttered businesses were vetoed by the governor in 2020 and 2021, this legislation was finally signed into law.

Relief grant applications are now available at Michigan.gov/abr. Businesses must submit a completed online application no later than 11:59 p.m. on March 31.

Affected businesses interested in applying are encouraged to sign up for an informational webinar from 1-2 p.m. on March 7 on the program’s website. To learn more about the business grant program or read frequently asked questions, visit Michigan.gov/abr. Individuals with questions should email [email protected].

Michigan is such a unique state! I recently had the opportunity to witness one of our special traditions this year: the UP200 sled dog race. Since 1990, this 12-dog, mid-distance sled dog race has brought in “mushers” from across the United States and Canada.

The race covers 228 miles of challenging terrain from Marquette to Grand Marais and back again through forested land and near-wilderness. Mushers face hills, creek crossings, deep snow, and isolated trail. This is a true test of skill and stamina!

Michigan fishing licenses for the 2022 season are now on sale. The new license season begins April 1, and the 2022 fishing licenses are valid through March 31, 2023. Licenses can be purchased at Michigan.gov/DNRLicenses. By purchasing a fishing license online, you can also sign up for auto-renewal through the DNR eLicense system.

Anglers also are encouraged to review fishing regulations changes adopted by the Michigan Natural Resource Commission that will go into effect April 1, unless noted otherwise.

For example, underwater spearfishing opportunities for walleye, northern pike and lake trout have been added for Lake Michigan (south of Grand Haven) and Lake Huron (for waters south of the Thunder Bay River to the mouth of the St. Clair River). These opportunities require a new underwater spearfishing license along with monthly effort and harvest reporting requirements. The underwater spearfishing license is complimentary, unless a DNR Sportcard is needed, and will be available only online here.

All regulation changes will be acknowledged in the 2022 fishing guide, which will be available March 1 at www.Michigan.gov/DNRDigests. Anglers are encouraged to periodically review the digital version of the fishing guide for any regulation updates throughout the 2022 fishing season. For more information on Michigan fishing, visit www.Michigan.gov/Fishing.

Senate Republicans have introduced legislation that would direct $1.4 billion to improve Michigan’s food security and invest in rural communities.

Senate Bill 885 would invest $350 million in food distribution security and stability grants; $45 million to help operate and expand farm markets; and $15 million to help local food banks purchase fresh produce, dairy products, and meat and seafood products.

The bill also invests in rural development, including:

Michigan is second in the nation for agriculture. This supplemental prioritizes local growing, processing, and distribution for Michigan food products — securing our food supply chain by shortening the time and distance from soil to store shelves. Reducing logistics and regionalizing more food processing will help drive down costs and combat rising food costs due to inflation.

I recently sponsored Senate Bill 943 to protect road workers by clarifying the legal definition of a “work zone” on Michigan roads and highways.

Many drivers in Michigan are confused about when a construction area is considered an active work zone, and that confusion has recently led to difficulty in enforcing these critical protections for our road maintenance crews. I partnered with MDOT officials and the private sector to draft this reform to clear up pre-existing law and set straightforward parameters on what is legally considered a work zone.

This measure would go a long way to increasing worker safety and legal enforcement of the protective zones while also providing more certainty for drivers about where a construction zone begins and ends.

The need for the change arose from the settlement of The People of the State of Michigan v. Kara Jean Boersma, in which criminal charges against the defendant were waived due to current language not explicitly stating that one worker’s presence meets the criteria of a present work crew. Therefore, as the incident area in the case did not contain a present work crew, it did not meet the definition of an active work zone. It’s of utmost importance that this legal loophole is closed.

Last month, I was able to meet Michigan’s gold-winning Olympic medalist, Nick Baumgartner. Nick is a snowboarder from Iron River and was the oldest athlete to compete for the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. Last month, Nick won his first Olympic gold at the age of 40 when he and teammate Lindsey Jacobellis won the inaugural Olympic mixed snowboard cross race.

Also last month, I had the honor of providing the invocation to open Senate session. May God guide us as we go about the peoples’ work.