I will once again be visiting schools throughout the 31st District during the month of March and encouraging students to participate in March is Reading Month activities.

I will be available throughout the district on Mondays and Fridays to read to interested classrooms.

If you are interested, you can submit your request by visiting www.SenatorKevinDaley.com/march-is-reading-month/ and filling out the form. Availability is on a first-come, first-served basis, but I will make an effort to visit your school at a later date if there are too many requests to accommodate during the month of March.

If you have any questions, please call my office at 517-373-1777 or at [email protected].

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources recently announced that the regular Recreation Passport vehicle entry fee for residents will increase from $11 to $12 as of March 1, 2020. This $1 increase is the first Recreation Passport price increase since 2013.

Michigan residents who purchase a Recreation Passport can enjoy vehicle access to more than 100 state parks and recreation areas, 140 state forest campgrounds, hundreds of miles of state trails, historic sites, family-friendly events, hundreds of boating access sites, and more.

To learn more about how the Recreation Passport supports, protects and provides easy, affordable access to Michigan’s great outdoors, visit www.Michigan.gov/RecreationPassport.

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is awarding a state Transportation Economic Development Fund (TEDF) grant of $375,000 to Bay City to improve Marquette Avenue.

Marquette Avenue is an important shipping route that keeps commerce in our area moving. The high volume of trucks and other commercial traffic has deteriorated the road surface and it is in great need of repair. The total cost of construction is $630,304, including $375,000 from the state and $255,304 from Bay City.

It is important that we get this fixed quickly, so we return to business as usual. I both applaud and thank MDOT for choosing Bay City as a grant recipient and look forward to this money as an economic boost to our area.

Recently, the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) approved grant funding that will assist the city of Caro in making improvements to the city’s downtown area.

The city of Caro has received $57,281 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for the Caro Facades Project and an additional $17,000 for a CDBG certified grant administrator to assist with the project.

The update is set to include the renovation of two storefronts, and the facade restoration project is expected to be a catalyst for other projects and investment in downtown Caro. The project is also expected to have a substantial impact along North State Street. This money will help support local businesses and continue the economic growth occurring in downtown Caro. I applaud the city for working closely with state officials and ensuring they had everything lined up to get this done.

This is great news for the community. This funding will help revitalize the downtown area and make Caro a more enjoyable place to live, work and visit. I appreciate the MSF’s continued support of Michigan’s rural communities.

The Michigan Senate recorded 370 roll call votes in 2019, and I was in attendance to cast a vote on every one of them. I am honored that the people across the 31st Senate District placed their trust in me to represent their voice in the state Capitol. Nothing gets done if you don’t show up to work. I was one of 24 senators and 76 representatives who did not miss any votes in 2019.

It was a difficult year, especially for our district. We faced some tough hurdles along the way, but I was sure to be in Lansing fighting to lower auto insurance rates and keep the Caro Center where it belongs, while also working to stop the governor’s proposed tax increases. Millions of people across the state are expected to be at work every day and we as elected officials are expected to do the same.

Schools must be a safe place for students to learn and grow. The fiscal year 2019 Student, Teachers, and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Grant Program is designed to improve school security by providing students and teachers with the tools they need to recognize, respond quickly to, and help protect against acts of violence. Entities that are eligible to apply are public agencies (including school districts and individual schools), private schools and federally recognized Indian tribes.

Applications for the STOP School Violence Grant Program are due on Tuesday, March 3. Find more information, including applications and instructions, at www.bja.ojp.gov (click on the “Available Funding” box).

Last October, the governor vetoed nearly $1 billion from the budget, cutting critical funding for law enforcement, hospitals, local governments, college students, children in charter and rural schools, and more. The governor also used a rarely used administrative board to transfer an additional $625 million in funding.

These cuts hurt Michigan families and communities across the state, which is why I supported legislation to restore much of the critical funding that was vetoed or transferred by the governor.

Senate Bills 152 and 154 restored a total of $573.5 million of the governor’s nearly $950 million in vetoed funding and $625 million in administrative transfer funding.

Additionally, in the wake of the governor’s cuts and funding transfers, I supported legislation to make important reforms to the budget process that will preserve reliability and oversight and restore balance in the funding transfer process.

These bills were signed by the governor on Dec. 31 with immediate effect.

Scam artists are constantly coming up with new ways to disguise who they are and trick people into giving them money. The latest scheme uses fake government-looking letters about overdue state taxes.

According to the Michigan Department of Treasury, taxpayers are told in the fake letter to immediately contact a toll-free number to resolve a state tax debt. The letter contains publicly available information about the person’s real tax debt to trick them into believing the letter is real. It then aggressively threatens to seize a taxpayer’s assets ― including property and Social Security benefits ― if the debt is not settled.

The state does mail official letters to taxpayers, but they outline taxpayer rights and provide several options for people to resolve outstanding debts. If you get a letter that threatens to seize your property unless you pay immediately over the phone, it’s a scam.

Taxpayers who have received the fake letter or have questions about their state debts can call Treasury’s Collections Service Center at 517-636-5265.

With the winter heating season in full swing, some households may need help with their heating bills. Energy assistance programs to help prevent shut-offs include:

Find more information at www.michigan.gov/bewinterwise.

Congratulations to Quality Roasting LLC in Gilford Township on the ribbon cutting at their new bean processing plant in Tuscola County!

The 31st District welcomes you and looks forward to the value your operation will add to the state’s agriculture industry.

This will be a tremendous public-private partnership and welcomed economic boost to Tuscola County.