Dear Friends,

To better serve the people of the 30th Senate District, I am offering this “Week in Review.” I hope you will find it informative about what is happening in Lansing.

I encourage you to contact me with any state issue. You may call 517-373-6920 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,
Roger Victory
State Senator

The Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee last week began the discussion on the fiscal year 2023 Michigan Department of Transportation budget by hearing from MDOT Director Paul C. Ajegba outline the governor’s recommendation.

The governor’s proposed MDOT budget totals $6.3 billion, which is a $871 million increase.

It includes supplemental requests for the current fiscal year featuring $316.7 million in federal funds for road and bridge programs, $92.8 million in federal funds (with $5 million in local match) for airport improvements, and $66.2 million in federal funds to support local transit operations and infrastructure.

The governor’s FY 2023 recommendation includes an increase of 200 MDOT employees, $150 million in state funding for economically critical roads and bridges, $60 million in one-time state support for rail grade separation, and an increase of $428.4 million in federal funds for state and local road and bridge construction.

Click here to watch the subcommittee hearing. The meeting starts at 3:55 into the video.

The Senate Appropriations Committee last week heard from the nonpartisan Senate Fiscal Agency on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s fiscal year 2023 state budget recommendation.

SFA Director Kathryn Summers detailed their overview of the governor’s $74.1 billion proposal, which would represent the largest budget in state history. Click here to read the full SFA overview.

The SFA’s overview notes that the governor’s plan includes two proposed tax changes: increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and phasing in reductions to the taxation of retirement income. Both of these proposals would reduce the state’s General Fund. The EITC impact is estimated at $262 million annually and the first-year impact of the retirement income tax changes is estimated at $107 million.

Overall, the governor’s FY23 budget plan includes $30.3 billion in federal funds, $530.6 million of local and private funds, $27.7 billion of state restricted revenue, and $12.9 billion in state General Fund revenue.

Click here to watch the committee hearing. The meeting starts at 4:25 into the video.

Last week, I voted for a $2.5 billion tax cut plan to reduce personal and business income tax rates, provide families with a $500 per child tax credit, and protect more retirement income for Michigan’s seniors.

Michigan families and small businesses are the heart and soul of our communities and our economy, but they continue to face significant challenges — from COVID-19 to inflation. This plan would provide substantial tax relief to hardworking families, seniors on fixed incomes, and local job providers trying to succeed during tough times.

Our state government is overflowing with record federal dollars and state tax revenues, and providing important relief to the good people of our state should be the first step in putting our historic resources to positive use to improve our state.

Senate Bill 768 would reduce the state’s personal income tax from 4.25% to 3.9%, create a $500 per child tax credit, increase the tax exemption on all retirement income to $30,000 for individuals and $60,000 for couples, and reduce corporate income tax rates from 6% to 3.9%.

The bill has been sent to the House of Representatives for consideration.

Last week, I spoke at a meeting of Grand Valley State University College Republicans with state Rep. Luke Meerman of Coopersville and U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga of Zeeland.

It is always great to talk with young people about their government, and we had a wonderful discussion on the future of our region, our state, and our country. Among the items discussed was our state’s redistricting process and how it will impact Ottawa County and West Michigan’s representation as a community at both the state and federal levels of government.

On Friday, I was honored to host members of the Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers at my family farm. As you may know, Victory Farms is a family-owned operation that grows several varieties of root vegetables and winter squash.

It is vitally important to the future of our food security and rural economy that we encourage more young people to consider agriculture as a viable career path. Ottawa County is the second-most diverse agriculture county in the United States. As such, we are blessed with a wide variety of opportunities for our future agricultural leaders to experience and to succeed.