My team and I are dedicated to providing residents of the 31st District the best possible service. Whether you need assistance when dealing with a state department, have an idea for legislation, or want to share your thoughts and concerns with us about a particular bill or issue, we are here for you.

My staff works hard to try and help folks who contact the office and we strive to answer every question that comes into the office as quickly and efficiently as possible.

As a lifelong farmer, hard work is something that I grew to appreciate at a young age. I spent decades working hard on the family farm and I believe the people deserve the same from me in Lansing. Below you’ll find a review of some of my office’s day-to-day business outside of legislative responsibilities.

Last year, my team and I:

MAEAP extension signed into law
For years, the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP) has proven itself to be an invaluable tool for Michigan farmers.

The program was developed in 1998 by a coalition of farmers, commodity groups, and environmental groups, as well as state and federal agencies. The program helps farmers stay within state and federal guidelines and adopt environmentally friendly practices that reduce erosion and runoff into ponds, streams, and rivers.

I introduced legislation to extend the voluntary program and keep this invaluable resource available to Michigan farmers and am happy to announce the bill has now been signed into law by the governor.

The newly signed law renews MAEAP and extends the sunset of the Freshwater Protection Fee that funds the program for another four years with no change to current fertilizer license and registration fees. The existing sunset was set to expire this year.

Michigan farms are key to our state’s economy. MAEAP has played a key role in growing the state’s agriculture industry and helped countless farms stay in business. Extending this program allows farms to continue improving practices that care for and protect our environment and puts Michigan farms in a position to continue feeding our communities for generations.

Supporting individual freedoms
I voted with my colleagues to approve a resolution denouncing the Biden Administration’s heavy-handed mandate that would force businesses with more than 100 employees to require that employees receive a COVID-19 vaccination or be tested for the virus weekly.

Over the last year we have experienced a major workforce problem. Our state had to overcome teacher shortages, hospital staff shortages, supply chain issues, and problems in countless other professions. This mandate will only further instigate these issues.

Deciding whether or not to receive the vaccine should be a personal choice. This mandate compromises our individual freedoms and forces our workers into an ultimatum. The American people should never have to choose between their personal beliefs and putting food on the table for their families.

I stand with all the legal challenges to this gross government overreach into our personal health care decisions. I look forward to seeing the issue solved justly by the courts.

Senate Resolution 83 can be read in its entirety by clicking here.

Opening Michigan back up for business!
The state Legislature voted to approve the Unlock Michigan citizen initiative and repeal the law used by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to issue emergency orders during the pandemic.

Residents across the state voiced their displeasure with the governor’s unilateral and often confusing and overly burdensome rules. After calls from Michigan families and business owners were widely ignored by the governor and her administration, residents took matters into their own hands and began an initiative to eliminate the law that allowed the governor to single-handedly make and change the rules.

The Board of State Canvassers certified the initiative and the Legislature took the final step and voted to approve it.

I supported this measure because residents of this state should not be kept in the dark during uncertain times. Our founders created coequal branches to avoid the exact situation we found ourselves in during the pandemic and this initiative will ensure no future governor can violate the constitution like our current governor has.

A citizens’ initiative is an example of people having the chance to make their voices heard, and the people spoke up.

Helping businesses stay afloat
I voted in favor of several measures aimed at helping Michigan businesses and families stay afloat during the pandemic as well as the long-lasting ripple effects that have followed.

I sponsored a bill aimed at helping businesses that were shuttered during the pandemic by providing them with additional property tax relief for tax years 2020 and 2021.

The legislation includes a two-year refundable tax credit for businesses that were shut down due to the pandemic for at least six weeks and lost at least 25% of their sales. This is an income tax credit that would allow the eligible business to claim a credit equal to the amount of property taxes attributable to the business during the same calendar year. The property on which the credit is based must be used in connection with the afflicted business. It would not apply to property held by a business that is used for other purposes.

We lost a lot of mom and pop shops during the pandemic and countless more are struggling to this day. Folks still need to pay their taxes, but this is meant to be a bit of relief on their pocketbooks as they continue to fight back against this virus.

I hope to see the House approve this legislation and the governor quickly sign it into law so we can extend a helping hand to those who are hurting.

Securing Michigan’s elections
I joined fellow lawmakers in introducing several election reform measures as part of a comprehensive package to ensure transparency, integrity and confidence in Michigan’s election process.

The proposed reforms included numerous efforts aimed at improving overall security within the state’s election processes, including: increasing security at ballot drop boxes, strengthening poll challenger and poll watcher rights, cleaning up outdated voter lists, and requiring photo identification for in-person voting and when submitting an AV ballot application. The reforms would also prohibit the mass mailing of absentee ballot applications and increase transparency in the audit process by ensuring audits are bipartisan and open to the public.

Unfortunately, Gov. Whitmer proved once again that she can ignore the will of the people in order to promote her own agenda. Despite widespread support for election reform from constituents all over the state, the governor has vetoed many reforms that we sent to her desk. Clearly, she is not interested in commonsense improvements, but rather wants to maintain the flawed status quo.

In America, we should be able to trust the results of an election — win or lose. A concerning number of voters I have discussed the issue with have stated they have lost trust in our elections or feel their votes were overlooked. Despite the governor’s disheartening and irresponsible vetoes, I will continue working on measures to help people restore confidence when casting their vote.