Legislation I co-sponsored that would increase transparency in state government was recently approved by the Oversight Committee.

Senate Bills 232-241 would add the offices of governor and lieutenant governor to the Michigan Freedom of Information Act, as well as create the Legislative Open Records Act (LORA). LORA would allow residents to request legislative records from the House and Senate but would only apply to records created after Jan. 1, 2022. The legislation also would provide for certain exemptions — mostly limited to personal information — including:

The Center for Public Integrity ranked Michigan dead last in government accountability and integrity in their 2015 report. The state failed 10 out of 13 possible categories, including “public access to information, executive accountability, lobbying disclosure, and political financing.” Michigan is also one of two states that don’t subject their legislatures, governor’s office, or both to FOIA.

A functional republic needs citizens to have confidence in their government. In these times, when so much of that confidence is eroded by lack of transparency in government, real corruption, and those spreading malicious conspiracies, we should make every effort to build back trust by shining a bright light of accountability on even the mundane work of our elected leaders.

My fellow Upper Peninsula lawmakers and I recently commented on state officials’ latest attack on Line 5 with their so-called MI Propane Security Plan:

Environmentalists within state bureaucracy continued the campaign of misinformation against Line 5 — a vital source of energy and jobs to the U.P. and the state of Michigan. More astounding than the misrepresentation that is this so-called security plan, is the state’s demonstrable ignorance about Line 5 and all that it supports.

Of particular importance to the U.P., this plan will cost taxpayers significantly, while limiting the free market and competition and, at the same time, ignoring a $500 million viable solution currently on the table that would address problems and be completely paid for by the pipeline operator. The rehashed plan seems to contain all previously discussed ideas that have been shown not to work besides the call for price gouging checks. Further, nothing in this plan truly assures our small, family-owned propane businesses that they will be able to continue to operate and won’t be usurped through state control.

Lastly, the plan also leaves completely unclear whether Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is going to accept the popular Line 5 tunnel. At a time when truth and honesty are in short supply, she continues to play coy with the people of Michigan. So, in addition to strongly denouncing this MI Propane Security Plan, we also call on the governor to stake out her position on the Line 5 tunnel, because we can’t have it both ways.

To follow this issue more closely, be sure to keep an eye on the Senate Energy and Technology Committee: https://committees.senate.michigan.gov/details?com=ENGT&sessionId=14.

The Senate earlier in March adopted resolutions I sponsored urging the state to authorize wolf hunting and trapping this year.

Allowing a managed wolf hunt is good science and good economics. It would be a viable means of ensuring stable wolf population numbers, allowing the population to be kept at levels that ensure its overall survival. Not only that, doing so would also limit increasing wolf-human conflicts and impacts on other wildlife, such as the deer herd.

Click the following links for Senate Concurrent Resolution 7 and Senate Resolution 15 to read them in full.

In the coming months, the Michigan Department of Education will be hosting virtual education workforce job fairs. The virtual job fairs are open to individuals seeking to work in the education field and to employers of educators and educational support staff.

The education workforce job fairs will take place on June 16 and Aug. 4.

To register, and for more information, job seekers and employers should visit: http://bit.ly/MIEDUCATION_JOBFAIRS.

The Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency is now offering free presentations to all schools, public and private, about the lives and service of Michigan’s 550,000 veterans. The school presentations, which can be tailored to the grade level of any K-12 classroom, will introduce students to the vital role veterans play in serving and safeguarding our nation and their transition back home to Michigan.

Presentations are available to schools in-person or virtually. The length of presentations will vary based on grade level and can accommodate 20 to 300 students per assembly. Visit www.MichiganVeterans.com for additional information or to request a presentation.

As of March 1, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is offering free permits to cut fuelwood from dead and downed trees in approved areas of Michigan’s state forests. To download a free fuelwood permit or for fuelwood maps, please visit Michigan.gov/Fuelwood. Forms can be completed online and printed immediately.

Senate Republicans recently introduced a comprehensive plan to begin helping the state’s K-12 education system recover from a year of academic losses brought on by COVID-19.

The plan provides tools and resources to help parents, teachers and administrators get students back on track and implements changes to improve the state’s educational system.

To help students recover academically, the plan requires school districts to offer individual academic assessment and recovery plans by May 15. Schools would leverage existing benchmark assessment data and compare students’ current year academic performance against where they are expected to be. Individual plans would then be developed to help students get back to where they need to be — teachers would be asked to develop learning recovery plans for students in every subject for parental review no later than Aug. 14.

To help teachers and administrators, the plan makes significant changes to the evaluation process, recognizing the incredible challenge every Michigan educator has had to take on this academic year. Tracking student growth would be simplified for this year and it would not count as much toward a teacher’s or administrator’s overall performance rating.

Additionally, districts would have greater flexibility in hiring substitute teachers to help ensure more students receive in-person instruction in classrooms more often from now until the end of the summer.

The legislation also would provide parents the express authority to retain a child to retake this year’s grade next year. The plan would require certain benchmark data to be made public to help improve transparency and accountability and improve academic performance.

The 11-bill Senate Republican plan was referred to the Senate Education and Career Readiness Committee for consideration.

The state of Michigan announced a total of $3.6 million in grants for 29 projects to combat invasive species to be awarded through the Michigan Invasive Species Grant Program.

The program — which was initiated by the state Legislature in 2014 and is implemented by the Michigan departments of Agriculture and Rural Development; Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy; and Natural Resources — addresses prevention, detection, eradication and control of aquatic (water-based) and terrestrial (land-based) invasive species in Michigan through four key objectives:

• Preventing the introduction of new invasive species.
• Strengthening the statewide invasive species early detection and response network.
• Limiting the spread of recently confirmed invasive species.
• Managing and controlling widespread, established invasive species.

To date, more than $25 million has been awarded to support 173 projects by units of government, nonprofits and institutions. Because of Michigan’s Invasive Species Grant Program:

• More than 494,000 acres of land and water have been surveyed for invasive species.
• More than 38,500 acres have been treated for invasive terrestrial and aquatic plants.
• 206,000 people have been provided with information about invasive species through direct contact, including face-to-face interactions at boat washes, workshops, trainings and other events.
• An additional 23,221,000 people were reached through grantees’ indirect outreach efforts, including mail, newspapers, social media and handouts.

The full list of grant recipients, project descriptions and award amounts is available on the Michigan Invasive Species Grant Program website at Michigan.gov/MISGP.

Meet Up and Eat Up, also known as the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), is a federally funded, state-administered program serving free healthy meals and snacks to children and teens in low-income areas. In Michigan, the Michigan Department of Education works with local program sponsors to provide healthy food throughout the summer months.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is extending several waivers to allow children to continue to receive nutritious meals this summer when schools are out of session. Waivers, available through Sept. 30, will provide local program operators with clarity and certainty for the summer months, when many children cannot access the school meals they depend on during the academic year.

The waivers allow for safe meal distribution sites that serve all children for free, regardless of income. In addition, the waivers:

• Allow meals served through the Summer Food Service Program and Seamless Summer Option (SSO) — collectively known as “summer meal programs” — to be made available in all areas at no cost;
• Allow meals to be served outside of the normally required group settings and meal times; and
• Allow parents and guardians to pick up meals for their children, including bulk pickup to cover multiple days of feeding children.

To find an SFSP site in your community, visit the Meet Up and Eat Up SFSP Site Locator Map at www.michigan.gov/meetupeatup. Information regarding mealtimes, days open and serving dates is updated regularly.