Dear neighbor,

Thank you for taking the time to read my latest newsletter!

Today is Veterans Day. Our veterans need our support now more than ever. Please remember to show your gratitude to all of our veterans and consider attending a veteran memorial service in our community.

I hope you will find this update to be helpful and informative regarding what is happening at your state Capitol. Below you will read about how we are working to support parents, invest in the state’s water infrastructure, support medical freedom, secure election integrity, reduce Medicaid costs, support schools as they continue to navigate COVID-19 and more.

Every day I am working to make a difference for families and the most vulnerable in our community! Please don’t hesitate to contact my office if there is anything that my team or myself can do to help.

Working with and for you,

Senator Jim Runestad
Serving the 15th State Senate District

The Senate Appropriations Committee recently began hearings to consider a budget supplemental bill that would invest over $2.5 billion of Michigan’s remaining federal recovery funds to preserve and protect the state’s water quality, treatment infrastructure, environment and more.

Senate Bill 565 would designate $600 million for the replacement of lead pipes across the state, $700 million to upgrade local drinking water and wastewater facilities and $85 million to ensure students have access to safe water by installing filtered water stations inside schools.

The bill would repurpose $290 million in bonds to assist communities with upgrading and replacing water treatment infrastructure, establish a loan program for homeowners seeking to replace failing septic systems and includes $680 million to repair Michigan’s critical dams. An additional $15 million would be available to conduct surface water monitoring, $10 million for wetland mitigation, and $20 million to implement recommendations included in the Groundwater Use Advisory Council Report. The plan also addresses the harmful impacts of PFAS chemicals and would dedicate $100 million in grants to remove the chemicals from “orphaned” sites.

The bill will remain before the committee for further consideration. If passed from the committee, it will move to the full Senate for a vote.

My office has received daily contacts from concerned citizens about COVID-19 vaccine mandates. I support vaccine choice and individual freedoms to make personal and private medical decisions. I believe vaccine mandates are unconstitutional and will support any effort to limit government overreach. I have supported legislation in both the state House and Senate to restrict vaccine mandates in Michigan. However, passing legislation is not enough as it can be overturned by a governor’s veto.

Our courts are in the best position to stop threats to Americans’ civil liberties. The Michigan Legislature has filed a brief opposing President Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine requirements on employers, which are scheduled to go into effect the first week of January and would require certain employers to verify that their employees have been vaccinated or submit to testing.

President Biden’s attempt to mandate vaccines is wrong. Rightfully, numerous states and individuals harmed by this mandate are filing legal challenges. The Legislature fully supports these efforts and will argue in court against this federal overreach.

I am proud to have worked alongside members of both parties to create the Suicide Prevention Commission in 2019. The objectives of the Suicide Prevention Commission are to get to the root causes of suicide and develop tools on how to prevent it. Since it was signed into law, Public Act 177 of 2019 has made steady progress toward the objectives it set out to achieve. Click here to learn more or to listen to commission hearings.

Pathfinder, Michigan’s online career exploration tool, has received a major update to make it easier for residents to use.

Pathfinder is a free tool that provides information to students, their parents and guidance counselors, to help them make informed choices about educational and career options. This free tool uses current labor market information, wage data, and other data and metrics, to allow users to match skills and interests with career paths and jobs. The recent update allows users to choose and compare multiple paths and even print or email completed paths to use later. For more information or to try the Pathfinder tool, please visit MiTalent.org.

If you know of someone who would like to know about what’s going on in Lansing, please forward this email on to a friend! And if you know of anyone who could use help with a state matter, please don’t hesitate to have them reach out to my office at any time!

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