This past Tuesday, the Michigan Senate passed legislation that would cut taxes by $2.5 billion for Michigan families, the retired, and small businesses.

This is the right plan, both for right now and in the future. While the governor and Democrats are proposing the most expensive budget in state history and making government even bigger, taxpayers are being forced to stretch their budgets every month as the cost of living outpaces what they’re taking home. We’re facing an economic situation not seen in 40 years as inflation skyrockets and the state struggles to recover from the governor’s shutdowns. We don’t need more government spending. We need to help Michiganders keep more of what they earn, and this tax cut will help in a big way.

Senate Bill 768 would reduce the state’s personal income tax from 4.25% to 3.9% and the corporate income tax rate from 6% to 3.9%.

It would also create a $500 per child tax credit for each child age 19 and under.

Additionally, the bill would broaden the tax exemption for ALL retirement income to $30,000 for individuals and $60,000 for couples, not just those who collect a government pension.

SB 768, which I co-sponsored, now advances to the House of Representatives for consideration.

This week, I introduced legislation that would prohibit municipalities from installing so-called red-light cameras to issue traffic citations in the state.

Red-light cameras are not about motorist safety. They are cynical revenue grabs, often riddled with corruption with no benefit for the greater good. What’s more important, red-light cameras violate motorists’ constitutional rights, and studies show that they even increase traffic accidents. Red-light cameras are the definition of government overreach, and we should keep them off our streets.

Twenty-one states and Washington, D.C. currently allow red-light cameras, but recent guidance from the Biden Administration cleared the way for more cameras to be installed under the newly-signed federal infrastructure law.

Senate Bill 875 stipulates that photographic traffic signal enforcement systems must not be used to enforce Section 612 of the Michigan Vehicle Code and that any citation issued on the basis of a recorded image produced by a photographic traffic signal enforcement system would be void.

The bill was referred to the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for consideration.

On Wednesday, I requested a formal State Auditor General audit to verify whether Michigan K-12 schools are conducting, documenting and reporting mandatory safety drills.

Schools are required by law to conduct at least three safety drills per academic year and to document and publicly report that the drills have been completed. After the shooting that occurred at Oxford High School last year, I began to research the status of safety drills compliance in the state.

What I found was alarming. School safety drills are entirely self-directed and self-reported. There is no process to ensure schools followed the official state police drill model, nor a formal state record to verify whether safety drills have been conducted. This is an extraordinarily concerning development that must be corrected for the sake of every student and parent in our state.

In response to my discovery, I submitted a formal audit request to state Auditor General Doug Ringler, asking him to conduct a comprehensive review of the following:

Nothing is more important than the health and safety of our children, and I am hopeful Auditor General Ringler will accept my request to audit schools’ safety drill compliance. Regardless of his findings, it is clear more must be done to streamline this process and ensure our schools and our students are better prepared.

On Tuesday, February 8, the Senate Education and Career Readiness Committee, which I chair, heard from Michigan parents and educational experts about the negative impact virtual learning is having on K-12 students in the state.

Three years into this pandemic and it is a fact that forced virtual learning has seriously damaged our children, both their academic achievement and their mental health and wellbeing. We hear it from educational experts, health care professionals, parents and from students themselves.

We can no longer be beholden to state bureaucrats and teachers’ unions, who are seemingly only looking out for themselves and not our kids. The fact that the Michigan Department of Education has found a way around needing children to be in person to receive foundation allowance payments for these kids adds insult to injury.

Our education system is in crisis. Our students are falling behind. We simply must prioritize our children’s education and do all we can to get them back into their classrooms full-time. I strongly encourage all parents to contact their teachers, principals, superintendents, boards of education, lawmakers and the governor and make their voices heard — Michigan parents want their children back in school.

For a directory of Michigan’s school districts, visit this website.

To contact the Michigan Department of Education, visit this website or call 833-633-5788.

To find your lawmaker, visit this website.

To contact the governor, call 517-335-7858.

People wishing to watch an archived broadcast of the committee hearing, visit this website.