Dear Friends and Neighbors,

At a time when families are struggling with soaring gas prices and crippling inflation, I remain committed to restoring the values and pillars that our country was built on. My colleagues and I have proposed legislation that would encourage economic growth and would directly improve the lives of Michigan families.

Our “Grow MI State” plan would make Michigan a more welcoming place for families, blue-collar careers, and high tech and medical jobs. These bills would:

Our “Stronger Borders, Safer Communities” plan would help secure our borders, enforce immigration laws, and keep our communities safe. Federal immigration policies that allow for an unsecure southern border make every state a border state — and we’re feeling the effects of these policies right here in Michigan. Our plan would:

Our “MI Brighter Future” plan would empower parents, increase accountability in our schools and provide more choices for parents and resources for teachers. The plan would:

Should you have any questions or concerns about the Legislature or state government, please do not hesitate to contact my office by calling 517-373-0793 or by going to SenatorAricNesbitt.com. You can also stay up to date with what I am doing in Lansing by following me on Facebook, or on X (formally Twitter). I look forward to listening and learning about your priorities and concerns for our state.

Blessings,

Aric Nesbitt
State Senator
District 20

Despite Republican amendments to support our schools and mounting pressure from education groups in Michigan, Democrats rammed a pork-filled, partisan budget through the Legislature in the early morning hours of an all-night late June session. Sadly, one of the most significant cuts to spending in this budget did not come in the form of less corporate welfare or fewer pork projects. Instead of cutting wasteful spending that grows government, Democrats passed a 92% cut to school safety and mental health funding in the budget.

Of course, this cut to vital school safety funding follows previous Democrat-led legislation restricting the rights of law-abiding Americans for the sake of partisan talking points. When this legislation was brought forward, Sen. Nesbitt and his Republican colleagues proposed amendments to invest in school safety and for prosecutors to strongly enforce our existing laws that protect our communities. Our efforts need to be focused on solutions that will actually prevent violence. It cannot be doing something just to say we did something. We must work together to do the right things.

We must increase access to quality security options for our schools and places of learning — this means dedicating investments to ensure the availability of resource officers, purchase necessary software and technology, and make our buildings safer. We must do better than the radically partisan bills that their caucus continues to churn out of the Legislature.

As a legislative body, we have a genuine opportunity to come together and find solutions that will better protect everyone in our state. In past years, we have invested significant resources in making our schools safer, but we must do more. We need to continue those efforts, ensure existing laws are being enforced, and pursue improvements to mental health care. There is no one simple solution, but together, we can work toward a safer future for everyone.

Over the past several years, there have been many efforts made toward improving the transparency and accountability of our state government. More recently, with the passage of Proposition 1 of 2022 and further work in the Legislature, these efforts have finally begun to take hold. Sen. Nesbitt has been supportive of recent legislation on the topic and hopes to continue making progress in this area. Transparency is a key component of a successful representative government, and this bipartisan legislation takes a significant step toward making our state more transparent and accountable to state residents.

Last year, the Legislature passed a package of bills to implement the requirements of Proposal 1, expanding on existing financial disclosure requirements for lawmakers while also working to address conflicts of interest and other disclosures that were previously lacking. In June, additional bipartisan legislation expanding the Freedom of Information Act was passed to improve government transparency in our state.

Michigan’s governor’s office and Legislature have a long history of being among the least transparent governing branches in the nation. Now, thanks to the steadfast bipartisan work of lawmakers who have refused to accept the status quo year after year, we have finally delivered the kind of transparency that our residents deserve. Sen. Nesbitt remains hopeful that these bills are but the first of many more reforms taken to let the sunshine more brightly on the workings of Michigan’s government.

This spring, Sen. Nesbitt visited Eagle Pass, Texas, and witnessed the devastating effects of these toothless and radical policies firsthand.

We’ve all heard about the Biden border crisis; it’s even more shocking to witness the chaos unfold before your own eyes. The Biden administration’s failure to protect our nation’s borders has created a national crisis that is endangering the lives and livelihoods of Americans from Texas to Michigan. Deadly fentanyl trafficking is killing thousands, and criminals taking advantage of self-proclaimed sanctuary communities are harming our loved ones right here in our home state. Republicans have introduced plans to combat this crisis on both fronts here in Michigan, but the Democrat majority has refused to even hold hearings. When will they stop playing political theater to protect their party’s president and start protecting the people of Michigan?

Vigilant National Guard troops from other states are tirelessly confronting the illegal immigration crisis even as President Joe Biden refuses to keep our country safe. It’s time for Democrats to listen to the American people — including legal immigrants — and get serious about securing our border and protecting our communities. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer should stop trying to dole out taxpayer dollars to reward illegal immigrants and start sending our troops to help stop the crisis on the frontlines.

The dangers of the border crisis reach far beyond southwest border communities. Multiple illegal aliens have been arrested for violent crimes in Michigan in recent months, including murder, soliciting sex with a minor, and sexual assault. As of 2023, Biden’s failed immigration enforcement has resulted in more than 1.7 million “gotaways” — illegal crossers who were not apprehended — at the southwest border.

Sen. Nesbitt and his daughter Catherine presented state tributes celebrating the 50th anniversaries of the Michigan Maritime Museum in South Haven and Tiara Yachts in Holland.

Catherine and Sen. Nesbitt visited the Van Buren County Youth Fair to support local 4-H kids and bring home some bacon!