On March 24, the Michigan Senate adopted Senate Resolution 35, which I sponsored, to recognize April 2021 as National Donate Life Month in Michigan. I urge everyone to become an organ donor and to give the gift of life.

More than 3,000 people in Michigan are waiting for an organ transplant. Often, the transplant helps save a person’s life.

April is Donate Life Month, and a good time to learn about organ donation. Just one donor can save the lives of eight people and better the lives of even more. Motorists can purchase a Donate Life specialty license plate to support and help promote the need for organ, tissue and eye donors.

The fundraising plates can be ordered online at www.michigan.gov/sos or at any secretary of state branch office.

The Michigan Senate unanimously approved my bills to provide various forms of relief to certain community organizations and nonprofits that were shuttered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

My colleagues and I have spent the last few months working on various ways to provide relief to families, businesses, schools and others who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. I was approached by a gentleman from my district who suggested eliminating or prorating licensing fees as a way to help certain community organizations like American Legion posts.

Senate Bills 125 and 126 would help support local businesses by prorating or crediting certain state license fees for times licensees were unable to use their license as intended due to the pandemic and resulting orders.

These bills would provide targeted help to nonprofit organizations like American Legions and VFW halls. These types of organizations do so much for our communities; cutting these folks a break on their license fees is the least we could do, especially with the current curfews and capacity limits that are in place.

Both bills passed the Senate unanimously and now move to the Michigan House of Representatives for further consideration.

The backbone of our republic is free and fair elections. Following the confusion of the 2020 elections, and months of investigations by the Senate Oversight Committee, Senate Republicans introduced sweeping reforms aimed at strengthening and improving election integrity in Michigan.

Senate Bills 273-311 cover a wide variety of issues dealing with processes before, during and after an election, such as restricting the unsolicited mass mailing of absentee ballot applications, requiring signature verification, establishing a chain of custody for absentee ballots, ensuring audits are bipartisan and open to the public, improving the management of the state’s Qualified Voter File, and making it easier for active duty military members to securely vote while overseas.

Protecting access to voting and the integrity of our elections is critical to the future of our system of government. This comprehensive set of reforms aims to ensure the Michigan people have a voice and that our elections accurately reflect their voice.

I recently joined several of my colleagues in signing a letter to Attorney General Dana Nessel asking her to end her office’s inconsistent, selective and seemingly politically motivated application of state law and investigative responsibilities.

Nessel recently brought the full weight of her office down on Mrs. Marlena Pavlos-Hackney, an immigrant to the U.S. who was jailed for trying to make ends meet by operating her family business. Meanwhile, the pandemic has resulted in a backlog of cases involving violent offenders facing criminal charges in courts across our state and thousands of Michigan families waiting for answers about the loss of their loved ones in nursing homes. Our attorney general has made it clear where her priorities are, and they are not on serving the best interest of the people of our state.

Michigan residents expect and deserve fair and equal treatment from law enforcement — especially from the top law enforcement official in the state.

To read the full letter, click here.

At the beginning of March, the Senate approved over $4.2 billion in additional COVID-19 relief that prioritizes what Michigan needs most right now. This latest spending plan was another installment of funds to be used effectively and efficiently to support the health of our families, our communities, our economy and to help get our students back on track.

Unfortunately, Gov. Whitmer cruelly vetoed parts of this bipartisan funding. The Legislature then sent Gov. Whitmer a new spending bill which would give her a second chance to approve funding to offset property tax payments for those facing financial ruin due to shutdown orders, replenish our state’s Unemployment Trust Fund, reimburse parents for costs associated with summer school, and more.

I was proud to support this funding and will continue to support efforts to help my community after this challenging year.

I had high hopes that she would do the right thing this time. Instead, Gov. Whitmer again decided to veto this critical funding to help schools and businesses recover from COVID-19. We will never recover from the effects of this past year if we can’t get this federal relief funding into the hands of our communities.

The Senate recently had the opportunity to vote on the appointment of Elizabeth Hertel as the director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

I voted to oppose Elizabeth Hertel as the director of MDHHS. In 2020, we successfully sued to overturn the governor’s illegal executive orders. The courts ruled that the governor’s executive orders were unconstitutional, but instead of following the law, she is now using an unelected bureaucrat to go around the Legislature and issue arbitrary orders with no science or data to back them up.

I’ve strongly supported legislation to restrict the orders coming from the administration. I’ve also continually rejected the governor’s inappropriate appointments and pushed back through the power of the purse, forcing her to make commonsense changes.

I was hopeful the new director would have the courtesy to provide people with better solutions and be open and transparent, but instead, what we got was more restrictions on restaurants and small businesses without any data or reasoning. I chose to stand up for the hardworking people of my district and oppose the appointment of Elizabeth Hertel as the state’s health director.

Spring is the season for tree planting, outdoor projects and more.

The Michigan Public Service Commission reminds homeowners to call 811 before starting an outdoor digging project. Trained workers from local utilities will mark the approximate locations of underground gas, electric, communications, water or sewer lines so people can dig around them to keep buried utility lines safe. More information is available at www.call811.com.

My office is happy to offer legislative tributes in honor of noteworthy events such as retirement, anniversaries of businesses in our community, awards and public recognitions.

The 31th state Senate District includes all of Bay, Lapeer, and Tuscola counties.