Dear neighbor,

Below, you will find legislative updates from the state Capitol that are important to the residents of western Oakland County. You also will find important updates and communications on my website: SenatorJimRunestad.com.

Serving you,

Senator Jim Runestad
23rd State Senate District

Michigan’s Child Protective Services is an outright disaster and tragedy after tragedy proves the agency’s inadequacy at doing the one thing it is tasked with, and that’s protecting children who need help.

For years, I have battled and fought CPS as I sought reform of the troubled agency. I have again introduced legislation to remove the cloak and open the publics’ eyes to their miserable failures, but Democrats in the Senate refuse to move the bill.

State government is failing families. I ask that you join me on April 30 to help right the long list of tragic wrongs.

It’s time that we take a stand and hold CPS accountable and once again make the safety and wellbeing of Michigan children a priority!

Michigan is set to receive over $173 million in federal funding through the Rural Health Transformation Program to improve health care access in rural communities. This could be a major investment in places that desperately need help.

But the way the state plans to distribute that money reveals a troubling reality: Rural Michigan is still an afterthought.

According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), Wayne County — home of Detroit, our state’s largest city — qualifies as “partially rural” and is therefore eligible for this funding. During a January hearing, MDHHS officials explained that an area can be labeled “partially rural” if just one Census tract meets federal rural standards.

These funds were meant for rural communities that desperately need help and improved access to health care, not for liberal bureaucrats to figure out what gymnastics they need to do to redistribute funds to Michigan’s largest urban centers and Democrat-controlled areas.

Rural communities across Michigan face a health care crisis that has been building for years. Hospitals are closing services, doctors are retiring without replacements, and residents are traveling farther and farther just to see a provider.

Instead of easing these burdens, the current approach spreads the money so thin that it solves next to nothing, and yet again allows Lansing bureaucrats to choose winners and losers with taxpayer money.

You can read more about this travesty in a recent column I submitted to Bridge Michigan.

Early in my elementary years, it was discovered that I had a reading disability. Fortunately, I received intensive one-on-one intervention during a summer program before returning to school. That intervention changed my life. I went from struggling to read to unlocking an entirely new world.

Unfortunately, many students who are struggling do not get the second chance I was granted, and it fosters into a life-long issue.

When I was first elected to the Legislature, I made early literacy, particularly dyslexia reform, a priority. What I encountered in Lansing, however, was a buzz saw of dysfunction and self-interest. The desire to address this need simply isn’t there among Lansing insiders.

Look at Michigan’s dismal reading scores. According to the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress, only about one in four Michigan fourth graders are proficient in reading, and roughly 40% are below a basic reading level. Michigan sadly ranks around 44th in the nation in fourth-grade reading.

The unfortunate reality is, elected leaders and Lansing bureaucrats allowed this to happen. While I have continued to fight to improve access to life-changing educational intervention, secured a $1 million pilot to train teachers in Orton-Gillingham, which is specifically designed to help educators identify dyslexic students and teach them to read, and worked with my colleagues across the aisle to find meaningful solutions, we are still facing a systemic failure that will affect countless students.

This issue should not be partisan or ideological. Student success should be a priority, and right now, we’re falling short.

You can read more in my recent piece published by The Detroit News.

I recently visited Grace Centers of Hope in Pontiac and had an opportunity to sit down for a great discussion with Chief Executive Officer Pastor Darin Weiss.

This is a tremendous organization that provides meaningful care for people who experienced unspeakable circumstances as they work to get their lives back on track. Its mission is simple: lead to independence, not foster dependance. The center has countless programs that offer educational, housing and assistance for vulnerable individuals and their families.

I want to thank Pastor Weiss for sitting down with me and sharing the work Grace Centers of Hope does for local communities.

Click here to hear more about what Grace Centers of Hope can do to help those in need and to view my discussion with Pastor Weiss.

I recently sat down with Oakland County Commissioner Mike Spisz regarding recent scandals and the egregious use of taxpayer dollars by local officials, among other issues.

I hope this discussion makes people start taking a more careful look at how their tax dollars are being spent and fosters more transparency and fiscal responsibility within Oakland County government.

It was great to get a chance to catch up with Commissioner Spisz. To view the interview, click here or on the image below. The first part of the interview with Commissioner Spisz can be viewed on my Facebook.

One of my key responsibilities as a lawmaker is listening to the people who chose me to be their voice in Lansing.

If there is something my office can help with, if you have a question about a state issue, or if you have policy questions or an idea on how to make Michigan stronger, please feel free to contact my office. My staff and I are available to help in any way we can.

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