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

Last week, I offered my condolences to families and the greater Spartan community on the Senate floor following the tragic events that took place at Michigan State University on Feb. 13. Click here or on the image below to listen to my remarks.

Last week, I voted ‘no’ on House Bill 4001, a veiled effort by the governor and Democrats to raise taxes on every Michigander. This partisan legislative scheme — rushed through the Capitol without committee hearings or debate on the House floor — is a brazen attempt to prevent the automatic income tax rollback in order to fund the Democrats’ even bigger, and more expensive, future spending bonanza that is the governor’s 2024 budget proposal.

I will not stand silently by as our governor swindles Michiganders out of their hard-earned dollars and irresponsibly blows through the $9 billion budget surplus that isn’t hers. You can click here to listen to my statement on the Senate floor.

Michigan’s Child Protective Services is desperately in need of serious reform. Earlier this month, I introduced Senate Bill 53 in an effort to provide more transparency and legislative oversight into this secretive state agency.

The recent death of 5-year-old Ethan Belcher of Lincoln Park shined a spotlight on CPS and what it illuminated was nothing short of a disaster. The boy’s aunts said they contacted the agency multiple times over the course of several years because of abuse concerns. Detroit’s Local 4 news team was denied its Freedom of Information Act request — even to the surprise of our governor — when it contacted the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services after his mom and stepfather were arrested and charged for his death.

MDHHS also denied my inquiry when I contacted the agency to see if CPS had any previous contact with a Pontiac mother and her two sons who were found frozen to death in a field in January. My bill would allow members of the Legislature and professional news organizations access to limited CPS case information from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services under certain circumstances.

While strict privacy laws are necessary and rightly protected when it comes to these personal situations, there also must be room for investigation and oversight in order to prevent future tragedies and provide justice when it is needed. We must ensure that CPS can be properly investigated when necessary. Innocent lives are at risk.

Ethan’s aunts, Ashley Belcher and Candace Rush, joined me at the Capitol when I announced SB 53. Click here or on the image below to watch the full press conference. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Oversight.

Owning a new home is an exciting life achievement. However, homeowners are often shocked when they receive their first property tax bill. In an effort to assist local homeowners and provide helpful resources, my office will be hosting a Property Tax Assessment Town Hall from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at Commerce Township Hall, 2009 Township Drive.

This important event will help homeowners better understand taxable value and state equalized value and how these calculations affect property taxes. Participants will also be provided with information about how to make an appeal to the local board of review and, possibly, the Michigan Tax Tribunal.

The Michigan Senate recently made headlines when it voted to repeal the retention provisions of the state’s “Read by Grade 3” law. I was not able to support this bill as it made no attempt to support teachers in their efforts to help children with reading challenges.

According to the Michigan Alliance for Special Education, about one in five students has a reading disorder; it is estimated that a majority of these students may have some form of dyslexia.

I offered an amendment to Senate Bill 12, which was struck down along party lines. My amendment would have required K-5 teacher preparation institutions to offer instruction on the characteristics of dyslexia, the consequences of dyslexia, evidence-based interventions and accommodations for children with dyslexia, and methods to develop a classroom infrastructure that meets the needs of students with a multi-tiered system of support in place.

Click here or on the image below to hear my floor speech in support my amendment. The bill is now before the House Committee on Education for consideration.

Many of you have contacted my office with questions about Senate Bill 4 and what it could mean for Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. This legislation would add “sexual orientation, gender identity or expression” to the list of items for which discrimination is prohibited. However, both the Michigan and U.S. Supreme Courts have upheld that these protections already exist within the definition of sex established in anti-discrimination laws. So why make this change now?

SB 4 stands to cause confusion because of the lack of legal precedent surrounding the word “expression.” It could likely open a door for those who have been wishing for an opportunity to weaponize Michigan’s civil rights law against fellow residents with strongly held religious beliefs — fellow Michiganders who are also already protected under the provisions of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.

That is why I am proposing an amendment to include “religious orientation, religious identity or expression” to expand the law’s religious protections. Every state that has expanded its civil rights laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity has included religious protections within the law. These 22 states include California, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, Oregon and Washington, along with the District of Columbia. Without my amendment, Michigan would be an outlier even among the nation’s most liberal states. Click here to download an informational flyer with more information about Michigan’s anti-discrimination law and my proposed amendment. SB 4 is likely to be voted on in the Senate next week.

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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