Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Welcome to the latest edition of my e-newsletter.

Below you’ll find an update on what is going on in your state Capitol.

Thank you for allowing me to represent you in the Michigan Senate. I am grateful each and every day to work for the people of the 17th Senate District.

In Liberty,

Jonathan Lindsey
State Senator
17th District

The state Senate recently passed my legislation aimed at improving transparency surrounding medical costs in Michigan.

After receiving unanimous approval from the Senate Oversight Committee, my bill passed the Senate with a vote of 35-1, marking a significant display of bipartisanship. Many of my colleagues agree that improving transparency in health care is essential for enhancing health outcomes.

My bill, Senate Bill 95, entitled the “Hospital Price Transparency Act,” would prohibit hospitals from collecting debts if they do not comply with price transparency laws. It would also require hospitals to publicly disclose the costs of their treatments and operations.

Health care needs an overhaul. Michigan families are paying a premium for care, and unfortunately, often face financial burden and significant difficulty when it comes to getting the care they and their families deserve.

Pricing transparency is a critical piece of tackling out-of-control costs. Prices for medical procedures, medications and services should be available to patients, including thorough and easy-to-understand explanations of potential charges, with no hidden fees or surprise costs.

Simply put: People deserve to know what they are being charged for. This information is essential when it comes to making the best decisions for themselves and their loved ones.

This has been a top priority of mine since being elected. I’m glad to see my colleagues in the Senate recognize the importance of this issue. I look forward to the House acting swiftly to pass this legislation, and I urge their full support.

Click here or on the video below to listen to my committee testimony ahead of SB 95’s final passage.

I have introduced two bills that would take major steps forward to improve health outcomes for Michiganders.

Senate Bills 227 and 228 tackle issues essential to making Michigan healthy again. SB 227 would promote purchasing affordable, nutritious food with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, while SB 228 would remove harmful chemicals from food served to children at school.

SB 227 would add Michigan to the growing number of states seeking waivers to remove the ability to purchase soda pop with SNAP benefits. Recently, Indiana, Arkansas and Idaho announced their intentions to also seek a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The keyword when it comes to SNAP is nutrition. Soda pop and its high sugar content has no nutritional value.

SB 228 would ban foods with harmful additives and dyes from being sold or served inside Michigan schools. Foods containing dangerous substances, such as brominated vegetable oil, titanium dioxide and Red 40, among others, would not be provided, offered for sale or made available to students. Red 40, a widely recognized food dye, is linked to exacerbated ADHD symptoms in children and has been shown to cause tumors in mice in test studies. Removing these harmful chemicals from our schools is a great first step to protect Michigan’s children.

Both of these bills address a sad truth: Government is currently subsidizing, at taxpayer expense, food and drinks that contribute to negative health outcomes.

I was happy to join Rep. Brad Paquette, who has been at the forefront of fighting to improve health outcomes in the Michigan Legislature, in taking on these issues. I will continue working with my colleagues in both chambers to make the health of Michiganders a long-term priority.

In late 2023, several of my legislative colleagues and I initiated a lawsuit challenging certain election-related protocols in Michigan.

The lawsuit challenges the 2018 and 2022 state constitutional amendments regulating federal elections, arguing they are null and void due to the process with which they were carried out. The lawsuit argues that Proposal 3 of 2018 and Proposal 2 of 2022 bypassed the state Legislature and, in doing so, usurped the body’s federally mandated constitutional authority.

It was recently announced that this challenge will be argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. A petition to bring the case before the high court was filed on March 20 and a response has been filed. I will provide updates as they are made available.

I will continue to fight for the security and integrity of Michigan elections and to ensure that our residents have full faith in how our elections are conducted.

I co-sponsored legislation that would put the issue of whether or not Michigan should participate in daylight savings time before the voters of this state.

It’s been 53 years since Michigan residents have had a chance to weigh in on whether or not they want to continue participating in the twice-a-year burden of switching their clocks back and forth. Senate Bill 126 would put the issue on the ballot for the 2026 election.

If Michigan residents choose to stop observing daylight saving time, we would join Arizona and Hawaii — and roughly 60% of the nations in the world — in keeping our clocks set to standard time all year long.

Speaking with residents about important issues that affect them, our communities, and our state is one of the most important parts of my job as your state senator.

My office recently scheduled the latest installment of my Community Conversations meetings for Monday, May 5. The meeting will take place at noon at Lindy’s Restaurant, 57983 M-62 in Cassopolis.

I will provide an update on legislative activity and be available to answer questions, provide information and assistance, and take suggestions on issues affecting families, businesses, and communities in the district.

No appointment is necessary to attend. For more information, or if you are unable to attend the office hour meeting, please feel free to contact my office at 517-373-3543.

The 17th state Senate District includes Branch, Cass, and St. Joseph counties, along with parts of Berrien, Calhoun, Jackson and Hillsdale counties.