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Dear Friends:
Thank you for the opportunity to serve you and provide updates about what is going on at Michigan’s Capitol.
I am the state senator for the 18th District – covering all of Barry County and parts of Allegan, Calhoun, Kalamazoo, Kent and Ionia counties. Please feel free to contact me with any issues related to state government at [email protected], or by calling 517-373-1734 (toll-free at 855-347-8018).
Sincerely,
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Thomas Albert State Senator
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Thanks to Michigan’s hurricane responders
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Like many of you, I was shocked by the damage from Hurricanes Helene and Milton across the southeast United States. Hundreds of Michiganders from many different organizations have made the trip south to help restore power, provide relief and clean up. They deserve our thanks and appreciation.
An example of this at the state level is the Michigan National Guard. Personnel from our state joined those from at least 10 other states in response to Hurricane Milton in Florida, with some of our National Guard personnel on the ground even before the storm made landfall last week. These responders joined 40 others from the Michigan National Guard in helping North Carolina and South Carolina recover from Helene earlier in hurricane season.
The Michigan National Guard received requests for their help through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact. The system is designed to bring in additional help to respond to disasters quickly and efficiently. All costs associated with deploying resources through EMAC are paid for by the requesting state.
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Assisted suicide proposal pending in Michigan
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Michigan once again may become the center of a debate about assisted suicide.
In the 1990s, Michigan-based Dr. Jack Kevorkian made national headlines by enabling his “patients” to commit suicide by lethal injection. It sparked a statewide ballot proposal to legalize assisted suicide in 1998, which was rejected by Michiganders with 71% of the vote.
Now Michigan Democrats have introduced a new legislative proposal to legalize assisted suicide, again raising practical questions as to how it would be implemented — as well as ethical and moral concerns. The legislation is Senate Bills 678 through 681. I oppose this legislation, and I explain why in more detail here. I also discussed this issue in a podcast with Genevieve Marnon of Right to Life of Michigan.
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Renewing a call to end CCP-linked deals
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Senate Republicans are again raising concerns about the deal between the state of Michigan and Gotion Inc., a CCP-linked electric vehicle battery manufacturer seeking to build a taxpayer-funded facility just 88 miles from Camp Grayling.
The Detroit News recently reported that federal prosecutors have charged five Chinese nationals with crimes related to spying on the Camp Grayling training facility during a 2023 training exercise between the U.S. National Guard and members of the Taiwanese military. The five, who were University of Michigan students at the time, were found with cameras taking pictures near military equipment and vehicles and later lied to federal investigators about their actions.
Senate Republicans are demanding that the Legislature take action as soon as possible to:
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Immediately cease any payments to the Gotion project and pursue clawback provisions to recover any taxpayer dollars already expended. |
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Request that the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) halt all interactions and financial arrangements with Gotion until a thorough investigation guarantees that state actions do not compromise national security or the interests of local residents. |
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Ensure that the MEDC is transparent and held accountable. |
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Under Democratic control, corporate welfare has spiraled out of control. I sponsored legislation that would eliminate the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve Fund entirely, putting an end to misguided projects such as Gotion in Mecosta County and the Ford/CATL electric vehicle battery project in Calhoun County. I also introduced legislation to end the practice of legislators signing non-disclosure agreements related to economic incentive projects.
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Lansing Democrats shortchange school safety
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In July, the governor signed a 2025 fiscal year budget plan that cut per-pupil grant funding for student mental health and school safety by 92%.
I joined my Senate Republican colleagues in supporting a plan to fully restore the mental health and safety funding in time for the new fiscal year that began Oct. 1, but Democrats refused to take up the bill. Instead — on the same day they refused to take up our proposal — Democrats approved a bill that only restores half of the funding. Their plan was signed into law by the governor earlier this month.
While more than $1 billion was allocated for corporate handouts in the new state budget overall, Democrats claim there are not enough resources to give schools the funds they need to protect children’s physical and mental well-being. Yet they found $1 million for a duplicative hotline that would provide another way for kids to report their parents for possible firearm storage violations. Democrats also ran the bill through a conference committee, a process that does not allow amendments that could have made their proposal much better. That meant we could not explore adding a proposal to require schools to adopt cellphone policies that best fit their needs, addressing student mental health and academic focus.
We are left with a budget that will fund only half as many security cameras, door locks and security personnel as should have been funded. And far fewer students will receive the mental health support they need. I discussed this in a speech on the Senate floor.
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Keeping kids safe while preserving work opportunities
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The safety of our kids is and always should be a top priority — including in the workplace. I firmly believe safety can be promoted and achieved without scaring law-abiding employers away from hiring kids.
I will continue efforts to improve Senate Bills 963-965, which were advanced by the Senate Labor Committee this week. The bills would replace the work permit process now coordinated through local schools with a state-run, Big Government registry. This is government overreach, and it would not have prevented any recent high-profile cases involving violation of the law.
This plan, as introduced, might actually discourage many small employers that offer safe work environments from hiring kids, and prompt them to hire adults or eliminate jobs altogether instead. I am committed to finding a better alternative to what is proposed here.
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Office hours scheduled for Calhoun and Kalamazoo counties
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I plan to host local office hours on Friday, Oct. 18, in two locations:
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11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Willard Library (Pierce Room), 7 W. Van Buren St. in Battle Creek. Please note this is not a Willard Library program. |
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Office hours are open to district residents to talk about issues related to state government or to request assistance with a state issue. No appointment is necessary, but space may be limited at some locations. Priority will be given to constituents seeking to discuss issues requiring privacy or individual attention.
Office hours in other 18th District locations will be scheduled at a later date.
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Michigan's 18th Senate District
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Senator Thomas A. Albert 4500 Connie B. Binsfeld Office Building P.O. Box 30036 Lansing, MI 48909-7536
Visit my website at: SenatorThomasAlbert.com
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