In my career I saw and dealt with dysfunction on a mass scale. Crime, child abuse, child neglect, delinquency, parental conflict and its effect on children. It could be overwhelming at times. It could also be rewarding to see those who found the strength to put their lives and families back together with the support of caring public servants who are underpaid and overworked.

I have seen the slow and steady decline in funding and programming to meet the needs of the least of us. I have also been witness to the steady decline of our State’s educational system and our residents’ prospects.

I believe we are capable of a great deal more. We are in competition with 49 other states. In spite of our many blessings we are losing because of short-sighted politicians; whose policies put us in an ever growing disadvantage.

Michigan is the 10th largest state and ranks in the top 5 for advanced manufacturing. In spite of this we rank:

  • 39th in per capita personal income. The states behind us are all red states, except New Mexico. (US Bureau of Labor Statistics)

  • 44th in K-12 performance (NAEP) and child well-being as of 2024-2025. (2025 Kid’s Count Data Book)

  • 16th highest in population living in poverty (13.5%); the highest amongst the Great Lakes/Midwest States. (2023 Census Bureau)

  • 31st in residential tax burden, lower than every other Midwest/Great Lakes States; and lower than red states Utah, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Arkansas, Mississippi, West Virginia, Louisiana, and Kentucky. (CPA Practice Advisor)

Clearly we are broken. I’m 100% committed to fixing it.

As your State Senator I will work to promote common sense “win-win” solutions to advance our State:

  • Increase hiring and retention of certified teachers by paying them a living wage. Since the pandemic, teacher attrition has reached crisis proportions with seasoned teachers leaving the profession. Shortages of teachers are over 30% causing districts to increasingly rely on non-certified teachers. (Michigan State University’s Education Policy Innovation Collaborative (EPIC)) research. The research also indicates the most acute teacher shortages occur in urban and rural schools. Our teachers’ average starting salary of $41,600 is almost 12% lower than the national average and is the 7th lowest in the U.S., behind Montana, Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Ohio. It is approximately $13,000 below what is considered a middle class salary for our State. Adjusting for inflation our teachers’ salaries have fallen by 16% over the past 10 years.

  • Continue support for Pre-K programming by extending the Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP) as well as Young 5s to all families in Michigan and lowering the age requirement to 3 years of age for GSRP. The intention of which is to allow children to transition earlier to the demands of learning but at a pace that allows for social, academic, and life skills development to give them a greater foundation for success. Making the program available to all families helps to lessen the financial burden of young families due to childcare expense and the chronic shortage of providers. It would also lessen absenteeism and lower productivity for those working parents.

  • Advocate to keep Chromebooks and any other electronic media out of classrooms until the 4th grade. Children need to be able to hone their reading skills and develop deeper comprehension without the distraction created by such devices.

  • Expand vocational educational programs throughout the state to create labor-ready skills. No better model for such exists than the Van Buren Tech Center. A program that this past year celebrated its 50th anniversary. It offers 25 state-approved career and technical education (CTE) programs ranging from Advanced Manufacturing, and Engineering & Architectural Design to Law Enforcement, Sports Medicine and Welding; to name just a few.

  • Create a graduation requirement for a “life-skills” class to better prepare our graduates for the responsibilities of adulthood.

  • Increase affordable housing options for our citizens. The 20th District’s Median income is $74,000. However, 34% of our households live on incomes under $50,000. Another 30% of the households have family incomes between $50,000 and $100,000. The median value of owner-occupied housing is $253,000. The average monthly expense for a 2-bedroom apartment is approximately $1,200. Applying the rule-of-thumb of housing accounting for 30% of a family’s gross income here is the result. On a 30-year fixed mortgage at 6% interest along with taxes and insurance; the homeowner would have monthly housing expense of approximately $2,000, or $24,000 annually and the family would require an annual gross income of $80,000. Resulting in a deficit of $6,000. The annual gross income for the renter would need to be $48,000. Clearly this is a problem. It is essential that we work with all stakeholders - builders, zoning boards, and the State to streamline the process and incentivize builders to address the issue in a responsive and responsible way. (statistics from the 2024 Census update).

  • Support Michigan’s agricultural sector. Agriculture and food related industries are second only to the automotive sector in primary production in the State and contribute over $125 billion annually to our economy. Michigan ranks second only to California regarding agricultural diversity, producing over 300 different commodities.

  • Promote supplemental sources of revenue for farmers so that they can continue to remain on the land during periods of economic upheaval caused by foreign entanglements and trade policies. Examples being the use of agrivoltaics which allow for land to remain under cultivation or for grazing while providing for solar energy production. Or, anaerobic digestion which “convert agricultural and food waste into renewable energy, recover nutrients and water, and support environmental sustainability across Michigan and the Great Lakes region.” (Michigan State University AgBioResearch - Transforming waste into a public asset: Michigan State University leads next-generation anaerobic digestion innovation, Jack Falinski - June 05,2025)

Let’s give the working class a fighting chance and expand the middle class!!