Priorities for Michigan District 22
Protecting and Renewing the Things that Make This Community Special
My wife and I are so proud to call Plymouth home.
We’re proud of our excellent public schools. Our vibrant downtowns. Our abundant green space. Our world-class doctors. That’s not everything you need to raise a family with a great quality of life – but it’s a good start. It’s my job to preserve and renew these points of pride so that as many people as possible can access and enjoy them for years to come.
Strengthening Michigan Education
As a public school teacher of 12 years, I witnessed firsthand what impact the decisions made in Lansing have on students and teachers. Even after voting for the largest school funding increase in modern history, our funding levels are still far behind where they should be. So I will continue to fight on this crucial issue.
More Teachers in Schools
I’ve introduced HB 4664 to create a pathway for parapros (people who teach but don’t have a license) to become teachers and alleviate the teacher shortage in Michigan.
Protecting Families of Police and Firefighters
Watch my testimony on this bill here. PA 127 was my first bill signed into law, and it ensures any child of a fallen police officer or firefighter can go to college in Michigan tuition-free. These brave men and women made the ultimate sacrifice to keep us safe, and this is the least we can do to support them.
Michigan’s Working Families
I understand just how important our community’s small businesses are to the local economy and to the families that run them. In this district, we value families over corporations, and that’s why I’ve fought hard for them as their representative, and will continue to do so if elected.
Downtown Business Coalition
I created the Downtown Business Coalition to give a bullhorn to local businesses and the families that run them. It gives them a direct line of communication to the governor to make sure Michiganders are heard before massive corporations.
My bill HB5176 would suspend Michigan’s sales tax for one day in August for back to school shopping. This would help both parents of school-aged children and teachers who need to buy supplies for the upcoming school year.
Protecting Michigan's Environment
I’ve always been a staunch advocate for protecting our state’s most valuable natural resource: our water. That’s why I’ve fought so hard to make sure Arbor Hills Landfill follows the rules (and is punished when they don’t). It’s also why I’m strongly opposed to the continued reckless transfer of oil underneath the Mackinac bridge.
Landfill Regulation
In the three years since Rep. Koleszar has been elected, the Arbor Hills Landfill and its operators have settled multiple lawsuits at the state and federal level and have paid millions in fines with legal requirements to mitigate air pollution.
Oil Under Mackinac Bridge
The last Enbridge oil spill was near Kalamazoo, MI in 2010. It took 5 years to clean up, and was the second largest inland oil spill in US History. That pipeline is 16 years younger and 800 miles shorter than Line 5. Michigan can’t afford another Enbridge catastrophe.