The following column was published by the Southgate News-Herald on Sunday, June 30

In over 18 months representing our families and communities in Wayne and Monroe counties, one priority in particular people have shared with me has been common: costs.

From child-care, groceries, keeping up their home and many other everyday expenditures, people are really struggling to keep up financially. The truth is Michigan is not affordable right now for many hardworking families in our region. This ultimately makes it more difficult to keep people from leaving for states with policies that are actively combating inflation, while leaving Michigan uncompetitive and unattractive to prospective residents. It’s a bad formula both now and going into the future.

I want to turn this trend around. I have sponsored legislation within a new Republican-led package of bills that will remove ongoing hurdles for people across our area with child-care, housing and taxes – three cost categories that continue to hold our state back.

My plan will increase the capacity of minor children that can receive care and supervision within family childcare homes or group childcare homes. Finding and affording child-care is a huge issue for working families, and a lack of available options usually means one parent is forced to leave the workforce and remain home – ultimately lessening the total income a family has while making other things even less affordable than they already are.

By increasing capacity by just one child in childcare homes while still maintaining strong standards to ensure children are safe, we can increase availability and bring down costs. This reform would help thousands of children and families throughout our state who are experiencing long waitlists. The good news is this was already a bipartisan priority last term. House Bill 5041, which became Public Act 106 last term when it was signed into law, increased the adult-to-child ratio for in-home care providers. Even with this welcomed change, there continues to be demand for care, and we should look at further increasing the ratio to help meet that demand.

These new plans also provide a big boost for homeowners and those looking to become one. A refundable income tax credit of up to $3,000 would be available if a downpayment is made on a home purchase. Certain qualified home improvements would be eligible for refundable tax credits with these bills, and eliminating the real estate transfer tax will lower home ownership costs. A Harvard study on housing in America found that in 2021, 19 million homeowners – over one out of every five – were cost burdened, which was the highest level since 2013. Roughly one out of every 10 owners had housing costs that exceeded half of their income. These aren’t sustainable statistics, and our plans will craft new, effective ways to help more people afford a home.

Much like child-care and home improvements, school supplies can also have an impact on family budgets. The new affordability proposals would establish a sales and use tax exemption period for back to school items each year so families can save and students can have what they need to succeed in the classroom. A one-year exemption plan was already proposed by Democrats during the current legislative term, so we should be able to find common ground here as well to help people with their pocketbooks. 

Focusing on critical areas for affordability, as these plans do, will help more people make ends meet. I have been shocked at the continued runaway nature of government spending, with taxpayer-funded state budgets swelling over $80 billion both years I have been in the House. It simply isn’t matching up with the needs I hear locally from people who are working multiple jobs to pay their bills, seniors who have had to go back to work, and families making difficult financial decisions. These many voices have called on their elected leaders to deliver them relief, and I am fighting for them with these critical reforms.