Dear Neighbor,

During July and August, the legislature is on “Summer Recess.” This has been an amazing time for me to develop my office’s legislative initiatives around issues important to the community, and meet with more constituents.

Over the past year, I’ve knocked on several thousand doors in Ortonville, Brandon, Oxford, Addison, Leonard, Oakland, Bruce, Romeo and Washington. This summer, I’ve had a full slate of meetings, lunches, coffee hours and events all over our amazing district. On Tuesday, I enjoyed meeting many local business owners, our police chief, football coaches, realtors, parents and grandparents at the Oxford Chamber of Commerce Meet n’ Greet. I’ll be meeting with a few constituents in Romeo early next week and would love to schedule a time to meet with you whenever you’re able! Please email me directly at joshschriver@house.mi.gov to get in touch!
In this newsletter, I’ll share details about some bills that could be up for vote this fall, as well as some of my own policy initiatives currently in development:

Potential House Floor Topics: Fall 2023 (Part 1)

My office usually does not receive notice about what is up for vote that week until late Monday night. Previously, the norm was to give a few days, not a few hours to evaluate and plan for such important business. Since they won’t inform us until the last possible moment as to the weekly agenda, I’ve got my sights set on several bills that could be taken up any given week sometime this fall after summer recess:

1) Repeal of a Law Requiring Parental Consent to Have An Abortion
Recently, Planned Parenthood has been reaching out to many lawmakers, encouraging them to consider repealing “TRAP” laws on the books. They want to remove a 24-hour waiting period to have an abortion and remove parental consent prior to an abortion procedure. The Senate Majority Leader said lawmakers are taking a close look at repealing these laws.[1]
If these laws are repealed, then minors could go to abortion clinics in the Michigan to have an abortion without ever telling their parents.
Abortion truly is a historical tragedy. At least 60 million babies have been killed in America ever since the Roe v. Wade decision in the early 1970’s. This amounts to approximately 20% of the entire United States population. A repeal of laws like this will only make the situation worse. We need to encourage growing Michigan families, not expand methods to get rid of babies…

2) 100% Renewable Energy Mandates by 2035

Some lawmakers are proposing that Michigan adopt some of the most ambitious “renewable energy” standards in the entire country – requiring utility companies to have 100% of the electricity in this Michigan use “renewable energy.”
These grandiose proposals that have many logistical issues:
First, how will Michigan homeowners receive reliable electricity from DTE/Consumers Energy when solar and wind turbines don’t produce electricity? What about after a snowstorm? Solar only produces power during the day. Wind turbines only produce power when the wind is blowing. We need practical, reliable sources of power rather than politically driven energy goals.

Secondly, 100% renewable energy mandates will require an astronomical infrastructure investment. This means our taxpayers would have to fund or our government would have to force DTE and Consumer’s Energy to invest tens of billions of dollars into solar farms, rooftop solar, wind turbines, and other renewable energy installations around the state. Also, where’s the competition in our energy market? We have opportunities for energy dominance and low-cost power for Michigan residents…it’s not found in “renewable energy mandates.”

Finally, “renewable energy” only powers up approximately 10% of residential homes in Michigan. A mandate requiring the entire state to switch to renewables is not wise, considering the number of unanswered questions. My aim is to allow true competition in the energy market and prevent harmful government mandates that could cost you a lot more money and even more outages.
3) Government Transparency Laws
I have been told that one area they could tackle next will be laws designed to improve Michigan’s government transparency. In 2015, the Center for Public Integrity gave our state government a failing grade for its transparency laws.[2]
A couple of major issues with Michigan’s transparency laws on the books that need to be addressed:
• The Governor’s office is exempt from Freedom of Information Act requests. Obviously Michigan residents have a right to know what’s going on there.

• There is currently no defined mechanism for residents to access government information
• There is no entity for residents to monitor the application of access to information laws.
• Michigan has no open “data law”, which would require the government to publish data online in an open format.
• Michigan does not have a “cool-down period.” As a result, lawmakers can serve as lobbyists immediately after they are termed out, creating a potential conflict of interest.

My Policy Initiatives (Part 1)

My office continues to have conversations with subject matter experts to help develop our legislative agenda. Many of them are deep in development and here is what I have learned so far.

1) School Safety

Local law enforcement has informed me there are significant gaps between school safety protocols in place in many school districts throughout the State of Michigan, and what is needed to help ensure our schools are well-prepared to deter incidents.
A few best practices they have shared with me:

• Local law enforcement should be involved in the planning & implementing school safety drills.
• Communications surrounding school safety drills should be universal & easy to understand.
• Incorporate tabletop exercises into school safety drills & exercises. Transparently show all involved what the entire process looks like from A-Z.

• Last solutions require community collaboration. Safe learning environments require teachers, students, parents, local law enforcement and school administrators all working together.
My office is currently working on a bill to develop effective school safety training materials for school administrators.
2) Constitutional Literacy
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor once said, “It’s just critical that if we are going to survive as a nation, that all our citizens know and understand the fundamental beliefs that caused the formation of this country and stand at the bottom, the bedrock foundation, for the things in which we most strongly believe. So you have to start at the beginning — and that means the Declaration of Independence.”

According to a survey done by the American Bar Association, nearly 1 in 5 Americans believe the first 10 amendments of the U.S. Constitution are called the Declaration of Independence instead of the Bill of Rights.[3]
Also, a survey conducted by GFK and the American Council of Trustees and Alumni said 46 percent of college graduates did not know the length of a Congressional term (2 years).

Civic literacy is more important than ever before. My office is spearheading a comprehensive statewide Constitutional literacy initiative for Michigan students K-12.

Curriculum standards that will be in this bill:

• What’s the difference between various forms of government, including Communism, socialism, democracy and a Constitutional Republic?
• What are the Constitutional rights every American citizen has?
• What is the historical line of thought that led to the development of the United States Constitution, including historical texts from Roman Civilization, the the Church, and other foundational sources of inspiration for our country?
• What is good government is supposed to look like?
• What life is like for citizens that have lived under different governments – including the Soviet Union, Vietnam, Cuba, Communist China and elsewhere?
I’m developing many legislative initiatives and will be sharing more with you in my next letter.

In Christ,

State Representative Josh Schriver

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[1] After White House meeting, Brinks says Michigan Legislature will take on abortion TRAP laws – Anna Liz Nichols – June 16, 2023 – Michigan Advance.
[2] Michigan gets F grade in 2015 State Integrity Investigation – The Center for Public Integrity

[3] ABA Survey of Civic Literacy: The findings – American Bar Association – May 2019