I voted NO on HB 5021, which would change the default retirement plan option for newly hired public school teachers. If a teacher does not select their retirement plan, under current law it goes to the default option which is a defined contribution plan. This plan lets teachers have personal control over how their retirement savings are invested and they can take their retirement income with them if they choose to move on to a new career. HB 5021 changes the default option to a pension plan which takes 10 years to fully vest. This option is geared to employees who plan on working in the public school system long term. Instead of doing what is best for all teachers, this bill would put new teachers on a path where they will lose their retirement savings if they don’t stick with teaching long term. It could leave them feeling trapped in a career they can’t leave if they don’t want to lose their retirement savings.

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I voted YES on HBs 4320 & 4387 which would make it a crime for anyone to intentionally or knowingly compel, harass, abuse, threaten, force or coerce a vulnerable adult into providing sexually explicit visual material. Sadly, under current law, this is not a crime. These bills would make it a crime to prey upon vulnerable adults in this manner.

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I voted NO on SBs 356-358 which would put certain provisions from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into Michigan Law. Many provisions from the ACA have been ruled unconstitutional and others are still under litigation. Placing parts of the ACA into Michigan law could lead to more confusion and further challenges down the road. This legislation is also unnecessary because it is already federal law and therefore does not need to be placed into Michigan law.

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I voted NO on SB 470 which would delay the implementation of those serving in the military to be able to use their Common Access Cards (CAC) to submit their AV ballots electronically. This policy was passed back in 2020 and was ONLY for military members who had CAC cards. It is important to note that this bill is different than the recent bill just passed to allow spouses of military members to vote electronically as well. The original law was supposed to go into effect in January of 2024. However, this bill moves the implementation deadline to January of 2025, further delaying the ability of our overseas military members to be able to vote in this manner.