2017

Politics don’t just happen in Washington, DC! The purpose of this weekly newsletter is to promote progressive policies in the State of Michigan by contacting our state representatives and state senators directly.

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First Steps

Look up your state representative and state senator and put them in your phone book for all future calling.

Tips for Calling

We recognize that calling your representatives and senators can be intimidating. For the pieces of legislation we highlight each week, our goal is to provide you with some basic data, analysis, and talking points for you to steer the conversation, but we encourage you to personalize your message in ways that make sense to you. When applicable, it’s particularly powerful to share your personal experiences and expertise related to given legislation.

This Week’s Actions

~When calling your representative and senator, also ask them about upcoming coffee hours!~

1. Vaccinations are an important public health issue.

Michigan has just seen two recent cases of measles this month (link). This incredibly contagious disease can result in hospitalization and death. The lower the vaccination rate in a population, the more susceptible the population is to an outbreak. Most vulnerable are people that cannot be vaccinated, such as infants under 12 months.

In 2014, Michigan had the fourth highest vaccination waiver rate of children entering kindergarten. As of January 1, 2015, vaccine waivers became harder to obtain under a new state rule. Instead of just signing a waiver, parents had to attend an educational seminar on the importance of immunizations before signing the waiver. Within the first year, with this relatively minor hurdle in place, vaccination waiver rates dropped 39%. Lawmakers in both the house and senate are now trying to overturn this incredibly effective rule.

Talking Points

For parents who need waivers for religious or medical reasons, there is a straightforward path for getting those waivers.
The 2015 rule has been very effective in lowering waiver rates, thereby helping protect school children and the larger public from contagious outbreaks.
The 2015 rule was necessary because if a waiver is easier to obtain than the vaccination, vaccinations may simply be avoided out of convenience. When our public health is at risk, convenience is not a good reason to abstain from vaccinations.
More education on the public health benefits of vaccinations is needed, not less.

Take Action:

(1A) House Bills 4425 & 4426 to overturn the 2015 rule are currently referred to the House Committee on Education Reform. Let this committee know that you oppose Bills 4425 & 4426. If your representative is on the committee list below, call them directly. If not, contact the committee chair by phone, email, fax, postcard, or in person:

The Honorable Tim Kelly
State Representative
State Capitol
P.O. Box 30014
Lansing, MI 48909-7514

Phone: (517) 373-0837
Fax: (517) 373-3589
E-Mail: timkelly@house.mi.gov
Website: www.repkelly.com
Office: Room N-1198, Anderson Building

House Committee on Education Reform:

Julie Alexander (R)	64, Hanover	(517) 373-1795
Winnie Brinks (D)	76, Grand Rapids	(517) 373-0822
Darrin Camilleri (D)	23, Brownstown Township	(517) 373-0855
Stephanie Chang (D)	6, Detroit	(517) 373-0823
Kathy Crawford (R)	38, Novi	(517) 373-0827
Daniela García (R)	90, Holland	(517) 373-0830
Beth Griffin (R)	66, Mattawan	(517) 373-0830
Pamela Hornberger, Vice-Chair (R)	32, Chesterfield Township	(517) 373-8931
Tim Kelly, Chair (R)	94, Saginaw	(517) 373-0837
Jim Lilly (R)	89, Park Township	(517) 373-0838
Jeff Noble (R)	20, Plymouth	(517) 373-3816
John Reilly (R)	46, Oakland	(517) 373-1798
Brett Roberts (R)	65, Charlotte	(517) 373-1775
William Sowerby (D)	31, Clinton Township	(517) 373-0159
Adam Zemke, Minority Vice-Chair (D)	55, Ann Arbor	(517) 373-1792

(1B) Senate Bills 299 & 300 to overturn the 2015 rule are currently referred to the Senate Committee on Education. Let this committee know that you oppose Bills 299 & 300. If your senator is on the committee list below, call them directly. If not, contact the committee chair by phone, email, fax, postcard, or in person:

The Honorable Phil Pavlov
State Senator
State Capitol
P.O. Box 30036
Lansing, MI 48909-7536

Main Line: (517) 373-7708
Fax: (517) 373-1450
Website: SenatorPhilPavlov.com
Email: web form
Office: Suite 6200, Binsfeld Office Building

Senate Committee on Education:

Darwin Booher (R)	35, Evart	(517) 373-1725
Patrick Colbeck (R)	7, Canton	(517) 373-7350
Hoon-Yung Hopgood, Minority Vice-Chair (D)	6, Taylor	(517) 373-7800
Marty Knollenberg, Vice-Chair (R)	13	(517) 373-2523
Phil Pavlov, Chair (R)	25, St. Clair	(517) 373-7708

Some press on the subject:

April 1, MLive: House, Senate bills would undo stricter Michigan vaccination waiver rules
January 28 (2016), MLive: Michigan vaccine waiver rates plummet under rule change, latest numbers show
2014, MLive: Immunization investigation: Michigan's dangerously low vaccination rates (series)

2. Feminine hygiene products are necessities, not luxuries

A big shout-out to state senator Rebekah Warren for introducing a common sense bill that would end an effective sales tax on being female. Senate Bill 91 proposes adding feminine hygiene products to the list of goods which are sales tax exempt. On March 23 the Committee on Finance reported on the bill favorably without amendment and recommended immediate effect. However, the next steps in the legislative process have not been taken. It’s time to poke our senators and the senate majority leader to find out when it will next be considered. Use this as an educational opportunity to learn a bit about the legislative process in the senate. Call your senator and the senate majority leader in support of this bill and ask their offices what the next steps are now that it has been recommended by the committee.

Senate Majority Leader: Arlan B. Meekhof, 517-373-6920

If you have time, thank the cosponsors of this bill, especially if one is your senator: Rebekah Warren - (primary), David Knezek , Vincent Gregory, Ian Conyers, Jim Ananich, Rick Jones, Curtis Hertel, Steven Bieda, Hoon-Yung Hopgood, Bert Johnson, Wayne Schmidt, Margaret O'Brien, Tonya Schuitmaker

3. Stop state-sponsored funding of anti-choice groups

This bill passed the Senate on Thursday 4/27/17. It’s now in committee in the House and we will keep you updated on actions to take to defeat it there.

This bill was also featured in our April 11 newsletter. However, it has still not yet come up for a vote, so there is still time to act!

Senate Bill 163 proposes that the Secretary of State issue fundraising license plates to benefit the Choose Life Michigan Fund. This bill has cleared the Transportation Committee, so action now is critical.

Call your state senator to oppose this bill.

Talking Points:

Money in this fund will be distributed by Right to Life of Michigan to organizations that provide abortion alternatives. We fully agree that abortion alternatives should be promoted. But the way to reduce abortions is through education, access to birth control, and affordable healthcare. As this bill is written, funds collected may go to propaganda and media campaigns run by groups that don’t even provide health services.
Taking the conversation away from the emotional topic of abortion: the state should not serve as a fundraising vehicle for ideological groups. Period. This bill sets a dangerous precedent for this.
"Let's not put political speech on our license plates. Buy a bumper sticker," - Rebekah Warren

Talking points adapted from this concise one-page summary of the problems with this bill.

4. The actions from the April 18 newsletter are still relevant!

Other Actions

While the focus of this newsletter is “armchair activism” we’ll also share a featured in-person action each week for those interested and able.

The People’s Climate March has at least 8 satellite marches in MIchigan this Saturday, April 29.