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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We put a lot of time into carefully researching these actions. But we can make mistakes.
Look up your state representative and state senator and put them in your phone book for all future calling. Also look up their mailing addresses and email addresses and have them on hand for easy reference.
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.
If you reach voicemail, we encourage you to leave a message; you should receive a call back. Make sure to include your city or town so that the office knows you are a constituent.
The more you call, the easier it gets!
And don’t just call, email! We learned from a former state representative how effective emails can be. This is because, when a representative or senator is getting summaries of constituent contact from their aides, the text of emails is more tangible and specific than simply knowing how many people called about a particular bill. Even better is to do both---call and email. Use the phone call to follow up on the email you sent. And when an issue is not time sensitive, a letter or postcard can be a very personalized way of sharing your opinion.
~When calling your representative and senator, also ask them about upcoming coffee hours!~
House Bills 4105 and 4334 attempt to explicitly take away cities’ and counties’ rights to decide their law enforcement priorities regarding immigration. The House Committee on Local Government held several hearings on this bill in the last few weeks. To give you an idea of how those committee hearings went, here is a list of all the organizations that expressed opposition to Bills 4105 and/or 4334 during committee testimony between 5-24-17 and 6-7-17.
Not a single organization came out in favor of the bill during committee testimony (see bottom of committee report).
The Michigan Catholic Conference was neutral on the legislation but expressed several concerns with the legislation during testimony.
Proponents of the bill claim that “their only goal is ensuring compliance with federal immigration law, and keeping cities and counties from violating that law”-- but this is clearly a patronizing stance to take towards municipalities. The committee report itself gives great descriptions of the problems with this bill:
Take Action:
Call and email your state representative. Urge them to oppose Bills 4105 and 4334 when they come up for a floor vote. Make sure to thank them if they tell you they will vote against these bills!
If your representative or senator is a Republican: emphasize your concern about the state usurping the rights of local government and your concern over public safety, due to crimes going unreported due to more fear of---and less cooperation with---police.
One thing House Bill 4691 would do is require a judge to grant “substantially equal parenting time” (also know as “physical custody”) in cases of parental custodial disagreement, unless there is clear and convincing evidence of domestic violence in the family. According to the bill, substantially equal parenting time means the child “resides for alternating periods of time with each parent and that the court seeks to provide balance and equality in overnights, with one parent not to exceed 200 overnights in a year unless otherwise adjusted for or agreed to by the parties.”
Ultimately, this is a dangerous bill because it takes away a judge’s prerogative to figure out what situation is actually best for children. There is no one-size-fits-all in custody situations.
Take Action:
This bill has cleared committee in the Michigan House. Call and email your representative and let them know you oppose House Bill 4691. Your views will be even more effective if you have personal experiences in custody battles (as a parent, child, or relative) to share.
Voices on the subject:
June 20, 2017 (Detroit Free Press): Required joint custody bill passes Michigan House panel
Psychology Today post from 2009
Talking Points against a similar law in Florida
The Governor will be faced with approving the budget in the coming weeks. There is a schedule in place that makes it seem like he must approve the budget when it is put in front of him. Our biggest outstanding issues with the budget is the move towards privatizing Community Mental Health services.
Call and email the governor and let him know you oppose the integration of physical and behavioral benefits and services in the DHHS budget. Ask him to stand by his principals, not by the artificial budget deadline.
If you reach voicemail, make sure to leave your name and phone number and request a call back.
In contacting the governor you may want to emphasize the following:
(and lastly, repeated from last week)
Thank you to Indivisible Dexter for language for and research on this action.
We featured this action in our May 2 and June 6 newsletters. Unfortunately, it passed the House and is now in committee in the Senate.
The right to own guns comes with great responsibility and an awareness of the inherent dangers of possessing something that can cause such devastation. Currently, residents in Michigan must obtain a license to carry a concealed handgun, which entails a certain level of training and instruction on the laws. As a gun instructor with 40 years of training at Gunsite Academy said, “There are no gun accidents, only gun negligence.” If House Bill 4416 becomes law, then any citizen will be able to carry a concealed handgun without any gun safety training or study of the laws. This will inevitably open up more opportunities for those guns to be unsecured in more places and end up in the wrong hands.
Talking Points:
Take Action:
Let the Senate Committee on Government Operations know that you oppose House Bill 4416. If your senator is on the committee, call them directly. Otherwise, contact the committee chair and minority vice-chair.
Senate Committee on Government Operations:
Jim Ananich (Minority Vice-Chair) | (517) 373-0142 | |
Goeff Hansen (Vice-Chair) | (517) 373-1635 | |
Morris Hood | (517) 373-0990 | |
Mike Kowall | (517) 373-1758 | |
Arlan Meekhof (Chair) | (517) 373-6920 |
Chair | Minority Vice-Chair |
The Honorable Arlan B. Meekhof Phone: (517) 373-6920 | The Honorable Jim Ananich Phone: (517) 373-0142 |
Press on the subject:
Gun-activism sites that question sensibility of constitutional carry and concealed carry without a permit/training:
Each week we share some recent media we’ve found worthwhile. We’ll keep it short! We know many of you already have long reading lists.
In honor of the current holiday, we recommend Frederick Douglass’ Fourth of July address from 1852. You can also listen to it read by Morgan Freeman.
When we hear about good news from our state government, we’ll try to share it here.
We featured opposition to SB 163 (the “license plate bill”) in our April 11, April 25, May 23, May 30, June 6, June 20, and June 27 newsletters. We are happy to announce that Governor Snyder vetoed the bill on Friday, June 30. Thank you to all of you who called to express opposition to the bill! Read the veto letter here.
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.
We don’t know of anything statewide this week, but on Thursday, July 6 there is a rally and vigil to protect healthcare in the Ann Arbor / Ypsilanti area (7-9pm) and a Medicare for All March in Marshall (2:30-4pm).