Michigan House District 43
Duties: The Michigan House of Representatives shares responsibility with the Michigan Senate to enact new laws and amend or repeal existing laws.Qualifications: Representatives are elected in even-numbered years to 2-year terms. They must be at least 21 years of age and a registered voter in their district. There are 110 State House districts which are re-apportioned after each census.Term: 2 years
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Alan Swank
(Dem)
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Rachelle Smit
(Rep)
EDUCATION: How do you evaluate Michigan’s current education system in terms of quality, funding, the teacher workforce and standardized testing? What changes, if any, would you propose or support?
ECONOMY: What policy initiatives do you support for residents to earn a living wage and address the overall question of affordability across Michigan?
ENVIRONMENT/ENERGY: How would you approach ensuring energy reliability, consumer affordability, and environmental protection in Michigan?
IMMIGRATION: What is your position on due process, First Amendment, and Fourth Amendment rights for all Michigan residents, including noncitizens, and what changes, if any, would you support?
Occupation / Current Position
Semi-retired professor
Education
PhD, MA, and BA in Organization, Management, and Leadership
Qualifications and Experience
Semi-retired Associate Professor of Organization, Management, and Leadership, Retired Tool and Diemaker, Welder, and Business Owner.
Michigan is ranked 45th in the nation for education. The schools are underfunded and the teachers are typically underpaid. Funding needs to increase for the schools. The state needs to stop cutting school funding and start investing in our youth. They are our future.
Michigan needs to start taxing the hyper-wealthy people and businesses. The state needs to stop allowing companies to double dip into state funding by paying poverty wages to employees forcing employees to apply for public assistance. There are too many companies that are making huge profits and paying poverty wages. This practice needs to stop and a wealth tax needs to be applied so everyone is paying their fair share. If you want to make America great again, then start by taxing corporations at the 1950s rate of 90% on their profits.
I am a huge proponent of renewable energy. Community solar is one such project that can help local communities develop and own their own electric cooperatives. I would like to see more energy cooperatives in the state. The current rash of power outages serve as an example of why locally owned energy is important. The local community has a vested interest in maintaining and upgrading their power supplies, versus corporate profits.
All people in this country, citizens and noncitizens are protected by the First and Fourth Amendments. I want to see ICE abolished and the state help create a streamlined path to citizenship for all noncitizens residing in Michigan. Citizenship is an expensive process and the state benefits from helping noncitizens earn their citizenship.
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