Your priorities are my priorities!

Optimizing Healthcare

We spend far too much money on healthcare for too little results. This problem is deeply embedded in the quagmire of competing interests: our hard-working primary care physicians and specialists, overburdened nurses, medical associations and unions, insurance companies, Big Pharma, attorneys, and let’s be honest, our own less than healthy lifestyles as patients.

A sixth of our economy is spent on medical treatment, more per person than anywhere in the world. Even with the Affordable Care Act, there are too many uninsured overusing our emergency rooms. We pay for that.

Again, this year, a record number of Michiganders enrolled in the ACA: our Governor signed legislation that codified key provisions of the ACA in Michigan and repealed laws protecting Big Pharma from lawsuits. But never doubt this progress will be unraveled if the Michigan House has a Republican majority again.

Much of the problem is intractable in the short term, but we can’t give up. I will do everything I can at the state level to make healthcare affordable and accessible for all.

Protecting Reproductive Rights

In 2022, Michigan voters made their stance clear on reproductive rights by passing Prop 3, which codified abortion rights into our state's constitution. However, our current State Representative, VanWoerkom, has consistently voted against the will of the people by opposing efforts to repeal outdated laws following the passage of Prop 3.

While I am not "Pro-Abortion," I empathize with the weight of the decision that women face when considering abortion. Echoing Bill Clinton's sentiment, I believe that abortion should be "safe, legal, and rare." I will advocate for women to have the freedom to make choices about their own bodies and healthcare. This includes keeping birth control affordable and accessible for everyone.

While states across the country are attempting to restrict access to IVF, Michigan took a significant step forward by passing the Family Protection Act bills, which decriminalize surrogacy and provide protections for IVF. Shockingly, Representative VanWoerkom voted against these bills. I understand that families, for various reasons, are not all created the same way, and they deserve the freedom to choose when and how they start their own. I am committed to maintaining these protections for families.

Protecting Voting Rights and Democracy

The voters of Michigan spoke with the passage of Prop 2 of 2022. Clearly, they wanted expanded access to voting, and given recent actions by election deniers, protections for poll workers and voters themselves.

Prop 2 charged the Michigan Legislature with codifying the proposal measures: our current Representative in the State Legislature, Greg VanWoerkom, voted “No” on 9 out of 9 Prop 2 bills including a “no” on prohibiting “open carry at polling places”.

The 2018 Michigan Voters, Not Politicians movement ended partisan gerrymandering and ensured the integrity of our elections, the very foundations of our democracy. The results of our fair and honest elections -the decisions of the people- must absolutely be protected from being overturned. Based on the Republican response to expanded voting rights, they will be eroded again if the Legislature turns red.

Modernizing Michigan Education

Last year, the Michigan Legislature, in collaboration with the Whitmer administration, passed the largest public School Aid budget in our history, which included:

giant steps towards universal pre-school,
free breakfast and lunch for all Pre-K-12 students,
equitable per pupil spending across districts,
investments in workforce education,
funding strategies to close learning gaps,
increased school safety, and
programs to keep excellent teachers at the head of every class.

Public education should be thought of as a Pre-K-14 system. Research tells us that children with a Pre-K education graduate at higher rates than those who do not. And, in the year 2024, we must think of post-secondary education for all, whether it be college, university, trade school, or a licensure program. Knowledgeable workers are the engine of our economy and the basis for stable families.

As a former business owner, I’m all for competition to improve outcomes. Charter schools, which have fewer demands imposed on them than our historically excellent public schools, have created competition in education. One of my children spent his junior high years at WMAAA, a charter, and he excelled in the smaller environment with a focus on the arts. He was more successful back at Grand Haven High School as a result. I’m fine with choice and competition, but we must support our public schools and our hard-working teachers.

I intend to be a part of innovations introduced in Governor Whitmer’s 2024 State of the Union: universal Pre-K; universal community college or equivalent education; and educator fellowships to recruit and keep great teachers.

I don’t know where I saw the quote: “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance”. Let's continue to make investment in education a priority.

Supporting Gun Safety Legislation

There are many responsible and safe gun owners in West Michigan, including my son. Most folks support at least some degree of common-sense gun safety reform, but most meaningful action runs into roadblocks from legislators beholden to the gun lobby. As a father and grandfather, I won’t accept the new normal of active shooter drills in our schools and senseless gun violence in our country.

In 2023, the Michigan Legislature passed Gun Safety laws…not too long after the shootings at MSU. The safe storage of firearms, universal background checks, and red flag laws were included in this package of legislation. Additionally, a measure was passed banning convicted domestic abusers from accessing firearms.

Our current Michigan Representative Greg VanWoerkom voted “no” on all these bills pertaining to gun safety. Even in the face of Oxford and MSU, he voted “no”.

Let's continue to make our communities even safer from gun violence through further legislation and accessible mental health services.

Focusing on Small Business Success

As founder and long-term owner of a small business, I know the challenges and rewards firsthand. Most people think of small businesses as “Mom and Pop shops” serving neighborhood areas, but small businesses (firms with fewer than 500 employees) account for 99% of all Michigan businesses and employ nearly half of Michigan workers. According to Small Business Profile-Michigan, Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy: 2023, from 2021 to 2022, small businesses accounted for nearly 81% of the net growth in jobs. Office of Advocacy

Using her position on the House Small Business Committee, our Congresswoman Hillary Scholten recently ensured that the Enhancing Competition in Contracting Orders Act and the Women Owned Small Business Integrity Act passed unanimously out of the Small Business Committee and the WOSB Act passed the entire House. These measures give small businesses the competitive edge they need within the larger economy, providing stability and live-able wages for small business employees, and peace of mind for owners.

In Governor Whitmer’s 2024 State of the State address, she proposed the Make it in Michigan plan to boost small businesses through research and development tax incentives and HIRE Michigan payroll tax relief, among other measures. I can’t wait to go to Lansing as your Representative to make these and similar proposals reality!

Though our current representative has received some honors from small business associations for specific projects, clearly having a representative who has 39 years of actual experience in, and who is devoted to serving small businesses writ large, is critical to our West Michigan economy.

Climate Change and Clean Energy

You can say I am green: I want a clean earth for my kids and grandkids; you do too. A recent poll showed 65% of Michigan voters support transitioning the state’s energy grid to 100% clean energy and 73% wanted the Legislature to do more to keep energy bills affordable.

In 2018, a panel of climate change experts indicated we had no more than 12 years to save our planet. Big problems call for big solutions.

In November 2023, the legislature passed historic legislation making Michigan a national leader in the fight against climate change: lowering household utility costs by an average of $145 a year, creating 160,000 good paying jobs, and bringing $8 billion federal dollars home for clean energy products to protect Michigan’s air, water, and public health.

This legislative package includes:

A clean energy standard for Michigan: all energy production will be from clean sources by 2040; by 2030 we will produce 50% of our energy from renewables, and 60% by 2035.
Utilities’ energy and waste reduction, and home upgrade programs to save families and businesses money.
An Office of Worker and Community Economic Transition to help consumers and energy workers transition from fossil fuels to clean energy sources; training low income workers for clean energy jobs, and requiring prevailing wages for workers on clean energy projects.
Michigan Public Service Commission fast-tracking of permitting large scale clean energy the same way they now do for other energy sources.
Taking equity and justice into the MPSC’s decisions about expanding clean energy production in communities, protecting farmers’ rights to host solar projects on their own land, and making more properties eligible for clean energy financing.

The Legislature accomplished all this without help from your current representative, Greg VanWoerkom. He voted “no” on every bill in this 9-bill package. I will help us move forward. It's time for a change.