1. MIC
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STATEREPRESENTATIVE
JIMTOWNSENDProudlyrepresentingRoyalOakandMadisonHeights
MICHIGANHOUSEOFREPRESENTATIVES
www.MITaxEquality.com
tolearnwhatTaxEquality
wouldmeanforyou!
VISIT
STATE REPRESENTATIVE
JIM TOWNSEND
HOUSE DISTRICT 26
Email: jimtownsend@house.mi.gov
Website: townsend.housedems.com
Phone: (517) 373-3818
Toll-free: (866) 585-2471
STATE REPRESENTATIVE JIM TOWNSEND | P.O. BOX 30014, LANSING, MI 48909-7514
The Highs:
• ThecreationoftheRegionalTransitAuthority,whichhasendedourdecades-
longstruggletocreateacomprehensiveregionaltransitplanforSoutheast
Michigan
• EstablishingtheTalentandPlaceCaucus,whichhasdevelopedabipartisan
legislativeagendatohelpusattractandretaintalentedworkersand
entrepreneurshereinMichigan
• Developingtaxequality,which,ifenacted,wouldequalizeourstateandlocal
taxburdenacrossallincomelevelsbycuttingtaxesfor95percentofMichigan
families
• Providinghealthinsuranceto700,000uninsuredMichigandersunderthe
HealthyMichiganPlan
• Marriageequality(nottheLegislature’sdoing,butaremarkableachievement)
• EnactingalawtoprotecttheDetroitInstituteofArtsandtheDetroitZoo
millages,whicharevitalregionalassets
• The“GrandBargain,”whichhelpedDetroitsuccessfullyemergefrom
bankruptcyandhasDetroitpositionedtocontinueitscomebackand
revitalization
• AcriticalamendmentIchampionedtoensureourlocalcommunitiesreceived
theirfullreimbursementfromthestateunderthepersonalpropertytaxrepeal
• Abipartisanbill,whichpassedtheHouseoverwhelmingly,toputanendto
the“darkstore”method,thatbig-boxstoreshaveusedtolowertheirproperty
taxesbystaggeringamounts,devastatingourschoolsandcommunities
• AcriticalamendmentIchampionedtoensurethatK-12educationfundingwas
notcutasaresultofanewtaxexemptionfordatacenters
The Lows:
• TheFlintWaterCrisisandtheLegislature’sfailuretoholdbipartisanoversight
hearingstothoroughlyinvestigatetheFlintWaterCrisis
• Thestate’sinactiontohelpFlintreplaceitsleadservicelinesandrestorethe
drinkingqualityoftheirmunicipalwater
• Right-to-workandthemanyattacksoncollectivebargainingrights,which
helpedbuildMichigan’smiddleclass
• Theemergencyfinancialmangerlaw,whichwasoverturnedbyvoters,
butultimatelyreplacedwithanearlyidenticallawbyGov.Snyderandthe
Republican-controlledLegislaturewithafrivolousappropriationthatprevents
votersfromoverturningthenewlaw
• The$1.8billiontaxcutforbusinessesthatwasoffsetbyraisingtaxeson
familiesandretirees
• Thefailuretofixourcrumblingroadsandbridges,andinvestinmasstransit
• ThecutstoK-12educationandhighereducation
• Thefailuretoenactmeaningfulreformstohelprestorestabilitytopublic
educationinDetroit
• Thedoublingofcampaignfinancedonationlimitsandtheweakeningofour
campaignfinancelaws
• ThemanyattacksontheLGBTQcommunity,whichgivesthefalseimpression
thatwearenotawelcomingstate
• ThefailuretoamendtheElliott-LarsenCivilRightsActtoinclude
nondiscriminationprotectionsfortheLGBTQcommunity
• ThefailuretoproperlymonitortheMEGAtaxcreditsinatransparentand
accountablemanner
• Themajority’srefusaltoholdevenasinglehearingonmylegislationtorequire
universalbackgroundchecksforgunpurchases
IthasbeenaremarkableexperienceservingyouatourstateCapitoloverthepastsix
years.Thereisnothingquiteliketheopportunitytobeentrustedtorepresent90,000
Michigandersinhelpingtomakedecisionsthataffectallofourlivesandthefutureofour
greatstate.
Reflectingontheselastsixyears,Iamproudofseveralthingswehaveaccomplished,but
Iamdisappointedandtroubledbythelackofbipartisanshiponcriticalissues,suchroad
funding,theFlintWaterCrisis,K-12andhighereducation,taxreform,etc.Asaresult,duringtheseyears,theLegislaturehassquanderedopportunitiesto
rebuildourstate’sroads,masstransitandothercriticalinfrastructure,investadequatelyinK-12andhighereducation,bringsanitytoourgunlaws,endthe
scourgeof“darkmoney”inourcampaignfinancesystemorenacttaxequalityviaagraduatedincometaxthatwouldensurethateveryonepaystheirfair
shareoftaxes,sothatwecangiveourchildrenandgrandchildrenaMichiganthatisevenbetterthantheoneweinherited.
Toooften,theLegislaturechosetheeasy,politicallyexpedientapproachtopublicpolicyandfailedtomakealastingpositiveimpactonourstate.ButI
remainoptimisticthatwecanbuildonthesuccesseswehaveachieved.HerearethehighsandlowsthatstandoutasIreflectonthepastsixyears…
IT HAS BEEN AN HONOR TO
SERVE YOU IN THE LEGISLATURE
OVER THE PAST SIX YEARS

2. SpainElementarygymisclosedasaresultofa
leakintheroofthatcausedthefloortobuckle.
Whyaresomanyyoungpeople,andpeopleingeneral,
leavingMichigan?Manyofyouhaveprobablyheardthat
they’releavingforjobs,whichistrue,butwhyarethejobs
locatedinplaceslikeChicago,SeattleandMinneapolis?It
certainlyisn’tbecauseofthetaxrates,despitetheconstant
drumbeatthatloweringtaxescreatesjobs.
Businessesarelocatinginthesecitiesbecausetheseare
thecommunitieswheretheirprospectiveemployeeswant
toliveandwork.Manyofouryoungpeoplewanttolive
intraditionalurbancenters,regardlessofsizeandscale,
whichhavepublictransit,friendlydowntownswithwide
sidewalksandstreetscapesfordinningandshopping,and
uniqueexperiencestoexplore.
Whileotherstatesinvestintheirlocalcommunitiesand
majorcities,Michiganistheonlystatetohaveactually
reducedfundingforlocalgovernmentssince2002and
donesolittleforitsmajorcities.Sincethattime,Michigan
ranksdeadlastamongall50statesinthepercentageof
yourtaxdollarsthatarereturnedtoourlocalcommunities.
Infact,the49thrankedstate,Ohio,hasactuallyincreased
revenuetolocalgovernmentsby25percent,meaning
we’renotjustlast,we’refarbehindeverystate.
Itisprettyeasytoseethedisinvestmentthathasoccurred
whenyoulookattherecentnewsheadlines.Detroit
becamethelargestcityinthecountrytoevergothrough
bankruptcy.Flint,aformerindustrialhub,isdealingwith
themostseverehealthcrisisinourstate’shistory,and
manyothercommunitieshavebeentakenoverbyGov.
Snyder’s“emergencyfinancialmanagers.”
ThegoodnewsisthatDetroitisimprovingandbeginning
toattractandretainourtalentedgraduates,butweneed
todomoretohelpDetroitandeverylocalcommunityin
Michigan.
Ifwefailtoreinvestinourlocalcommunities,we
willcontinuetoseeourtalentedgraduatesfromour
outstandingpublicuniversitiesandcommunitycolleges
leaveusandwefailtodiversifyandgrowoureconomy.
STRONGCOMMUNITIESAREVITALTO
STOPPINGTHEBRAINDRAIN
In June, right before the Legislature adjourned for
summer, the Republican-controlled Legislature
rushed through a package of bills to help Detroit
Public Schools (DPS) avoid bankruptcy but failed to
address the long-term issues that have plagued public
education in Detroit.
With so many things going favorably in Detroit, which
saw its lowest population decline since the 1950s
last year, this was a missed opportunity. Without
meaningful reforms to help bring stability, it will be
difficult for Detroit to retain all of the young people
who are moving to the city.
The most difficult issue facing public education in
Detroit is the chaos that has been caused by the
constant and growing battle between the charter
schools and the public school system. It all began 23
years ago, when Michigan first allowed for the creation
of charter schools. Today, more than 80 percent of
charter schools in Michigan are operated by for-profit
companies, far higher than the 35 percent national
average. The basic idea behind charter schools is that
competition gives parents more options. However,
this competition has created very few choices that
are better than DPS, replicated failure and created
instability for everyone.
It is the wild west of public education, where for-profit
companies are enticing children and parents living in
poverty to enroll at their school with gifts, such as iPads,
in an effort to secure per-pupil tax dollars that follow
the student. This has caused dramatic enrollment
fluctuations (DPS enrollment has declined 76 percent
since the state took over the district in 1996) and the
closure of neighborhood schools (201 schools have
been closed since 2000).
Today, residents in many neighborhoods have to
travel long distances to find a school, while other
neighborhoods are saturated with charter schools,
offering more of the same in many instances. Overall,
the city has more schools than it needs, which means
the system is inefficient.
In 2011, Gov. Snyder and the Republican-controlled
Legislature doubled down by repealing the cap on
charter schools. Since that time, 24 new charter schools
have opened in Detroit. Eighteen existing charter
schools with weak performance records have expanded
or opened new schools.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers and the Governor
supported the creation of a Detroit Education
Commission (DEC), which would be tasked with
overseeing and coordinating the opening and
closure of public schools in Detroit. However, House
Republicans and the charter school lobby fought and
blocked the creation of DEC back in June. Without
meaningful reforms, I fear chaos and failure will
continue to plague public education in Detroit.
My hope is that we can continue to work on enacting
meaningful reforms to restore stability to public
education in Detroit.
A MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR DETROIT
ConceptualrenderingoftheM-1RailProjectindowntownDetroit