Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Welcome to my latest e-newsletter! It continues to be a privilege to represent Northville, Plymouth and eastern Canton, and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve our community in Lansing.

I’m very pleased with the progress we’ve made so far this term, but we still have much work to do. I will continue to fight to ensure that every Michigander has access to the tools, resources and opportunities they need to succeed. I encourage you to stay up to date with what’s going on in Lansing and to let me know about the issues that matter to you, so I can continue to best represent the interests of our community.

If there is anything I can do to help you and your family, please do not hesitate to call my office at (517) 373-3816, email me at MattKoleszar@house.mi.gov, or stop by my office in Lansing. You can also catch me on Facebook and Twitter.

Sincerely,

Matt Koleszar

State Representative, 20th House District

In this Edition:

  • Upcoming Events
  • Legislative Update
  • In Our Community

 

Upcoming Events

 

Socially Distanced Coffee with Koleszar

I hope you can join me for my upcoming in-person coffee chat! I look forward to providing an update on the recently passed budgets and having an informal conversation with you about the issues facing families in our community.

When: Thursday, July 1, from 6-7 p.m.

Where: Lion’s Park, at the Pavilion

940 Fairground St., Plymouth 

  

Legislative Update

 

Push to Expand Benefits for First Responder Families

House Bill 4247, which is a reintroduction of one of my bills from last term, recently passed unanimously out of the House. This bill would guarantee in-state college tuition for all surviving school-aged children of police officers and firefighters who were killed in the line of duty, regardless of their surviving parent’s current financial circumstances. I introduced this bill in honor of Sterling Heights Officer Mark Sawyers, who was shot and killed while sitting in his patrol car after investigating an accident.

Lily Sawyers graduated earlier this month on the 17th anniversary of her father Mark Sawyers’ death. I was honored to see her off, and to speak with WDIV Local 4/Click on Detroit about the importance of passing the Police Officers and Firefighters Survivors Tuition Grant.

Survivors

Secretary of State Service Update

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced her offices are adding appointments to serve 350,000 more Michiganders, greeters at office doors to assist in scheduling visits, and priority service for residents needing a disability placard.

The three changes Secretary Benson announced were:

  • By shaving minutes off transaction times to maximize efficiency, the department is increasing appointments by 25 percent between now and the end of the fiscal year. Half of the more than 350,000 new appointments were released on June 9, and the remaining half will be split and released every weekday at 8 a.m. and noon between now and Sept. 30 as next-day appointments.

Appointments can be booked online at gov/SOS or, for people with internet limitations, by calling (888) SOS-MICH.

  • Additionally, residents will be able to book appointments in person thanks to a pilot program that will place greeters at the doors of many of the department’s busiest offices this month. When visitors arrive without an appointment, greeters will tell them if any staff are available to serve them or assist them in scheduling a return visit. The same service will be available at offices without dedicated greeters when counter staff is able to approach the door between appointments.
  • Residents needing disability placards can now be served as soon as possible after arrival at any office. While these residents are still encouraged to schedule their visit, appointments are no longer required to receive a disability placard.

In Our Community

Teacher of the Month

Congratulations to our May Teacher of the Month and Smith Elementary School’s librarian, Ms. Kelly Gharaibeh! Thank you for all you do!

Stevens

Congresswoman Haley Stevens and I spoke at her Northville Town Hall.

Groundbreaking

Last week, I participated in the groundbreaking ceremony for the Plymouth Arts and Recreation Complex’s Rain Garden Project, which will create a beautiful, high-performance stormwater management system for the PARC parking lot.

In the Community

It’s going to take more than a heat wave to keep me from talking about the most important issues with my constituents! I’m looking forward to meeting more residents of HD 20 throughout the summer.