Dear Neighbor,

Welcome to our summer e-newsletter!

Included in this edition are important legislative updates, community events and other resources I hope will prove helpful. Please do not hesitate to reach out to my office by phone at (517) 373-1792 or email at FeliciaBrabec@house.mi.gov with questions about these or any other state-level issues.

In service,

Felicia Brabec

State Representative, 55th House District

Upcoming Coffee Hour 

Our next Coffee Hour is Aug. 20 at 10 a.m. on Zoom and Facebook Live. Please also like and follow my page to stay connected with updates from the Capitol. I look forward to seeing you at a coffee hour soon!

No-Contact Recommendation for Huron River Continues

Our office would like to remind residents that a no-contact recommendation remains in place for the Huron River for all people and pets due to the hexavalent chromium spill.

Experts at the Michigan Departments of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) stated that samples continue to show detectable levels in the river as of today.

Until further notice, MDHHS is recommending that people and pets avoid contact with the Huron River between North Wixom Road in Oakland County and Kensington Road in Livingston County. This includes Norton Creek downstream of the Wixom Wastewater Treatment Plant (Oakland County), Hubbell Pond (also known as Mill Pond in Oakland County) and Kent Lake (Oakland and Livingston counties).

In these sections of the Huron River:

  • Don’t swim, wade, play in or drink water directly from the Huron River.
  • Don’t water your plants or lawn with Huron River water.
  • Don’t eat fish caught in this section.

As additional water test results are received, MDHHS may update these recommendations.

The Huron River is vital to our community, both for recreation and for drinking water. Our public safety officials and regulators are coordinating a response to mitigate the ecological damage and protect our health. I hope that everyone in our community will follow their recommendations, so that we can keep people from being harmed by this pollution.

COVID-19 Surges Once Again

Washtenaw County is currently at a “high” COVID-19 community level (as of 7/28/22). At this level, it is recommended that everyone wear a mask in indoor public locations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Indoor public locations include K-12 schools and other indoor community settings. People with symptoms, a positive test or exposure to someone with COVID-19 should wear a mask. Choose a multilayer surgical, KN95 or N95 mask rather than a cloth mask. For more information, check out washtenaw.org/3095/COVID-19 or call (734)-544-6700. Please leave a message if your call is not answered.

Legislative Update 

We have been hard at work in our district this summer, and look forward to getting back to our schedule in September. Here are some things we have worked on since June.

My colleagues and I passed a budget that includes significant investments in mental health services, education, local government services and the economy. Specifically, the state budget allocates over $331 million in mental health resources throughout the state. Additionally, pension debt for seven state universities, including Eastern Michigan University, has been significantly reduced.

Locally, the budget includes an investment of $130 million for the University of Michigan Electric Vehicle Training and Development Center. Michigan Medicine will receive an allocation that will enhance the children’s psychiatric department as well as create a partial program for children and adults. Finally, Nonprofit Enterprise at Work, which connects leaders and organizations with essential tools and services that free up focus for mission-related work, has also received a $650,000 grant.

We’ve worked across the aisle to deliver significant improvements to mental health services, water infrastructure, roads and education. In particular, I was pleased to see support for Nonprofit Enterprise at Work. Through building community and learning opportunities, they provide vital support for nonprofits. While no budget is perfect, the one we have agreed on will help us address some of the most critical problems our state and community face.

Before we left for the in-district work period, I introduced legislation to support racial equity analysis. This legislation would ensure that every future bill would be analyzed to help us determine any potential disparities it might create based on the social determinants of health, including criminal justice, economic stability, education, employment, health care, housing or transportation. The social determinants of health are conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, play, work and worship. They have a major impact on people’s health and well-being.

This much-needed analysis would enable lawmakers to make more informed decisions and make future legislation more equitable and transparent. My bill would require a specific, impartial racial equity legislative analysis similar to the fiscal analysis. Money isn’t all that matters when it comes to legislation — it’s also important to avoid contributing to unjust racial systems of oppression.

Office Update 

Our legislative director, Brooke Hansen, made an exciting transition to San Diego California. We already miss Brooke and wish her well on her future endeavors. If you have any questions, comments or concerns about legislative matters, please email our district inbox, feliciabrabec@house.mi.gov and allow 24 hours for a response.