Capitol and Community Update

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

It is an honor to represent the residents of the 69th House District and Genesee County. The purpose of this e-newsletter is to keep you updated on my work in Lansing and around our community.

Memorial Day is this Monday, May 29. Memorial Day is a great day in the year and is a long weekend to enjoy time with friends and family, but the holiday has a deeper meaning. It is a time to commemorate those who lost their lives while serving in the American armed forces. I hope that everyone has a safe Memorial Day weekend while honoring those who paid the ultimate price.

Please follow me on Facebook or Instagram where we post frequent updates. You can also always get in touch with us through our website, office number (517) 373-1786, and by email JasperMartus@house.mi.gov.

We are here to serve you.

Jasper R. Martus

In this Edition:

Lansing Updates
District Updates
Upcoming Time with Jasper
Resources

LANSING UPDATE

Michigan House Budget

Earlier this month, the Michigan House of Representatives passed a historic budget that makes transformative investments in education, infrastructure and workforce development. Highlights include universally accessible pre-K, increases in mental health resources for young people, record support for domestic violence and sexual assault prevention, expansion of local road funding, hiring of more state troopers, and investments in skilled trade training programs.

Preliminary wins for Genesee County in the House budget include funds for the Tommy’s Heart Memorial Foundation to conduct heart screenings on student-athletes, construction of a new industrial park in Montrose that will create hundreds of jobs, tobacco and drug use prevention programs, lead pipe replacement, and more hospital beds for Memorial Hospital in neighboring Shiawassee County. Continued work will be done with the Senate on funds for a new Beecher High School, increased investment for the Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office, and programs through the Greater Flint Health Coalition.

Our office has put in countless hours of work on building a budget that prioritizes working families across Michigan and will benefit the people of Genesee County. The process is not yet over, but we are in a strong position to deliver a state budget that reverses the trend of recent decades defined by underinvestment in Michigan and overlooking working families.

The House’s passage of their version of the state budget was the first step in the budget process. Over the next month, the House will negotiate with the Senate and the governor on the final state budget for the next fiscal year.

Legislative Wins

While budget negotiations have been our primary focus, we have still managed to pass pieces of legislation each week that will improve the lives of Michiganders across our state.

House Bill 4071: Requires insurers to cover orally administered anticancer treatments and intravenous or injected anticancer treatments equally in terms of cost-sharing requirements and treatment limitations. This will make lifesaving treatments for cancer patients more cost effective and expand options for less painful ways to administer chemotherapy.

House Bill 4120-4125: First part of a bipartisan package to address loopholes exploited and administrative failings exposed by the Larry Nassar and Robert Anderson scandals, including mandated reporter training and preventing abuse of power masked as medical treatment. These bills are the first major step in holding abusers accountable and updating Michigan’s laws to protect our most vulnerable.

House Bill 4176: Allows for law enforcement agencies that fund police training for recruits to claw back costs of scholarship if the officer leaves the department immediately following the conclusion of their training. Completing the police academy and additional training can cost thousands of dollars and is often covered by local departments. This law requires officers to stay in the communities that trained them for at least four years, which will save local departments money and incentivize new recruits to stay in their local communities.

DISTRICT UPDATES

Flint Township Coffee Hour

Our recent coffee hour was a success with numerous participants! Topics included repealing the retirement tax, how to boost our education system and uplift our educators, and how to create more good-paying jobs in Genesee County.

We will continue to host coffee hours and town halls so that I can hear from folks about what is on their minds and how we can help. Additionally, I want to thank my staffers Ashley Christian and Peyton Klochack, as this would not be possible without them.

UPCOMING TIME WITH JASPER

Coffee Hour

Join me on June 16 for my monthly Coffee Hour! Coffee hours are a great way to ask questions, voice concerns and receive updates on the latest news in Lansing and our district. The upcoming coffee hour will be held at 10 a.m. at the Swartz Creek Senior Center (8095 Civic Drive #2, Swartz Creek, MI 48473)

It is important to our office that community members and neighbors are always able to share their thoughts and concerns with me, so we hope to see you there! If you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out by email at JasperMartus@house.mi.gov or by phone at (517) 373-1786.

We have also scheduled out other coffee hours:

Friday, July 7 at 10 a.m. at the Kraphol Senior Center (5473 Bicentennial Drive G, Mt. Morris Township, MI 48458)

RESOURCES

Helpful Resources

I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

I want to hear from you! What do you need? How can we help you? My office is here to assist you or answer any questions you may have. Please, reach out to me at JasperMartus@house.mi.gov