Dear Neighbor,

Right now, we’re living in trying times. Groceries cost more, rent keeps climbing and bills pile up faster than paychecks. That’s why my work in Lansing has been focused on the basics: making life more affordable, ensuring transparency and accountability in our government and advancing health equity. 

I know we have a long way to go, but I’m confident we can accomplish incredible things when we fight together. I’ll keep pushing for real relief for everyday Michiganders and working families across our state: stronger resources, lower costs, better health outcomes and a government that answers to you.

Thank you for trusting me to represent you. I’m proud to be your neighbor and your voice in Lansing, and I’ll keep working every day to build a Michigan where everyone has a fair shot.

In service,

Donavan McKinney

State Representative

House District 11

Ensuring Transparency and Accountability

Michiganders deserve an energy system and a government that works for people, not powerful corporations. That’s why I’m supporting legislation to get DTE’s money out of politics and establish a Ratepayer Bill of Rights to protect consumers from high costs, poor service and lack of transparency. These measures will end utility political spending that distorts our democracy, ensure fair billing and compensation for outages and hold entities accountable to the public they serve. One of my bills in the package (HB 4973), establishes a statutory Service Outage Credit that is automatically applied to your energy bill. For residential customers, the credit starts at $5/hour for the first hour of a power outage. Then increases by the hour as follows:

  • 1-5 hours: $7/hour
  • 5-12 hours: $10/hour
  • 12-24 hours: $12/hour
  • 24-48 hours: $15/hour
  • 48-72 hours: $18/hour
  • 72 hours or more: $25/hour

If passed, you will receive $254 for the first 24 hours of losing power, which is a huge boost to help offset the cost of groceries, life-saving medicine and all-around inconvenience.

Advancing Health Equity for All

I’m committed to building healthier, more equitable communities by ensuring everyone has access to clean, safe water. This year’s budget invests $5 million to support water affordability, helping families who struggle with high utility costs. I’m also supportinging polluter pay legislation to hold corporations accountable for the contamination they cause — because protecting public health means making sure polluters, not residents, bear the cost of cleanup. Additionally, I worked alongside my colleagues to introduce a package of bills aimed at reducing lead risks throughout our state, reflecting our shared responsibility to ensure that every Michigan resident, especially our most vulnerable children, are safeguarded from the long-term risks of lead poisoning.

Investing in Michigan

After months of standing firm to protect Michiganders, House Democrats have delivered a budget that invests in our schools, our hospitals and our neighborhoods including key investments in the following areas:

Work Project Disapprovals

House Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee voted to disapprove almost $645 million in previously authorized fiscal year 2024-2025 work project funding from programs that directly affect people and communities across Michigan. 

Some key cuts include:

  • $159 million from the “Make it in Michigan” competitiveness fund
  • Over $102 million for community enhancement grants
  • Over $63 million for infrastructure grants
  • $50 million from indigent defense commission grants
  • Over $18 million for the prenatal and infant support program Rx Kids
  • Nearly $16 million from community museum grants
  • $4 million from nurse workforce development
  • Nearly $3 million from the local food infrastructure grant
  • $1.8 million for firearm safety and violence prevention
  • Over $56,000 for wigs for children with cancer

The procedure for denying these funds uses a decades-old provision in the Management and Budget Act of 1984, though I’d argue it was never intended to be used this way.

The committee voted mere minutes after members received a summary document of what departments and programs were seeing cuts. When asked by Democratic lawmakers if there would be a discussion regarding these cuts, the Republican Appropriations Chair replied that there would be no discussion.

In the end, Republicans on the committee voted to claw back already promised funding for programs that ensure new mothers and infants have proper care, senior housing and community infrastructure. They even voted to cut funds for wigs for children with cancer.

This move has created chaos as many members of our community are now left in limbo after this critical funding was revoked with little notice and zero public input. Clinics, nonprofits and families were promised this money and I’ve heard firsthand from community organizations that clawing it back is dangerous and harmful to the thousands of Michiganders who rely on these programs and projects.

This year, we all watched as House Republicans turned in what I believed to be an imperfect budget months late, and this is yet another example of their governing philosophy. In my opinion, hacking and slashing through programs that put food on the table, keep people in houses and give proper care to our most vulnerable neighbors is not our role as lawmakers. 

I believe this isn’t good governance. My Democratic colleagues and I were loud and clear that cutting almost $645 million of promised investments through an obscure appropriations process is not something we will quietly accept. I am working tirelessly to return these funds to our community and put money back in the hands of the people who need it most.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office at (517) 373-0849 or by email at [email protected].