Hello Friend,

I hope you had a safe and joyful holiday season! In the midst of the busyness, I wanted to stay committed to my schedule of communication with my constituents and ensure that you got a short but helpful e-newsletter.

As always, please find information about my upcoming coffee (and draft!) hours and helpful resources in our community, but please don’t hesitate to contact my office and me with any other questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions at (517) 373-0828 or donnalasinski@house.mi.gov.

Coffee Hours

My 2017 coffee hours were a fantastic way for me to stay in touch with you and have real discussions about what the concerns in our community are as well as what we want our state to look like. We have a robust calendar already in the works for 2018 with both normal coffee hours as well as some “Drafts with Donna” at breweries around the 52nd House District! Please mark your calendars for the first few:

Town Hall Meeting on Housing Diversity

Saturday, Jan. 13

10 a.m.-noon

Washington Street Education Center – Room 100

500 E. Washington St., Chelsea

Local leaders and community members are coming together to discuss the question: What could community-focused, multi-generational housing diversity look like in western Washtenaw County? Free and open to the public.

 

“Drafts with Donna”

Thursday, Jan. 18

6-7 p.m.

Chelsea Alehouse

420 N. Main St. #100, Chelsea

 

Saline Coffee Hour

Monday, Jan. 29

9-10 a.m.

Saline Senior Center

7190 N. Maple Road, Saline

 

Legislative Update

Summing Up 2017 Legislative Session

As I mentioned in my last e-newsletter, legislative session activity wrapped up for 2017. We will reconvene officially on Jan. 10. To view our session schedule for the year, visit http://house.mi.gov/PDFs/2018_Session_Schedule.pdf.

If you would like to examine all of the public acts (laws) that have been passed by the Legislature and signed into law this year, visit http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2017-2018/publicacttable/pdf/2017-PAT.pdf.

I encourage you to visit these links to see all of the bills that I have sponsored and co-sponsored this year. From there, you can click on bills of interest to read them and see where they are at in the legislative process. Of course, if you have specific questions, please feel free to contact my office.

What To Do In HD 52

Chelsea Meditation Sitting Group

Everyone is welcome to join in meditating and/or discussion of the practice with the Chelsea Meditation Sitting group. The group meets every Monday from 7-8 p.m. in the Washington Street Education Center (500 E. Washington Street in Chelsea) in Room 114. Chairs are provided, but you may also wish to bring your own cushion, mat or bench. The format is about 35 minutes for sitting meditation and 30 minutes for discussion.

 Helpful Resources

Preparing for Tax Season

I’ve heard from a number of constituents during my first year as state representative about delayed tax procedures with the Michigan Department of Treasury. To ensure that your returns are processed promptly, Treasury encourages folks to begin gathering tax-related documents and update home addresses with current and previous employers to make sure W-2s and other forms are mailed to the correct place.

Starting in January, you can view and download forms and instructions at www.michigan.gov/taxes. You can also find them at some public libraries as well as Treasury offices and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services county offices.

In late January, when tax season begins, you can skip mailing a paper return and instead e-file your state taxes. To learn more, visit www.mifastfile.org.