LANSING — House Democratic Leader Tim Greimel (D-Auburn Hills) and State Representative Jim Townsend (D-Royal Oak) announced today the beginning of the listening tour that the House Democratic Caucus is taking across Michigan. Representatives from all corners of the state will be meeting with citizens to hear how the House Republicans’ priorities over the last two years have affected them.

“Republicans have repeatedly shown that they put their corporate donors before Michigan residents,” Greimel said. “They handed massive tax giveaways to big corporations and fat-cat CEOs, and paid for them by slashing education funding and raising taxes on middle-class families.”

Michigan’s unemployment rate remains at nearly 9 percent. Middle-class families had tax deductions and credits taken away or reduced, and seniors on a fixed income are having their pensions taxed for the first time. School children are in overcrowded classrooms and lacking supplies after a nearly $2 billion disinvestment in their schools. Republican priorities over the last two years have had a clear negative effect on Michigan families. Democrats want to hear about their struggles directly and will be holding town hall-style events in the following locations:

  • Feb. 11: Canton

  • Feb. 18: Sterling Heights

  • Feb. 25: Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids

  • March 4: Hancock and Monroe

  • March 7: Lansing

  • March 11: Detroit and Flint

“The wants and needs of average, hard-working Michiganders were ignored last session. Their voice was unheeded after the 2012 election. They were physically shut out of the Capitol during lame duck,” Townsend said. “Enough is enough. Democrats stand with Michigan’s middle-class families, not corporate special interests. We are embarking on this listening tour so that Michiganders from Monroe to Menominee can have their voices heard.”