Yesterday in the Michigan Senate we celebrated a long-awaited victory for Michigan workers in the passage of a portion of the Hire Michigan First legislative package. In a time of economic downturn, with unemployment rates soaring, giving Michigan workers priority for jobs created with Michigan taxpayer dollars is the right thing to do. It sends the message that we will not let our state fail, and that we have faith in Michigan families to survive this difficult time and come out on top.

Our state has thousands of talented workers who have been displaced due to the loss of manufacturing jobs. We have instituted programs to train these workers for new, in-demand fields such as renewable energy, but these workers cannot succeed if there aren’t jobs available for them when they finish. The same goes for new college graduates, who are ready and willing to work but will leave the state if they can’t find employment.

Democrats recognized the importance of this legislation years ago, and I’ve been working to pass it every chance I get. However, until this week, these bills had not even been given a committee hearing. We have been relentless in our fight for Michigan workers, with several efforts to move these bills, repeated calls for action, and town hall meetings around the state. A few examples of our ongoing activity on behalf of Hire Michigan First include:

We reintroduced the bills in the Senate in February: http://www.senate.mi.gov/dem/pr.php?id=1211.

I spoke on the Senate floor about this issue in early March, around the time the House passed these bills, once again encouraging action to help Michigan workers. You can see the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26wlvu05Ono&feature=channel_page.

Senate Democrats fought to bring these bills to the floor again in April: http://www.senate.mi.gov/dem/pr.php?id=1278.

We also started a Cause page on Facebook for Hire Michigan First earlier this year. It has over 1,100 members, and is growing by the day. You can join to show your support here: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/235147/41930933?m=6d54c0aa.

This is just a sampling of the work we’ve done to make sure Michigan workers are given priority for Michigan jobs. And yesterday, we not only stood in support of this legislation to put Michigan workers first. We also fought for fair wages for those workers and sought to close loopholes in the legislation created by Senate Republicans that would make it easier for companies to hire out-of-state workers. You can read our press release on it here: http://www.senate.mi.gov/dem/pr.php?id=1316.

Michigan residents should be able to see their tax dollars working to create jobs with companies that will hire Michigan workers and not outsource jobs to out-of-state or overseas workers. In addition to the jobs created directly by the Hire Michigan First initiative, those put to work will spend their paychecks in local grocers, restaurants, and businesses creating an important multiplier effect for local economies. This has been a long journey, and there are still pieces of the original bill package that have not been passed. I remain as committed to our state’s workforce as ever and will continue to work on this issue until it’s finished. The hardworking people of this state are the backbone of our economy, and now more than ever, we need to stand up for them. Whether its construction projects or manufactured products, it’s simply not good enough to say “Made in Michigan,” but we must demand they’re “Made by Michigan.”

Whether you have a long commute or a ten minute drive to work, the heavy congestion that morning and rush hour traffic brings lengthens your trip. Five years ago, when gas hovered around $1.70, the only thing significantly wasted was your time. Now, as your car inches to work testing speeds between 15 mph and idling, you are wasting money as well as polluting the environment.

To keep traffic moving quickly and encourage car pooling, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is exploring the option of creating special freeway or highway lanes throughout Michigan that would be reserved only for cars that contain two or more people, including the driver. Drivers caught using these lanes without a passenger would face a $100 fine. These car pool roads, specifically referred to as high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, are prevalent throughout the country as a way to encourage drivers to share rides.

Several months ago, during the renovation of Michigan Avenue in Detroit, MDOT constructed Michigan’s first HOV lane. However, with no law in effect, the state police could not ticket vehicles who were misusing these lanes by driving solo. To address this problem, I recently introduced Senate Bill 1463 which would give law enforcement officials the right to put these rules into effect and keep the car pool lanes strictly for vehicles with numerous passengers.

By reducing the volume of cars on the road, these HOV lanes wouldn’t just provide a faster, more reliable commute time for Michigan workers, they would also save drivers money that was normally spent filling up their gas tanks regularly and maintaining a vehicle that endures the wear and tear of driving long distances.

Also, by reducing the amount of cars on the road, we are shrinking the amount of dangerous emissions being pumped into the atmosphere and polluting our state. According to MDOT, the average car produces a pound of pollution every 25 miles. If even half the number of the solitary drivers chose to take advantage of these HOV lanes we would eliminate millions of pounds of pollution everyday, making the air we breathe cleaner. 

As my bill awaits action in the Transportation Committee, the House and Senate have drafted similar legislation that would enforce the use of HOV lanes. These innovative solutions will not only help boost our economy, but also keep Michigan citizens’ pockets fuller. I look forward to working together with my colleagues to pursue any further efforts that would encourage HOV lanes in Michigan.

If you've ever watched the polar bears propelling through the Polar Passage in the award-winning Arctic Ring of Life or hand-fed the reticulated giraffes in the African Grasslands, you know that the Detroit Zoo is an amazing Michigan treasure. And I say that based on 33 years of first-hand experience -- because the zoo is literally in my backyard. In our first home, I could even see the camel exhibit from my daughter’s bedroom window.

So I'm writing to publicly thank the hundreds of thousands of voters from Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties who demonstrated their appreciation of the Detroit Zoo by voting YES to the 0.1 mill property tax increase that appeared on last Tuesday's primary ballot. This support will assure that the million visitors who come to the Zoo every year will continue to enjoy the riches that our Zoo provides.

I would also like to thank everyone who worked to make this effort possible. My legislative colleagues on both sides of the aisle in both chambers expedited the necessary legislation to place the issue before the people. County commissioners and public officials championed the effort. Newspaper editorials urged support. Thousands of metro Detroit area residents wrote letters, displayed yard signs, and otherwise voiced their support of the Detroit Zoo. Most importantly, some 332,000 of them turned out on Election Day to demonstrate that support.

For me, this bipartisan bicameral effort was a model for how government should work. When faced with a crisis, the legislature came together and quickly acted to allow the people across the region to decide the Zoo's fate. And the people overwhelmingly responded. And, as a result, our Detroit Zoo will remain a world-class institution for animals and people.

As a parent and neighbor of the Detroit Zoo for more than three decades, I know its entertainment value. As a State Senator, I know the very important role that the Detroit Zoo plays in growing our economy. And as we continue our efforts to lure new industry and jobs to Michigan, the Zoo will remain a premier attraction.