Senator Nancy Cassis
State Senator Nancy Cassis, a Novi Republican, was elected to represent the citizens of the 15th Senate District in November 2002.
Born in 1944, she grew up in Southampton, Long Island, NY. She earned a bachelor's degree with highest honors from Ohio University in 1966, a master's degree from the University of Michigan in 1979, and an education specialist degree, also from U of M, in 1980.
Prior to her election to the state Senate, she served six years in the House of Representatives, having been elected to fill a vacancy in 1996. Senator Cassis also has experience in local government - she served as councilwoman for the city of Novi from 1985-93 and from 1995-96.
Before holding elected office, Senator Cassis was a school psychologist for the Novi Community Schools from 1980-96, and she taught in Cleveland for the Ohio Public Schools from 1966-68.
Upon her election to the state House, Cassis made history for her appointment as the first female chair of the House Tax Policy Committee. When she took office in the Senate, she was selected as chair of the Senate Finance Committee, based on her extensive knowledge of finance and tax policy issues, and experience as chair of the House Tax Policy Committee.
Since taking office, Senator Cassis has made tax policy, tax relief, improved educational opportunity for all children and transportation her priorities. Her efforts have improved the business climate and helped individuals, families and children across the state.
She has worked to create jobs, provide and maintain health benefits and sharpen Michigan's competitive edge by authoring legislation to eliminate the Single Business Tax by 2010, cut in half the state's tax penalty on employer-funded health benefits and keep manufacturing businesses in Michigan by allowing a personal property tax exemption for special tools. Additionally, she has worked to simplify the tax code and reduce the state's income tax from 4.4 to 3.9 percent, taking it to the lowest level in a quarter of a century.
Senator Cassis has led the way in protecting children by sponsoring legislation creating the Amber Alert of Michigan, criminalizing the act of hazing in schools and universities, and allowing public libraries to restrict minors from accessing pornographic Web sites on the Internet.
She also has been a staunch consumer advocate, sponsoring the Social Security Number Protection Act, a crucial tool in helping to protect against identy theft - the misuse and abuse of a person's Social Security number.
As a former educator, Senator Cassis knows that a quality education gives students the key to unlock the future. As vice-chair of the Senate Education Committee she has worked to provide adequate funding for our schools, reduce costs for school districts, help parents become involved in the education of their children and sponsored landmark legislation, now law to prevent early learning failure and give students the skills they need to succeed both in school and in life.
Since transportation and traffic/congestion relief are intimately and vitally connected to economic development, Senator Cassis has taken a leading role in negotiating the reinstatement of 17 projects to the Department of Transportation's Five-Year Road and Bridge Plan. The projects are essential to the health and safety of motorists and the economic vitality of the state. In fact, she is responsible for placing the reconstruction of the Beck Road interchange off I-96 on MDOT's 2004-05 priority list, and continues to press for other improvements, especially to the Wixom interchange.
Throughout her time in public office, Cassis has been an effective voice for taxpayers, businesses, families, children, seniors and the educational community. She is the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee and is a member of the Education, Banking and Financial Instutitions, and Government Operations and Reform. Senator Cassis was also elected by her collegues as Republican Caucus Chair.
Senator Cassis, and her husband Victor, have seven children and eleven grandchildren and are members of St. Mary's Orthodox Church in Livonia.
Community Service
Senator Cassis has served her community in various political positions, including:
Awards
Senator Cassis has been recognized with a number of awards in recent years, including:
Senator Nancy Cassis can be contacted by clicking here.
