(Hundreds of citizens from across the state gathered at the State Capitol in Lansing on Wednesday, September 30, at noon to demand insurance reforms that will allow all residents to purchase fair and affordable auto and home insurance. These are State Senator Martha G. Scott’s remarks at the event.)

Good afternoon!!!!!

And how can I thank you all for coming out on this GLORIOUS day to make your voices heard!

We’ve been here before, haven’t we?

Some people might wonder why we keep coming back.

Well, let me tell you.

Because there is still injustice to be fought.

The civil rights activist Mary Church Terrell once wrote, “Keep on moving, keep on insisting, keep on fighting injustice.”

I keep on moving.

I keep on insisting.

I keep on fighting injustice.

For nearly six years I have spoken out every single session day on the excessive and unjust insurance rates in Michigan.

I have explained the problem over and over. I have read hundreds of your complaints aloud to my Senate colleagues.

And I have introduced bills to bring justice and fairness to the rate-setting process.

But so far my pleas have gone unheard.

That's why I invited you back here today – to join together in one loud and unified voice to demand meaningful insurance reform.

All Michigan citizens deserve fair and affordable auto and home insurance.

Rates should not be based on where you live.

Rates should not be based on your education level.

Rates should not be based on your job title.

Rates should not be based on your credit score.

None of these things have anything to do with your driving record, or the value of your car or home!

Michigan consumers pay the 12th highest insurance rates in the nation.

Detroit consumers pay an average of more than $5,000 a year for auto insurance, the highest rates in the nation. That’s more than $400 a month.

Insurance companies will say rates go up or are higher in urban areas because of accident and auto theft rates.

But accident and auto theft rates across Michigan, and in Detroit, have steadily declined over the years while insurance rates have shot up.

Your elected leaders are in the building behind me right now trying to find a way to make the money we have meet our state’s needs.

We all know what that feels like, don’t we?

Money spent on insurance – required by law in Michigan – is money struggling families cannot spend on their mortgage, their utilities, and food.

Changing the way insurance companies do business in Michigan will put money back into the pockets of hard-working people.

There are bills before the legislature right now to address these issues.

They deserve a hearing.

They deserve a vote.

Do you ever watch that TV show "Extreme Home Makeover" where that fellow Ty Pennington yells: "MOVE THAT BUS!"?

Well, let's let those legislators hear us when we say: MOVE THOSE BILLS!!!

As a newly elected United States Senator, Barack Obama said to the Knox College graduating class:

“The true test of the American ideal is whether we are able to recognize our failings and then rise together to meet the challenges of our time.”

Are we going to rise together to meet this challenge?

Yes? Then let me hear you!

We will not be silent! We will not consent! So let me hear you!

MOVE THOSE BILLS!!! MOVE THOSE BILLLS!! MOVE THOSE BILLS!!

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Senator Scott represents the 2nd Senate District, which includes areas of Detroit and the cities of Hamtramck, Harper Woods, Highland Park and all of the Grosse Pointes. She serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee.