Chris’s Priorities

Chris is running to be our State Representative to address the issues that we’re facing and fight for meaningful, systemic solutions. In Lansing, he’ll stand up to corporate interests and advance legislation that improves our lives, not the bottom line of big corporations. That’s why as State Representative, Chris will fight to:

  • Michigan needs a Green New Deal, and as our representative, Chris will work to keep environmental issues at the forefront. Clean air and water are a human right, and we need to do whatever we can to protect our natural resources from pollution and corporate exploitation - that means passing bold new legislation for polluter pay, implementing cumulative impact standards to fight air and water pollution in our most vulnerable communities, funding publicly-owned renewable energy, and investing in infrastructure that can withstand climate change and protect every Michigander from the impacts of storms and flooding.

  • As State Representative, Chris will work tirelessly to secure state funding for an underpass at the Hilton/9 Mile train crossing that stops the traffic jams and keeps us moving. He’ll also fight to fund regional public transit and give us alternatives to sitting in traffic.

    The most important role right now for the state government is in funding local priorities and advancing a broad focus on regional infrastructure, especially in the Metro Detroit area. Statewide infrastructure and transit funding will be critical in overcoming historical resistance to regional solutions for public transit, flooding/stormwater management, environmental protections, and a number of other similar infrastructure priorities.

  • As our representative, Chris will always work for our district, not for DTE. In the long term, we need statewide public power and publicly owned renewable energy. The goal of our energy infrastructure should always be reliable and affordable power, not shareholder profits. In the short term, we still need to hold the utilities accountable - that means legalizing and expanding community solar power, passing “Take Back Our Power” laws to ban campaign contributions from monopoly utilities, and expanding accountability laws to make DTE increase outage compensation and invest in our grid infrastructure.

  • As our representative, Chris will always work for our district, not for DTE. In the long term, we need statewide public power and publicly owned renewable energy. The goal of our energy infrastructure should always be reliable and affordable power, not shareholder profits. In the short term, we still need to hold the utilities accountable - that means legalizing and expanding community solar power, passing “Take Back Our Power” laws to ban campaign contributions from monopoly utilities, and expanding accountability laws to make DTE increase outage compensation and invest in our grid infrastructure.

  • Repealing RTW was a major and meaningful win with real material consequences, but that still only removed one of several barriers to union organizing. Chris believes Michigan should pass a statewide version of the PRO act to streamline union organizing and ban deceptive union-busting tactics like captive-audience meetings. Chris also supports measures to make union dues at least partially tax-deductible, which would undermine a major union-busting argument advanced by corporations. In the longer term, Chris supports passing bold pro-worker measures via a Workers’ Bill of Rights that would codify the right to collectively bargain, the right to strike, the right to fair and accurate classification as an employee vs. a contractor, the right to sick and parental leave, the right to guaranteed severance pay, and the right to good-cause termination.

  • Chris believes that housing is a Human Right. As our State Representative, Chris will fight for good cause eviction and work to reimburse Detroiters for property tax overcharges. Chris supports tenant protections like those advanced by the Rent is Too Damn High coalition: legalizing rent control, funding social housing, and passing the full Renters’ Bill of Rights and a ban on source-of-income discrimination with as few exemptions as legally possible. Chris fully supports a long-term legalization of and investment in public housing at all levels, and wherever possible he supports state-level measures to transition our housing development programs away from tax-increment financing or profit-oriented development and towards more public ownership of housing infrastructure.

  • Chris knows for our communities to thrive, we need to invest in our public schools. That’s why as State Representative, he’ll fight for Pre-K for All, raises for all public school teachers and support staff, and investment in afterschool programs. Chris supports measures to strengthen teacher unions during collective bargaining, and he believes we should invest state funds into reversing the financial demands placed on teachers during various local and state budget crises. At the higher education level, Chris believes the best way to ensure affordable access to higher education is to directly fund programs for free- or heavily-subsidized college throughout the state, and he supports massively expanded investment in universities as a site of research and innovation for the public good.

  • Prop 2 was a major step forwards, but we absolutely still have work to do to improve voting access in Michigan. Chris supports statewide measures to standardize and universalize protections that are often undermined by inconsistent local election administration, as well as increased funding to local clerks to fully implement our voter protections. Chris also supports the immediate passage of the proposed Michigan Voting Rights Act, including preclearance provisions to ensure voting rights are protected everywhere.

  • Passing Prop 3 in 2022 was a massive win for reproductive freedom, but we still have work to do to protect the right to abortion and bodily autonomy. We need to repeal antiquated anti-abortion laws that are still on the books in Michigan, like the 24-hour waiting period and the Reagan-Era ban on Medicaid funding for abortion. We need to protect Planned Parenthood, and we need to fight back against misinformation from “crisis pregnancy centers” that exist to mislead vulnerable Michiganders who need access to abortions. As our representative, Chris will work to protect access to medication abortion, and he’ll always do whatever it takes to stop local, state, and federal Republicans from interfering with Michiganders’ rights.