Investing In Our Future

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   The Great Lakes make up the largest body of fresh water in the world, it is an irreplaceable natural resource that we, as Michiganders, have a duty to protect. Pipeline 5 that carries oil across the straits of mackinaw and the palisades nuclear plant that sits on the shoreline of lake Michigan right here in southwest Michigan are two of many threats to the safety and security of the Great Lakes. In addition, we have an abundance of ground water in our state which continues to be drawn out for Profit by water bottling companies and contaminated with PFAS and other carcinogens by corporations who avoid taking responsibility for their negligence. 

    As your State Representative, Jared Polonowski will work to remove the threats to our natural resources and protect them for the generations to come. He will also work to hold individuals and corporations accountable for their negligence. He will work to ensure that the citizens of Michigan are not left out in the cold as the result of negligence by any municipality or corporation. When situations arise like the Flint water Crisis or having contaminated wells as a result of dumping PFAS, the government has a responsibility to protect the people it serves and immediate action is necessary.

    Clean and Affordable energy and water is possible but its not going to happen overnight. Its going to take a creative multi-stage plan with a large investment in our infrastructure and communities over that period of time. It can not be done with annual budgets and two year election cycles. 

      "The purpose of the minimum wage was to stabilize the post-depression economy and protect the workers in the labor force. The minimum wage was designed to create a minimum standard of living to protect the health and well-being of employees." American's had lost their life saving in bank failures and many struggled to secure food and housing. Sound familiar? Let's run some numbers together. The current Michigan minimum wage is $10.33, well above the current federal minimum wage of $7.25, which would earn a worker about $1,650 a month, however, the median rent for a one bedroom rental in Michigan is $1,367 a month. This means that a worker, working 40 hours a week has almost no possible way to secure housing let alone food or health insurance. We can also compare this to the original intent of the law. The original min wage in 1933 was intended to be 40 cents an hour, in a time when rent for a one bedroom would only cost $18 a month. 

    As your State Representative, Jared Polonowski will work to ensure that every person working 40 hours a week is able to afford a place to live and food to eat. We have to ask ourselves, does the current minimum wage protect the health and well-being of our employees and how can we ensure that the minimum wage law remains effective? The answer may not surprise those of us who have had to qualify for a rental with in the last few decades. If the standard requirement to qualify for a lease is an income at least 3 times that of the rental price, then its safe to say that in order to ensure all workers are able to secure housing that the monthly minimum wage needs to be that of 3 times the median rental rate for our state. This would ensure that all working Michiganders have the opportunity to afford food, shelter and transportation.

    A living wage for all workers can be achieved and it is possible for this law to remain effective for the long term. Reevaluation of the rate annually and adjusting the minimum wage accordingly, just as most companies adjust salaries annually due to inflation, will ensure that every year, workers are compensated properly and that the compensation reflects the cost of living. 

    They Protect our citizens, our property and our communities. They are your Police and  Fire Departments and their funding and operation is crucial to the safety and security of our local communities. Unfortunately these services have continued to see reductions in funding and support over the past decade and the costs to operate these facilities have continued to increase with inflation and technology. Many communities have been forced to pass additional millages, taxing citizens who are already underpaid and over taxed, just to maintain the life saving equipment that the fire department requires all while the state has reduced revenue sharing due to budget short falls during the 2008 recession and now boasting record breaking surpluses as the economy is now in recovery, Local communities are having to choose between funding life saving first responders and not bankrupting their community

     In addition to Police and Fire, hospitals operate solely to serve the community and save lives. While they are not funded by the government, these non-profits were intended to operate within our communities, providing life saving practices that otherwise would not exist especially in poor rural communities where it would not be profitable for a corporation to operate. Unfortunately in recent years, the ability for these Hospitals to pay executives million dollar salaries has become more important than helping those in need of life saving procedures and we have seen a fundamental shift in the operation of these organizations. Whole departments are being eliminated and services removed from many rural hospitals as they are deemed to be not profitable in that area. For many Michigan residents this means driving an hour to have a baby or waiting two weeks to have a stint put in your heart so you don't die after suffering a heart attack.

   As your State Representative, Jared Polonowski will work to ensure that every community in Michigan is fully funded and that they receive the revenue sharing from the state that they require to operate a safe and productive community. He will make sure that Police and Fire departments are able to meet their basic requirements for service and set up support and resources for communities to receive additional services to help meet those requirements in rural and impoverished areas where revenue is lower. Jared will work to ensure that all Michiganders have affordable and accessible medical care and facilities locally especially in rural communities where many services will not generate enough profit for greedy executives. 

    Roads have been a sensitive subject in Michigan for a very long time, from having some of the worst roads in the country to our governors campaign slogan "fix the damn roads" but fixing the roads and improving our infrastructure is going to take more than a catchy slogan. Today in many communities across Michigan, roads remain closed from washing out with no money to repair them. Sidewalks have fallen into rivers leaving pedestrians to walk into oncoming traffic and unimproved roads are in such bad condition that residents have difficulty getting to work. In 2018-19 9% of the state's budget went to transportation. Fast forward to 2023 that has been reduced to 8%. This is not to fault our governor or democrats or republicans, its to point out a fundamental issue is how we fund our roads and infrastructure and how we determine those annual budgets. There are decades of data that prove the current methods do not work and will not solve the problem. Cheap materials that result in lower bids require regular maintenance and have a significantly short life span which has gotten us all stuck into a viscous 10 year cycle of roads falling apart and needing additional funding to "fix the damn roads" again.

    As your State Representative, Jared Polonowski will work to rewrite the policies on roadway standards and funding. Jared will work to ensure that we are focused on the cost effective solution with long term benefits in mind and specifically setting aside funds for major projects that will improve the lives of all Michiganders. Jared also will work to ensure that the materials and products that we use on our roadways are safe for our wildlife and water ways. These changes cannot happen with annual budgets. The whole idea that if a department or community doesn't use it, then they lose it has got to go. We need to examine where this money is being spent and if the money being spent is actually effective. Are we improving the roads and our communities? or are we just wasting tax payer dollars in order to improve someones political appearance.

https://www.house.mi.gov/HFA/Archives/PDF/Briefings/MDOT_BudgetBriefing_fy18-19.pdf

https://www.house.mi.gov/hfa/PDF/Briefings/MDOT_BudgetBriefing_fy22-23.pdf

    If you travel to many of the European counties, you will notice that Michigan's public transportation is outdated and ineffective. For most rural communities public transit doesn't exist. Where there are public transit services in rural areas, it takes so long to utilize these services that they have become ineffective and end up being a waste of tax payer money. Leaving citizens in rural communities stranded and feeling isolated. Its no secret that the cost of automobiles, insurance, road maintenance and construction are at an all time high while our incomes have been mostly stagnate. It's also more apparent than ever that we have a climate crisis that we need to work diligently to solve by reducing emission of greenhouse gasses and lowering our carbon footprint.

    As your Representative, Jared Polonowski will work to fund the expansion of an effective public transit system including railways, bussing, autonomous vehicles.and the infrastructures that supports those systems for both rural communities and for urban and interstate travel. Jared believes that there are social, environmental and economic reasons to fund and construct effective pubic transit systems to service all of our communities. Effective public transit will improve our citizen's ability to travel as well as reduce the number of cars on Michigan roadways and greenhouse gas emissions. These systems will also stimulate growth in our economy, Tourism and jobs market while lowing the burden on other areas of infrastructure. 

    Over 30% of Michigan residents rely on insurance through the state. Another 20% rely on medicare and another 10% don't have insurance. This means that today the current system for medical care only works for less than 40% of Michiganders. If you owned a car that only worked 40% of the time, would you keep it or would you fix or replace it? Lack of quality medial care is amounting to about 68,000 deaths nationally and the increase has assisted in reducing our life expectancy for the first time in nearly 40 years. Insurance companies have been allowed to rake in record profits practicing medicine without a licences and denying those who need life saving procedures. The rise in insurance costs have also resulted in the rise in costs of car insurance to the point where people can no longer afford to drive. The Michigan that we live in today is one where if you cannot afford glasses at the cost of $1000 dollars then you don't get to see. The Michigan that we live in today is one where if you cannot afford your insulin at $600 dollars a month then you get to die.

    As your State Representative, Jared will work to move Michigan to a self-funded healthcare system, where 99% of your money goes to pay for healthcare services for you, your family, your friends and every resident in the state of Michigan. This is not a new idea. Most large companies and corporations have self-funded insurance plans because that is the most cost effect and successful way to pay for healthcare, it always has been. In fact, all of your elected representatives here in Michigan have self-funded insurance through BCBS. so, if its good enough them, why isn't it good enough for you? Jared believes that every Michigan resident should have free access to medical care with their doctor, at their hospital and in their community. Together we can ensure everyone gets the care they need and reduce the financial burden for individuals, families and the state assistance programs.