Senator Jeff Irwin

State Senator Jeff Irwin

9 hours ago

It's budget time! The Michigan Senate Democrats passed the 2026-27 budget proposal today.

Among all of the elements of this budget, one piece that I am particularly proud of is our efforts to make it easier for residents to get help at home so that they can age in place.

We all know that people are happier and healthier if they stay longer in their home as they age. With a little help, people can avoid nursing homes longer, which is both preferred and less expensive. However, we pay in-home caregivers so little that we struggle to find people to do this work.

That's why our budget proposal improves the quality and availability of in-home care by increasing caregivers wages. If passed, direct care worker wages will increase to $18/hour.

Independent of all of the details, it is good news to see both the House and Senate pass our initial budgets earlier in the process. Last year, the House waited until August, weeks after the July 1st statutory deadline for budget completion. This timing makes it possible for us to complete the budget on time.

Here's the full bill: www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2025-2026/billanalysis/Senate/pdf/2026-SFA-0878-S.pdf

Here is more general coverage of the budget: michiganadvance.com/2026/04/29/passage-of-the-michigan-senate-budget-clears-way-to-negotiate-with... ... See MoreSee Less

State Senator Jeff Irwin

3 days ago

Michigan insurance rates are too high.

One of the reasons is that Michigan rates pay for too many lawyers fighting about claims that obviously should have been paid.

This is because Michigan is one of the few states that doesn't penalize insurance companies for denying a claim in “bad faith,” in other words, denying a claim they knew was covered. As a result, insurers in Michigan have a built-in incentive to deny claims, delay paying claims, and defend that abuse in court. What's worse, we all pay for this abuse.

I have a plan to fix that, SB 245. My bill would include a penalty for insurance companies that deny claims that they knew were valid, thereby reducing lawsuits, and bringing down the cost of insurance by reducing the expensive rigamarole that insurers use against Michigan consumers.

Here's an editorial explaining the issue:
www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2026/04/22/michigan-bill-could-protect-insurance-policyholders-...

To make a complaint with the state about insurance: www.michigan.gov/difs/consumers/insurance/health-insurance/individual/filing

The bill: www.legislature.mi.gov/Bills/Bill?ObjectName=2025-SB-0245 ... See MoreSee Less

State Senator Jeff Irwin

5 days ago

Michigan Republicans passed their budget proposal this week. They cut funds for education, healthcare, and environmental protection.

As Chair of the Senate subcommittee focused on environmental protection, here is a closer look at Republicans’ proposals for protecting clean air and water and for preventing flooding or higher water bills.

For starters, Michigan needs to fix our sewers, our drinking water systems, and our dams. There is federal money available to states for water infrastructure improvements. Michigan Republicans inexplicably propose leaving hundreds of millions of federal dollars in DC by failing to match those federal dollars. Not only that, these dollars put thousands of people to work fixing this critical infrastructure and the federal and state support help keep water bills lower. (The budget would cut the line from $390M to $93M. They would also be turning down approximately over $300M in federal funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) programs.)

Several cuts were also made throughout the budget that will harm cleanup activities, ongoing remediation of contaminated materials, redevelopment activities, and potentially endanger public health. Specifically, Republicans propose cutting:

1. Renew Michigan funding is cut $43.7M. This funding supports environmental remediation necessary to protect public health and the environment, including assistance with brownfields and superfund sites.

2. Superfund Cleanup is slashed from $9M to $482,100. EGLE implements the Superfund Program in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up hazardous waste sites as well as spills and other releases.

3. Emergency cleanup is reduced from $2M to $223,200, reducing the available pool of funds for quick response should an environmental emergency occur.

4. Contaminated Site Remediation and Redevelopment is recommended to be cut by $24.3M, stopping site cleanup and redevelopment of polluted sites all over Michigan (we have 27,000 identified, half of which have been orphaned and are now the responsibility of taxpayers.)

5. The Underground Storage Tank Authority line is cut by $10M. The unit provides financial assistance to remediate contamination caused by releases from petroleum underground storage tanks.

Taken together, these cuts are a massive slap in the face to Michigan. The Republican budget disrespects our health and our Great Lakes. Furthermore, the Republicans’ budget is a massive job killer, halts redevelopment and investment in our communities, and ignores the increasing problems residents face with high water bills and flooding. ... See MoreSee Less