Earlier today, at Senior Centers across the district, I launched an aggressive effort to ensure that our local senior citizens have a State Representative who is standing up for their interests in Lansing. Local seniors should be able to enjoy their retirement years with peace of mind and dignity. Unfortunately, as a result of the recent turbulence in the financial markets, many seniors fear that the money they saved for retirement may not be enough.

My plan will ensure a secure retirement for all Michigan seniors, hold drug companies responsible when their products harm or kill, and add needed protections from predatory lenders that threaten the ability of seniors to hold on to their homes.  Finally, because many seniors live on a fixed income, my plan will ensure that property taxes don’t increase when home values fall, and I will reform state government to ensure that it is effective, efficient, and accountable to Michigan taxpayers.

Here are the specifics of the plan I laid out:

Promote a secure retirement for Michigan seniors
•    I will fight efforts that jeopardize retirement security and weaken pension protections for Michigan seniors, including proposals to privatize public pensions.
•    According to a June 2008 report by the global consulting firm Watson Wyatt, as reported in the Wall Street Journal, traditional pension plans outperformed private investment accounts, providing both more certainty and more money to pay for retirement.

End drug industry immunity and allow seniors to hold big drug companies accountable when their products harm or kill Michigan residents
•    Repeal Michigan’s one-of-a-kind law that gives drug companies immunity from legal action so long as the drug in question has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
•    Make the repeal retroactive so that Michigan residents harmed by dangerous drugs since 1996 can seek legal recourse.
•    Extend the Consumer Protection Act to cover drug companies.

Protect seniors by cutting taxes and cracking down on predatory lending
•    Prevent property taxes from rising when the value of a home declines.
•    Ban predatory lending practices, such as making loans without requiring a borrower to prove their ability to pay, encouraging a borrower to default, and charging fees for a payoff statement.
•    Protect homeowners’ equity by prohibiting home refinancing to generate fees for the lender unless there is a tangible net benefit to the borrower and protect consumers from being steered toward high-cost loans when they would otherwise qualify for a traditional loan.

Make state government more efficient, effective and accountable to Michigan taxpayers
•    Cut the salaries of elected officials by 5% to reduce the cost of government.
•    End free lifetime health care benefits for lawmakers and other elected officials. No other job guarantees a person free lifetime health care after working for only six years.
•    Prohibit lawmakers from becoming lobbyists for two years after leaving office.
•    Pursue a broad-based bi-partisan reform agenda that invests in key budget priorities by reducing government expenditures that fail to deliver value to taxpayers.

These common-sense proposals will improve the lives of local seniors, and ensure they have a representative in Lansing who is on their side.

You can see pictures of Dan’s visits here.