Sen. Jeff Irwin holds coffee hour in Clinton

State Sen. Jeff Irwin visited the Clinton Twp. Public Library on Saturday to talk with constituents about the environment, education, and other pressing concerns.

by Marsha Chartrand

At a coffee hour hosted by the Clinton Township Public Library on February 17, State Senator Jeff Irwin, who represents the City of Manchester, Manchester Township and Bridgewater Township, started off talking about Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s recently released budget projections for the 2024–25 fiscal year, noting that this early start would help the legislature get to work on a reasonable and workable timetable for schools, local government entities, and other agencies that  need to plan ahead for their own budgeting.

He praised Whitmer’s proposals, which included a focus on behavioral health care, raising trash tipping fees to reduce the influx of out-of-state trash, and increasing literacy across the board.

Whitmer’s proposal to raise the “tipping fees” at landfills has raised many eyebrows in Lansing, although it is not a new idea. In 2018, toward the end of Rick Snyder’s term as governor, the long-standing $0.36/ton fee was set to expire. Some Republicans floated a proposal to revise the solid waste and recovery laws, but since it never gained traction in the legislature, it has remained the same all these years.

Whitmer’s proposal to raise the fee to $5/ton may seem huge, but the Great Lakes average is $5.30 per ton. And Michigan pays a high environmental price as well since at least 25% of its trash is hauled in from out of state, most of which is unregulated.

“We have dropped the ball on a lot of environmental issues,” Irwin said, referring not only to trash dumping but to lack of regulation on PFAS in food packaging and the recent Bear Creek chemical spill in Macomb County.

He concluded by talking briefly about new initiatives in literacy, written into the governor’s budget, that will help identify at an early stage the students who may need help with reading and decoding, which is an essential part of the early reading process.

Irwin extended an invitation to constituents to reach out to him and his staff with concerns at senjirwin@senate.michigan.gov or (517) 373-2406.

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.