Latest news with #DarrinCamilleri
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Michigan Senators try again for legislation to keep out hazardous waste
Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton) during a meeting of the Senate Energy and Environment Committee on June 5, 2025. | Kyle Davidson Members of the Michigan Senate are once again weighing efforts to deter out-of-state companies from dumping hazardous waste in the state while updating standards for managing landfills and potentially harmful materials. Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton) on Thursday laid out a renewed proposal for revamping the state's approach to hazardous waste management before his colleagues on the Senate Energy and Environment Committee. During his testimony, Camilleri noted the bills are a response to recent attempts to ship hazardous waste from the East Palestine train derailment, as well as radioactive material from the Manhattan Project, into disposal sites within his district. 'I've had countless conversations with residents and local municipal leaders who are horrified about that potentially harmful material being transported to their communities on their roads and disposed of in their backyard,' Camilleri said. 'Frankly, it is ridiculous that these facilities are located in these dense population centers in the first place.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX If passed, Camilleri's Senate Bill 246 would require the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy to create a hazardous and radioactive waste management plan and issue a moratorium on licensing new hazardous waste storage and disposal facilities or expansions of existing facilities. It would also place stricter siting requirements on hazardous waste facilities to keep them away from large population centers and cap the amount of hazardous waste disposed of within Michigan by tying it to the amount of waste the state produces. While federal law prevents Michigan from banning trash from other states, Camilleri said his policy is a creative effort to try and skirt federal regulations on commerce between states by preferencing Michigan's waste, and allowing other states to send their waste on top of that. 'It's not a perfect solution to that out of state problem, but it's our version of trying our best to take care of home first,' Camilleri said. Additionally, Senate Bill 246 increases the fees for disposing of hazardous waste from $10 a ton to $25 a ton, radioactive waste from $5 per ton to $12.50 per ton, with a portion of the increased fees going towards redevelopment. Another percentage would go toward a new community surcharge reimbursement fund, and another piece would go toward a grant fund to support communities that host hazardous waste disposal facilities. Camilleri's proposal would also increase the waste tipping fee, or the charge to dump in Michigan landfills, from 36 cents a ton, to $1.20. In her budget proposals for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 fiscal years, Whitmer asked lawmakers to increase the state's tipping fee to $5 in order to combat out-of-state dumping and increase revenue for environmental remediation, brownfield redevelopment, local waste management assistance and grants and recycling initiatives. Alongside Senate Bill 246, Camilleri's Senate Bill 247 targets a liquid waste injection well in Romulus, creating a $100 per ton tipping fee for the waste that goes into those wells. 'The city of Romulus is, right now, on the hook for all types of public safety,' Camilleri said. 'In the event of a disaster with this type of well, they will be the ones forced to pay for additional equipment, additional public safety, including fire and EMS. … This type of fee would help offset some of those costs.' During the meeting, local officials from Romulus and nearby Van Buren Township and Canton Township shared their support for the bills. They cited concerns about out-of-state dumping, and the public health and environmental threats that could come from storing more waste at facilities like the Wayne Disposal Inc. Hazardous Waste Landfill in Van Buren Township. Canton Township Supervisor Anne Marie Graham-Hudak noted that the landfill is three miles south of Canton and sits next to two schools in a residential neighborhood. It's also surrounded by environmental justice communities, she said, neighborhoods where people of color and low-income individuals are disproportionately exposed to environmental hazards. Kevin Krause, the director of community safety and development for the city of Romulus, said the city is inadequately prepared to respond to an emergency at the Romulus injection well, not only from the perspective of the local fire department, but from the regional and county level, as well. 'We are under-resourced, under-trained and underprepared at this particular location,' Krause said. Should there be an issue with the injection well, the response will fall solely on the shoulders of local firefighters to mitigate any threat to the environment and population, while agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Michigan EGLE would only be able to provide administrative support. Supporting Senate Bill 247 would give the city the ability to develop proper pre-response plans, raise awareness, and incorporate surrounding departments and regional hazardous materials teams into their planning, Krause said.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Michigan Senate Democrats put forward a plan to add more than $1B to education budget
Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton) speaks at the Michigan Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on PreK-12. April 29, 2025 | Screenshot Michigan Senate Democrats put forward a more than $1 billion funding increase for the state's public schools Tuesday, with an emphasis on lowering elementary schools' class sizes. The plan, introduced by state Sen. Darrin Camilleri , would raise per-pupil funding by $400, from $9,608 to $10,008, with districts required to use 50% of that increase to boost teacher pay. It would also include $2.5 billion in investments for student mental health, a continuation of the program providing free breakfast and lunch for every Michigan public school student, and upgrades for school building infrastructure, including 'clean and functional' HVAC systems. Camilleri, a former teacher and chair of the Senate PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee, said the budget proposal reflects their responsibility to provide students with a safe and supportive high-quality education. 'By investing in mental health resources, modernizing our school facilities, and helping students focus in school through free school meals, we are setting up every child for success. We're also making critical investments to ensure teachers are paid fairly and classrooms remain small, so that every student gets the attention and support they need to thrive,' Camilleri (D-Trenton) said in a press release. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The plan would increase the School Aid Fund budget by 5%, from the nearly $20.8 billion in Fiscal Year 2025, which ends on Sept. 30, to just over $21.8 billion for the FY26 budget. Among the new provisions is $400 million for districts to reduce class sizes in kindergarten through third grade classrooms, which would be paired with a $65 million competitive grant program to do the same. The budget proposal passed the appropriations subcommittee Tuesday on a party-line 6-1 vote, with majority Democrats in favor. The lone no vote was from the only Republican present, Sen. Thomas Albert who asked why $232 million in incentives for implementation of best practices at low performing schools that had been proposed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in her executive budget recommendation was missing from this plan. 'I actually took that as a positive step to trying to right some of the ways we've been approaching education in the state,' Albert (R-Lowell) said. Camilleri said Democrats remained open to that in budget negotiations, but they believe there is a greater priority for those funds to assist at-risk students. 'We know that many of these school districts that do need additional supports, they need it because they're dealing with high concentrations of poverty for their student population,' Camilleri responded. 'And so investing an additional $258 million in those programs gives school districts the flexibility that they need to lower class sizes, to pay teachers better, and to hopefully invest in those interventions with at-risk funding that we do think can fix some of these systemic educational challenges that our kids face.' That focus was cheered by Peter Spadafore, executive director of the Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity, which called the Senate education budget proposal a 'significant step forward' in serving at-risk students. 'We are especially encouraged by the proposed 25% increase in the Opportunity Index, which would direct an additional $250 million to schools serving students with the greatest needs. Building upon previous investments, this targeted support will help ensure more equitable opportunities for students across Michigan,' Spadafore said. The Senate education budget plan sets up a confrontation with the GOP-controlled state House, which has proposed a road funding plan removing the 6% sales tax on gas and instead increasing the motor fuel tax by 20 cents which would be wholly dedicated to funding road upkeep. Currently the motor fuel tax is 31 cents per gallon. Because more than $700 million a year derived from the gas sales tax goes to the School Aid Fund, House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) proposed to replace that lost revenue from the state's general fund, an idea House Minority Leader Rep. Ranjeev Puri (D-Canton) likened to 'robbing Peter to pay Paul.' While Democrats hope to have a state budget plan for schools in place by July 1, which is the start of the fiscal year for most school districts, House Republicans have already passed a $20 billion stopgap spending plan to maintain government services in the event of a government shutdown. That would occur if a state budget is not in place by Oct. 1, the start of the state's fiscal year.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Drug affordability legislation gets second pass through Michigan Senate
Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton), lead sponsor of a bill package that would create a Prescription Drug Affordability Board, speaking in support of the original legislation in 2023. | Kyle Davidson For the second time, Michigan Senate Democrats have pushed forward legislation they say will bring to heel 'skyrocketing' prescription drug costs in the state. On Thursday, the state Senate passed bills that would create a Prescription Drug Affordability Board, or PDAB, which would have the authority to set upper payment limits on drugs sold in Michigan. 'This board is a simple concept and a great idea,' Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Brownstown Township), sponsor of one of the bills, said. 'It allows for a public body of officials appointed by the governor, including folks who have no connection to the pharmaceutical industry whatsoever, who would then review some of these exorbitant price increases that we see from some companies as they are attempting to gouge the American consumer. They will hold them accountable. It will be a public and transparent process, and they will find ways to lower those costs for our residents.' Republican opposition, however, centered on concerns of replacing a free market system with a 'government-controlled collectivist system,' as Sen. Thomas Albert (R-Lowell) referred to it. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'Why do we have such a disproportionate amount of innovation and pharmaceuticals in the United States of America as opposed to the rest of the globe?' he asked. 'It's because the producers are free to innovate and they are free to have the market regulate the supply and the demand of the product. If you eliminate that, there's no incentive for innovation or entrepreneurship. It goes away. The competition is destroyed. This does not benefit people. This hurts people.' The package, consisting of Senate Bills 3, 4 and 5, passed with a bare majority of 20 votes, with Sen. John DaMoose (R-Harbor Springs) the lone Republican to join the 19 Democrats in approval. The legislation now moves to the GOP-controlled House, where its future is less assured. This is the second time Democrats have passed the bills through the Senate, with the upper chamber previously approving the legislation in October 2023, only to see it ultimately die without a vote in the House Insurance and Financial Services Committee. At the time, the House was controlled by Democrats, but with Republicans now in the majority there, passage will be even more difficult. One ray of hope for supporters came from Damoose, who voted against the plan when it originally passed, but on Thursday said further investigation produced a change of heart on his part. 'Last term I was persuaded by the idea that the market should determine the cost of drugs,' Damoose said. 'But the more I learned, the more apparent it became that calling the prescription drug market a free market is a total farce. We are so far from being a free market when it comes to pharmaceuticals, it's unbelievable.' Damoose noted the hundreds of billions of dollars invested by the federal government in developing many of the most popular and useful drugs, and yet U.S. taxpayers in many cases did not have affordable access to those drugs. 'It's unconscionable in my mind that those within the nation that supported the development of production of the most incredible body of medical advancement the world has ever seen would pay more than anyone else to access the benefits of those very prescription drugs,' Damoose said. The pharmaceutical industry, however, sees the situation differently, with trade group PhRMA saying the proposed board would have 'long-term, harmful effects' on both the development of livesaving drugs and patients' ability to access them. 'Prescription Drug Affordability Boards are a disaster for patients,' said Stami Turk, director of public affairs at PhRMA. 'These bills put the government between patients and their doctors. Patients deserve access to the medicine their doctors prescribe – not roadblocks from Lansing. The House has the chance to do the right thing and to get the government out from in between patients and their physicians.' Doctors, meanwhile, have welcomed the proposal, with support from the Michigan State Medical Society and the Committee to Protect Health Care. Dr. Rob Davidson, is an emergency room physician in west Michigan and executive director of the committee. 'Doctors are encouraged to see this legislation to help our patients better afford their prescription drugs, and to help finally hold Big Pharma accountable, move forward in the legislative process,' Davidson said. 'We look forward to swift passage of these bills in both the Senate and House in Michigan so that our patients here can also benefit from upper payment limits and be able to take their medications as doctors like us prescribe.'
