Latest news with #GinaJohnsen
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Michigan lawmakers hear out fetal income tax exemption
Rep. Gina Johnsen (R-Odessa Township) speaks at a House Education Committee meeting at Sterling Heights High School on March 11, 2024. (Photo: Anna Liz Nichols) Michigan lawmakers discussed the mechanics of a tax exemption that would put fetuses on par with children when claiming dependents on taxes. House Bill 4202 would allow individuals who have a physician's verification that they are at least 10 weeks pregnant by the end of the tax year to claim their fetus as a dependent. It's a straightforward 'pro-family' bill, the bill's sponsor Rep. Gina Johnsen (R-Lake Orion) told members of the state House Finance committee Tuesday. Johnsen said the bill would work to recognize the financial responsibilities that residents endure during pregnancy and promote growth in the state economy as families are incentivized to grow. 'This bill does not create a new entitlement. It does not expand government bureaucracy, and it does not affect Michigan's legal definitions related to personhood or abortion. It simply applies the same logic and fairness we already use for children born or lost late in the year to a pregnancy that is ongoing under medical care,' Johnsen said. 'This is a modest but meaningful bill that gives expecting mothers an added measure of support without creating a new program or imposing additional burdens on the state.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Though bills to offer tax relief during pregnancy can sound like a positive thing for residents, it's a common undercover tactic for state-level attempts to establish 'fetal personhood' in order to chip away at abortion rights, Planned Parenthood Action Fund said in a memo at the start of last year. Other 'fetal personhood' bills can look like efforts to allow pregnant people to pursue child support after conception and separate criminal and civil penalties for death of fetuses, placing the same level of personhood on fetuses as children. 'Legislative tactics and messaging of the fetal personhood movement may change, but the goal is the same — to control people's bodies, limit their health care choices, and criminalize people for having abortions,' Planned Parenthood Action Fund's memo says. 'These laws are not about supporting pregnant people…Instead, they are purposefully sowing confusion and slowly chipping away at people's rights to make reproductive health decisions.' Rep. Sarah Lightner (R-Springport) inquired if there was room to adjust the minimum weeks required under the exemption noting that under the bill's rules a person could claim the tax exemption at the end of the year and promptly terminate the pregnancy in the 11th week of pregnancy or beyond. Johnsen noted that the 10 week minimum was already a compromise. About 93% of all abortions in the U.S. are initiated within the first trimester, or 13 weeks of pregnancy, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rep. Kelly Breen (D-Novi) said she had some reservations on the bill but would be interested in seeing it tie-barred to only pass if the 'Momnibus' package, addressing disproportionate maternal mortality for moms of color, also passes the Legislature. Breen proposed an amendment to tie-bar the bills, though it was voted down by Republican committee members. 'Thank you to the sponsor for recognizing the need for additional supports for pregnant women and working moms…There's a lot of good that could come from the 'Momnibus' package, and that's why I've asked for this amendment to tie bar your bill to it,' Breen said before the vote on her amendment.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Residents voice opposition to Lake Odessa wind turbine
ODESSA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — The Odessa Township Board voted 2-2 to reject the application permit for a Cordelio Energy temporary testing facility Monday night. The vote followed more than an hour of public comment in vehement opposition of the eventual that Cordelio has proposed for the community. Most cited the environmental and noise pollution concerns they associate with wind turbines. Others warned of falling property values, possible reductions in population and the spoiling of their beautiful Ionia county landscape. 'This is going to shut the town down,' one commenter said. Company proposes dozens of wind turbines near Lake Odessa 'This beautiful land is being forfeited so the city can get some more power,' another added. 'The government needs to protect this community,' a third commenter said, referencing the township board. The testing facility is a necessary data-gathering prerequisite to building wind turbines in any community. But Monday's vote was likely mostly symbolic. The testing tower is already built and functioning. The tower was built in November 2024, one of three owned and operated by Cordelio in the area. It was approved by the Ionia County Building Department without a permit from the township, as is required in the township's that was passed in 2019. Cordelio admitted that was an 'oversight' and went to the township this year to get the necessary permitting. The appearance of the vote on the board's agenda attracted the anti-turbine crowd to the meeting. Now that the township has denied the permit, though, Cordelio will likely go to the Michigan Public Service Commission to get the permit instead, which poses more problems for the township. After the negative vote, Supervisor Gary Secor explained that if the Public Service Commission approves the permit now, it will nullify and void the township's wind ordinance, hampering its ability to dictate the wind turbine project when it reaches fruition. Consumers Energy purchases 800 acres of farmland in Oceana County The final curveball, though, is that because of a law passed last year, the state's Public Service Commission has the power to override local ordinances when planning and advancing 'utility level renewable energy projects.' That had Lake Odessa's State Representative Gina Johnsen, a Republican, fired up at Monday night's meeting — calling for the community to continue its fight as the convoluted process continues. 'The state voted that you don't have the authority to make the decision for what the people want,' Johnsen said to the board. 'It's your time to stand up and defend your turf … not with violence like others do … but with intelligence and with organization. … It might be a stall tactic. It might be putting your foot in the door so it doesn't slam shut. But it shows us how important it is to be engaged. You cannot be quiet.' The next steps in the process are uncertain but the community found unified resolve at Monday night's meeting. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
