Latest news with #MaiXiong
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Rep. Xiong responds to ‘disrespectful' remarks from Michigan House Speaker
Michigan state Rep. Mai Xiong (D-Warren) speaks at a news conference in opposition of a Republican-led House Joint Resolution to institute new requirements to prove citizenship in order to vote on March 11, 2025. | Photo: Anna Liz Nichols While speaking with reporters during his weekly press briefing on Wednesday, Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) launched into a string of insults leveled at state Rep. Mai Xiong (D-Warren), after she criticized Hall for canceling a legislative session set for Tuesday, the same day President Donald Trump came to Michigan for a rally attended by Hall to mark the President's first 100 days in office. 'We have this very low IQ representative named Mai Xiong, probably one of the dumbest ones in the Legislature, and I saw this video of her, and she's like 'the House Speaker is not here today. We need to have session. You know? We need to work for the people of Michigan, Macomb County,'' Hall said. 'Well, where was I? While she's doing nothing for her county and for her district. I was in Macomb County, right near her district, delivering a new mission with President Trump for Selfridge Air Force Base. So I hope she thanks me. That would be nice. Wouldn't it be nice if Mai Xiong made a video thanking me because she's not doing anything anyway.' Hours after the press conference concluded, Xiong responded, posting a video which included Hall's remarks and releasing a statement shortly after. 'I am deeply disheartened and disappointed by the recent remarks made by the Speaker of the Michigan House…These words weren't just disrespectful — they were meant to demean, belittle, and devalue,' Xiong said in her statement before criticizing Hall's leadership decisions. 'Let me be clear: What's truly dumb is passing a state House bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico, a body of water thousands of miles away from Michigan and a waste of taxpayer dollars,' Xiong said. 'What's truly dumb is violating the Michigan Constitution by hijacking nine bills passed by the legislature, including one I authored to support our public workers, and blocking them from reaching the governor's desk while pretending to hold veto power he simply doesn't have.' Following a tumultuous lame duck session — where Senate Democrats worked through a record-setting 29 hour session to advance policies before House Republicans took control of the chamber, ending Democrats trifecta in Lansing — nine bills passed during that session have been held in limbo, after former House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit) failed to present the votes to the governor. Senate Democrats have since taken legal action against the House to compel Hall to present the bills. While Court of Claims Judge Sima Patel determined that the state Constitution requires House leadership to submit the bills to the governor, she declined to order Hall to do so, as state courts have previously declined to enforce legislative rules. Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) sought to bring the case directly to the Michigan Supreme Court. However, the Court declined to hear the case, instead ordering the Michigan Court of Appeals to 'expedite its consideration and resolution of this case.' Xiong's bill, House Bill 6058, would increase the amount public employers can contribute towards employees' health insurance plans. In her statement, Xiong further criticized Hall for taking credit for securing additional fighter jets at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. 'While the Speaker uses the press and platform of the Speakership to tear others down, let me remind him, and the people of Michigan — who I am,' Xiong said. 'I am a mother of four young children who will one day ask me why the highest elected official in the House called their mom dumb and 'low IQ.' I am a refugee and immigrant who came here seeking freedom. I am a daughter, sister, a wife, a friend. I am the first Hmong American elected — and currently only Asian American woman in the Michigan House of Representatives.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democrats condemn proof of citizenship voting resolution advancing in Michigan House as ‘poll tax'
Michigan state Rep. Mai Xiong (D-Warren) speaks at a news conference in opposition of a Republican-led House Joint Resolution to institute new requirements to prove citizenship in order to vote on March 11, 2025. | Photo: Anna Liz Nichols A resolution to require proof of citizenship to vote in Michigan cleared the Republican-led House Election Integrity Committee Tuesday while Democrats on the committee condemned the measure as a veiled attempt to install a poll tax. The partisan divide on the proposed policy, House Joint Resolution B, was made abundantly clear last week as the committee took testimony. Republican supporters of the resolution implored the need for guardrails on non-citizen voting, while Democrats in opposition remarked the resolution is vague about what documentation voters would need to produce, jeopardizing qualified voters' ability to vote if they fail to produce certain forms of ID. Under the resolution, every Michigan voter would have to identify themselves as a citizen either when they register to vote or at a later date to the Secretary of State or their local clerk. The resolution outlines that the Secretary of State 'must use all reasonable efforts to obtain information regarding the citizenship status of those individuals listed in the statewide qualified voter file'. Amid Democratic opposition asserting that the resolution, which would likely not pass the partisanly split state Legislature, Former Brighton Township Clerk and current state Rep. Ann Bollin (R- Brighton Twp.) testified in the House Election Integrity Committee that the resolution wouldn't make it harder to vote, but it would make it harder to cheat. 'Let's not make more out of this resolution than need be. 83% of Americans support proof of citizenship to register to vote in elections,' Bollin said. 'Let's join them and vote yes.' The resolution would impose hurdles that would decrease voter participation in the interest of addressing the non-existent problem of non-citizen voting, Rep. Matt Koleszar (D-Plymouth) said Tuesday at a news conference following the committee's 6-3 partisan split vote to clear the resolution out of committee. Whether it be paying for a copy of a birth certificate or a passport, there is a real cost to 'purchase proof of citizenship' Koleszar said, and putting a price tag on voter registration creates a 'poll tax' where families will have to pull $30 to $165 out to participate in elections. President Donald Trump has led the charge that American elections are not secure since losing the 2020 election to former President Joe Biden, which he falsely asserted was stolen. Trump rehashed those disproven claims during his successful 2024 campaign, saying Republicans had to make turnout 'too big to rig'. Despite a lack of verifiable evidence of mass election fraud, Trump's supporters in Michigan have reiterated interest in securing elections in the state and eliminating fraud. And when Michigan saw headlines for a 19-year-old Chinese student at University of Michigan being accused of illegally voting in the 2024 election it raised questions on how to prevent non-citizen voting while election experts continue to assert such incidents are extremely rare. One individual's actions should not qualify instituting rules that would make it harder for senior citizens and members of the military overseas who face barriers in submitting timely evidence of citizenship from voting, Rep. Mai Xiong (D-Warren) said. In fact for the majority of women who take their husband's last name, their birth certificate with their maiden name would likely not be sufficient to establish citizenship, Xiong pointed out. And without outlined documents in the resolution, if a birth certificate was the form of identification demanded, it would effectively preclude married women in Michigan from voting. 'Make no mistake, this smells like a pink poll tax that burdens women to pay for and produce multiple forms of documents before being able to vote,' Xiong said. 'This is not how democracy works. This is blatant voter suppression happening right before our eyes. It's going to make it harder for every single citizen to vote in our state. These are unnecessary barriers being put between Michiganders and the ballot box.' A resolution to require proof of citizenship to vote in Michigan cleared the Republican-led House Election Integrity Committee Tuesday while Democrats on the committee condemned the measure as a veiled attempt to install a poll tax. The partisan divide on the proposed policy, House Joint Resolution B, was made abundantly clear last week as the committee took testimony. Republican supporters of the resolution implored the need for guardrails on non-citizen voting, while Democrats in opposition remarked the resolution is vague about what documentation voters would need to produce, jeopardizing qualified voters' ability to vote if they fail to produce certain forms of ID. Under the resolution, every Michigan voter would have to identify themselves as a citizen either when they register to vote or at a later date to the Secretary of State or their local clerk. The resolution outlines that the Secretary of State 'must use all reasonable efforts to obtain information regarding the citizenship status of those individuals listed in the statewide qualified voter file'. Amid Democratic opposition asserting that the resolution, which would likely not pass the partisanly split state Legislature, Former Brighton Township Clerk and current state Rep. Ann Bollin (R- Brighton Twp.) testified in the House Election Integrity Committee that the resolution wouldn't make it harder to vote, but it would make it harder to cheat. 'Let's not make more out of this resolution than need be. 83% of Americans support proof of citizenship to register to vote in elections,' Bollin said. 'Let's join them and vote yes.' The resolution would impose hurdles that would decrease voter participation in the interest of addressing the non-existent problem of non-citizen voting, Rep. Matt Koleszar (D-Plymouth) said Tuesday at a news conference following the committee's 6-3 partisan split vote to clear the resolution out of committee. Whether it be paying for a copy of a birth certificate or a passport, there is a real cost to 'purchase proof of citizenship' Koleszar said, and putting a price tag on voter registration creates a 'poll tax' where families will have to pull $30 to $165 out to participate in elections. President Donald Trump has led the charge that American elections are not secure since losing the 2020 election to former President Joe Biden, which he falsely asserted was stolen. Trump rehashed those disproven claims during his successful 2024 campaign, saying Republicans had to make turnout 'too big to rig'. Despite a lack of verifiable evidence of mass election fraud, Trump's supporters in Michigan have reiterated interest in securing elections in the state and eliminating fraud. And when Michigan saw headlines for a 19-year-old Chinese student at University of Michigan being accused of illegally voting in the 2024 election it raised questions on how to prevent non-citizen voting while election experts continue to assert such incidents are extremely rare. One individual's actions should not qualify instituting rules that would make it harder for senior citizens and members of the military overseas who face barriers in submitting timely evidence of citizenship from voting, Rep. Mai Xiong (D-Warren) said. In fact for the majority of women who take their husband's last name, their birth certificate with their maiden name would likely not be sufficient to establish citizenship, Xiong pointed out. And without outlined documents in the resolution, if a birth certificate was the form of identification demanded, it would effectively preclude married women in Michigan from voting. 'Make no mistake, this smells like a pink poll tax that burdens women to pay for and produce multiple forms of documents before being able to vote,' Xiong said. 'This is not how democracy works. This is blatant voter suppression happening right before our eyes. It's going to make it harder for every single citizen to vote in our state. These are unnecessary barriers being put between Michiganders and the ballot box.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
