Lansing – The Michigan Senate Democrats today slammed the budgets being passed by their Republican colleagues over the past week for continuing their ongoing trend of favoring corporations at the expense of investing in Michigan's schools, communities and working families.

Blight is one of the major hurdles which creates an obstacle to living and investing in our urban areas. Five Senators introduced a five-bill package which will add teeth to the enforcement of blight violations, and give Michigan's cities more tools to go after blight violations. They are Senate Bills 35-39 and they have bipartisan support, with Senators Virgil Smith (D-Detroit), Rick Jones (R-Grand Ledge), Tonya Schuitmaker (R-Lawton), Bert Johnson (D-Highland Park), and Tupac A. Hunter (D-Detroit) each sponsoring a bill.

LANSING - Senate Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer and members of the Senate Democratic Caucus announced the return of their successful #mi2020 Scholarship Competition today that will award up to $10,000 to one Michigan high school senior graduating this spring. To enter, students are asked to submit a short web video at www.michigan2020.com/competition that explains why Michigan needs to enact the Senate Democrats' Michigan 2020 Plan to offer free college tuition to all students.

LANSING- Detroit State Senators Tupac A. Hunter and Virgil K. Smith called on Mike Ilitch and his company Olympia Entertainment to pay the over two million dollars in outstanding property taxes they owe the City of Detroit that several news outlets reported on today before any new arena plans move forward.

Lansing – Several members of the Michigan Senate Democrats expressed outrage over Republican legislation, House Bill 6060, that seeks to neuter the recall process in Michigan and further silence the voice of the people. Several Senators argued that the legislation is a blatant act of self-preservation by legislative Republicans seeking to defend themselves from the pending repercussions of their misguided policies and even legal investigations.

Lansing – Michigan Senate Democrats continued to voice their support of Michigan workers protesting at the Capitol today and decried the Michigan House of Representatives' passage of so-called Right to Work legislation. The Senate passed Senate Bill 116 and House Bill 4003 late last Thursday, and the bills were finalized and approved by the House today. These bills now go to Governor Snyder for his signature into law, a move that he has already publicly stated is a foregone conclusion.

LANSING- State Senators Tupac A. Hunter, Virgil Smith and Bert Johnson, all representing Detroit, supported the passage of Detroit Lighting Authority legislation today after successfully negotiating changes to the bills to better serve the city. The most significant of those changes is the make-up of the new Lighting Authority, all of whose members will now be appointed by the City of Detroit.

The Michigan Senate adopted Senate Resolution 171 today, legislation introduced by Senator Tupac A. Hunter to recognize September 2012 as Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Month in Michigan.

Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville and the Michigan Senate Republican Majority again failed to move legislation to create a Detroit Lighting Authority today despite a majority of votes being ready to pass it. A suitable compromise had been reached on the Detroit lighting legislation — House Bills 5688 and 5705 — and Senator Tupac A. Hunter was ready to join with a bipartisan majority to pass it and move the process forward that would improve the public safety of Detroit.

LANSING- Senator Virgil Smith (D-Detroit) praised passage of a package of bills that would give cities more power to fight blight occurring in their neighborhoods. The five-bill package had the bipartisan sponsorship from Senators Smith, Rick Jones (R-Grand Ledge), Tonya Schuitmaker (R-Lawton), Tupac A. Hunter (D-Detroit), and Bert Johnson (D-Highland Park).