State Rep. Tisdel Updates on Office Hours, Firearm Safety, Tax Relief, and e-Scooters!
Rep. Tisdel invites Greater Rochester residents to September office hours
August 22, 2022 - State Rep. Mark Tisdel today announced his upcoming office hours for Greater Rochester residents on Monday, Sept. 19.
The community meeting will be held in Conference Room A at the Rochester Hills Public Library, 500 Olde Towne Road in Rochester, between 6 and 8 p.m. The event is open to the public, and no appointment is necessary to attend.
Tisdel, R-Rochester Hills, looks forward to listening to Greater Rochester residents, answering questions, and providing an update on his work representing the community in the Michigan Legislature.
Tisdel represents Michigan’s 45th House District in the state House of Representatives. The district includes the cities of Rochester and Rochester Hills and part of Oakland Township.
Rep. Tisdel spearheads bipartisan plan to encourage firearm safety, responsible storage
August 17, 2022 - State Rep. Mark Tisdel today led a bipartisan coalition of legislators in sponsoring a plan to encourage gun owners to follow safe practices by incentivizing training and secure weapon storage.
Tisdel, R-Rochester Hills, said tax credits for expenses related to safety training and equipment, as well as criminal and civil defense protections conditioned upon safe storage, will promote firearm safety in Michigan.
“Safe storage is important not only to secure firearms against those who would take and use them for evil, but also to prevent tragic accidents involving children,” Tisdel said. “Through liability protections and tax savings, our bipartisan plan will encourage smart, safe habits by responsible gun owners. The plan clearly lays out best practices for storing weapons securely, spreading a legal safety net for people who follow them. Tax credits will help people pay for storage equipment and training about proper gun storage and handling.
“Finding common ground to prevent death and injury from abused and misused weapons must be a priority. These bipartisan policy proposals will help initiate a serious discussion about how to make Michigan safer.”
Two bills in the bipartisan package would encourage safe storage practices by establishing additional defenses against criminal and civil liability for responsible gun owners. Tisdel’s House Bill 6350 would allow secure storage of a legally obtained and owned firearm to serve as a complete defense in a criminal case against a gun’s owner or a person legally authorized to use the gun by the owner, if the charges result because a different person used the weapon to commit a crime. The bill lays out clear protocols for safe, secure storage to protect against access or use by a person other than the owner or legal authorized user. HB 6351, sponsored by Rep. Jim Ellison, D-Royal Oak, would similarly allow a gun owner to raise an affirmative defense in a civil suit over harm to a person or property inflicted with the weapon by an unauthorized user, provided that the owner stored the firearm securely.
HB 6352, introduced by Rep. Tim Sneller, D-Burton, would also incentivize safe storage in the home by providing a tax credit of up to $350 per year for the purchase of safety equipment, such as safes, lock boxes, and trigger locks.
To support safety training for gun owners, HB 6353, sponsored by Rep. Mike Harris, R-Clarkston, would offer participants a $350 tax credit for training expenses. To be eligible for the tax credit in a given year, a person must have completed a certified course with at least four hours of instruction covering safe storage, use, and handling; ammunition knowledge; fundamentals of firearm shooting; laws related to firearm use; and avoiding criminal attack and controlling a violent situation. The course must include instruction and shooting at a gun range.
HBs 6350 and 6351 were referred to the House Judiciary Committee. HBs 6352 and 6353 were referred to the House Tax Policy Committee.
Rep. Tisdel continues to support tax relief, blasts governor’s attempt at publicity
August 16, 2022 - State Rep. Mark Tisdel, R-Rochester Hills, who serves on the House Tax Policy Committee, today issued the following statement criticizing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s new call for a back-to-school sales tax suspension after she previously vetoed three bipartisan tax relief plans passed by the Legislature:
“The governor’s seemingly urgent call for tax relief rings resoundingly hollow, given her three vetoes of bipartisan relief plans so far this year. In the Legislature, we’ve voted to relieve some of the pressure on working families, but Gov. Whitmer has repeatedly refused to approve our plans. Why did she reject income tax relief, as well as gas tax relief to help parents, students, and other residents get to school and work?
“I hope the governor will move past mere attempts at publicity, truly work with legislators, and achieve genuine tax relief for Michiganders.”
Tisdel and his legislative colleagues earlier this year approved two different plans for income tax relief, with increased savings for seniors and families, as well as a plan to pause the state’s gas tax of 27 cents per gallon for six months. Whitmer vetoed all three, despite the bipartisan support they received in the Legislature.
Rep. Tisdel praises grant to deploy, evaluate new e-scooter technology at Oakland University
August 8, 2022 - State Rep. Mark Tisdel today praised a grant that will support a study of new technology in rental electric scooters that will be introduced at Oakland University.
GEKOT Inc., based in Bloomfield Hills, will receive a $70,000 grant through the Michigan Mobility Funding Platform for a deployment of new Razor e-scooters at the state university, whose campus lies in Rochester Hills and Auburn Hills. The deployment will enable a study of the effectiveness of GEKOT’s electronic systems for limiting scooter accidents and theft.
“In downtowns and on college campuses across Michigan, e-scooters conveniently and quickly get people where they need to go,” said Tisdel, R-Rochester Hills. “Now, emerging technology to make these rides safer will be put to the test in new scooters at Oakland University. The scooter program at OU will not only enhance our community, but it will also help the mobility industry keep researching and advancing.”
GEKOT offers innovative technology for e-scooters and other light electric vehicles to provide safety for both riders and people nearby, security to reduce theft, and additional features to facilitate compliance with local policies.
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About State Representative Mark Tisdel
State Rep. Mark Tisdel, of Rochester Hills, represents Greater Rochester in the Michigan House of Representatives. The 45th House District, which Tisdel represents, includes the cities of Rochester and Rochester Hills and part of Oakland Township.
Representative Mark Tisdel is one of 110 Members of The Michigan House of Representatives who are elected by the qualified electors of districts having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents.
Representatives are elected in even-numbered years to 2-year terms. Legislative districts are drawn on the basis of population figures through the federal decennial census.
August 22, 2022, from the office of 45th District Michigan House Representative Mark A. Tisdel