Rochester Area State Representative Mark Tisdel Updates:
Mental Health, Gun Violence, Tax Relief, March Office Hours, Tisdel Talk!
Feb 27, 2023: Supporting mental health, enforcing laws crucial for addressing gun violence
State Rep. Mark Tisdel on Friday emphasized the need to enforce state gun laws and take mental health issues more seriously in the wake of the shooting at Michigan State University.
The attacker had previously been charged with a felony gun crime and convicted of a misdemeanor. Tisdel, R-Rochester Hills, noted that reports indicate the shooter had displayed concerning behaviors that should have been addressed by law enforcement and people who knew him. Tisdel, who has backed numerous efforts to increase mental health services in Michigan, called for heightened awareness and support for people with mental health needs.
“The shooter was mentally struggling and exhibited erratic, anti-social behaviors — even including dangerous play with a gun,” Tisdel said. “This troubled man also passed through our criminal justice system for a previous firearm offense. When struggling people exhibit dangerous behavioral health problems, others must do their part to get these individuals help. As we look for ways to address mental health and prevent gun violence, we should start by aggressively applying the tools, laws, and remedies that are already available.”
Among other efforts to support mental health care, Tisdel supported funding in the current state budget to boost mental health care providers and facilities, as well as to support the mental health hotline in Michigan, which can be reached by calling 988.
Tisdel also recently helped introduce a bipartisan plan to increase school safety and support student mental health, a wide-ranging plan that resulted from the House’s Bipartisan School Safety Task Force, formed after the shooting at Oxford High School.
Further, Tisdel has long urged gun owners to be responsible and follow safety practices. In 2022, he put together a different bipartisan plan to incentivize firearm owners to store their weapons securely and participate in regular safety training.
Mar 1, 2023: Rep. Tisdel Celebrates Coming Income Tax Relief for Michiganders, Small Businesses.
State Rep. Mark Tisdel on Wednesday touted wide-ranging relief for Michigan taxpayers after the Senate approved targeted tax cuts for seniors and working families to the governor without blocking an additional automatic, permanent income tax cut for all Michigan residents and small businesses.
The Legislature will be sending House Bill 4001 to the governor after the Senate failed to give the bill immediate effect, voiding a provision that otherwise would have moved state dollars and blocked a permanent income tax cut that will be triggered this year under Michigan law based on increased revenues.
“Taxpayers in Greater Rochester and throughout Michigan will be getting their taxes cut this year,” said Tisdel, R-Rochester Hills. “I gladly helped defend the law that will bring about this permanent income tax cut. People and small businesses in our state are seeing higher costs all around them, but they’ll soon see long-lasting relief in their pockets.”
Earlier this month, Tisdel voted against HB 4001 in the House due to the maneuver to block the income tax cut, but he strongly supports provisions to increase tax savings for retired Michiganders and expand the earned income tax credit for working families. Both provisions will take effect if the governor signs the legislation. Tisdel had voted for a previous version of HB 4001 that focused on increased savings for seniors, as well as another bill, HB 4002, to increase the earned income tax credit.
“I’m glad retirees and working families will receive additional permanent relief on top of the broad income tax cut for all Michigan taxpayers,” Tisdel said.
Mar 3, 2023: Rep. Tisdel to hold community office hours on March 20!
State Rep. Mark Tisdel today invited Greater Rochester residents to his upcoming office hours on Monday, March 20.
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 hearing from Greater Rochester residents and providing an update on his work representing the community in the Michigan Legislature.
Tisdel represents Michigan’s 55th House District, which includes the cities of Rochester and Rochester Hills and part of Oakland Township.
Mar 1, 2023: Tisdel Talk -Bigotry is Bad for Business!
During Gov. Whitmer’s fifth State of the State message to a joint session of the state Legislature, she made an assertion that was met with a standing ovation: “bigotry is bad for business.” I fully agree with this declaration but will go one step further: “bigotry is costly.” This is something that business owners have long recognized, around the world. Thankfully, the market benevolently works to promote inclusion.
Imagine a business today that chose to hire only white, heterosexual, Christian men. First, what are the chances that it could fill all its personnel needs? Second, what are the chances that the labor costs would be competitive in an arbitrarily small pool of workers? And suppose the business also chose to discriminate against customers and only serve certain clientele. It would limit its financial success by reducing its own potential customer base. Business owners naturally look to sell more goods and services and attract more customers, so they know that discrimination hampers their own opportunities.
That’s why, throughout history, governments led by bigots have passed laws to restrain businesses. From apartheid South Africa to the Jim Crow South to other backwards regimes, laws prohibited businesses from hiring or serving specific racial or ethnic minorities. That’s not because business owners agreed with the government and didn’t want to employ or serve members of these forbidden groups, but because some — if not many — did. This is not to say that these business owners may not have harbored any irrational bigotry. It is because, above all, bigots prefer themselves — and their own bank accounts.
In these instances, the government had to prevent business owners — bigots or not — from serving people. If business owners, in all these cases, chose not to hire or serve the designated minority groups there would be no exclusionary laws to force such discrimination. Business owners have discovered that hiring talented employees — regardless of skin color or sex — is good for their wallets. A free and open marketplace weeds bigotry out faster than any applause line from a political speech.
Indeed, bigotry is bad for business. More importantly, it’s morally wrong. It’s also harmful for society as a whole, and I’ve often written here about the need for civility toward our neighbors. Bigotry and intolerance may hurt a business’s bottom line, but even more so, they damage healthy, respectful dialogue, which is crucial for the functioning of our democratic processes.
Respect and decency toward one another should be at the core of our interactions, no matter the situation — in the store checkout line or at the town hall meeting. Civility and tolerance make our society strong. We are fellow citizens in our communities, our state, and our nation, regardless of any differences of biology or belief.
As we have seen, business owners know that hostility hurts their bottom line, and businesses may often set the tone for respect, tolerance, and civility. We should all take it on ourselves to set a higher tone and elevate our conversations with each other, in business and around the community. Bigotry is bad for business, but civility is a blessing for society.
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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 55th 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.
March 6, 2023, from the office of 55th District Michigan House Representative Mark A. Tisdel and Rochester.Life