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Hi. I'm State Representative Terry Brown. Welcome to my weekly update, "Talking With Terry."

As your State Representative, my top priority is creating jobs for our workers right now and protecting the good jobs we already have. My colleagues and I have passed an aggressive job-creation package called Hire Michigan First that will help achieve these urgent goals.

Currently, Michigan gives millions of dollars in tax incentives each year to bring companies from other states here. But too often, this state money hasn't paid off in jobs for our workers. Taxpayer dollars should create jobs for our residents, not for people from other states or illegal immigrants.

Hire Michigan First fixes this problem by giving preference for state tax breaks to companies that invest in Michigan and hire Michigan workers. The plan requires companies that receive state construction contracts to hire 100 percent of their workers from Michigan. It's hard to believe, but right now, they only have to hire half of their workers from Michigan.

The plan also requires companies that take state economic development incentives to report on who they are hiring. This will ensure that Michigan workers are, indeed, being put first. The Hire Michigan First plan also cracks down on companies that choose to hire illegal immigrants. Under the plan, those companies will have to pay back incentives they already received, and will be barred from future state contracts.
Michigan has the best workers in the nation, and we must do everything we can to ensure that taxpayer money rewards the hiring of Michigan workers.  Passing the Hire Michigan First plan will make sure that we're creating jobs for our own hard-working residents and will get more of our struggling workers back on the job right now. We have to move forward quickly on smart solutions like the Hire Michigan First plan.

Unfortunately, this plan is still waiting for action in the Senate. I urge Senate leaders to act immediately and put the Hire Michigan First plan into effect for the sake of our working families. We cannot afford to wait.

If you would like to learn more about the Hire Michigan First plan or my other work at the Capitol, please visit my Web site.  The address is house.mi.gov/tbrown.  While you are there, I encourage you to sign up for my e-newsletter so that I can keep you informed of my work at our State Capitol.

As always, please don't hesitate to contact me with any concerns or questions that you have. You can call me, toll-free, at (888) 254-5284. Or, you can e-mail me at terrybrown@house.mi.gov.

I am here to serve you and your family and represent your interests at our state Capitol.

Thank you for listening to "Talking with Terry." Make it a great day!