Sen. McDonald Rivet discusses Gotion plant at Midland office hours

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet (left) listens to the concerns of a resident during her Coffee and Conversation hour on April 24, 2023 at Mi Element Grains and Grounds.

Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet (center, blue blazer) meets with a small group to discuss their specific concerns during her Coffee and Conversation hour on April 24, 2023 at Mi Element Grains and Grounds in Midland.

Midland area residents listen to Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet give a legislative update during her Coffee and Conversation hour on April 24, 2023 at Mi Element Grains and Grounds in Midland.

Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet (right) was welcomed by a full audience for her first Coffee and Conversation office hours in Midland on April 24, 2023 at Mi Element Grains and Grounds.

Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City) was welcomed by a large crowd during her first office hours event in Midland at Mi Element Grains and Grounds on Monday.

Every seat in the coffee shop/microbrewery was filled as McDonald Rivet gave a legislative update to constituents. She discussed the first bill she sponsored - Senate Bill 3 - which expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit, and her first standalone bill - Public Act 16 - which improved child protection from access to firearms.

She said she is still working on making the Earned Income Tax Credit expansion retroactive, meaning it could apply to 2022 taxes.

"I’m running into people at the grocery store who are trying to make ends meet," she said. "They’re really struggling and a lot of folks have lost supplemental benefits that came as a result of the pandemic, like extra food and housing."

McDonald Rivet invited guests to ask questions and raise any concerns they may have. One of the first topics raised was toll roads in Michigan and whether they would be implemented to help fund road maintenance and repair.

McDonald Rivet discussed the toll bridges in Bay City and explained that the city was given all responsibility to maintain two of the drawbridges, so it poured all of its road funds into just the bridges. When the city couldn't afford to maintain the bridges any longer, they were sold and will now operate as toll bridges.

She said this decision was "widely unpopular" but that the bridges may have been closed if they had not been turned into toll bridges.

Despite this, McDonald Rivet said she does not know if any legislation regarding statewide toll roads has been introduced to the legislature.

"Gov. Whitmer has made really good progress on improving the roads," McDonald Rivet said. "The problem is, we’re talking about 30 to 40 years of disinvestment in our roads and infrastructure, and that is not going to get solved in one term or two or three."

One guest mentioned his concerns about the Gotion battery plant that was approved by the legislature last week to be built in Mecosta County.

McDonald Rivet said there was "a huge amount of misinformation" spread about the plant. She specifically noted that Gotion, while widely referred to as a Chinese company, has a majority stakeholder in Germany, but does have ties to China.

McDonald Rivet and the rest of the Senate Appropriations committee approved the $175 million investment for the plant, saying she was "satisfied" voting yes after thorough vetting of Gotion done by the federal government.

"There are many companies in this state that have ties to the Chinese government," she said. "I was satisfied to vote yes for a couple of reasons. It creates jobs in a region that desperately needs them, it was thoroughly vetted from a security perspective by the federal government, it has done its environment due diligence, and I was inundated with calls from local residents asking me to vote yes."

McDonald Rivet also discussed the crisis for direct care workers, childcare workers and in-home health aides who are being paid a very low wage. She said she is working on a bill with the Health and Human Services Committee that would increase the wage for these workers.

"I do know that there is strong support for an increase," she said. "The people that care for the most vulnerable among us are paid the least and ignored the most."

McDonald Rivet ended the coffee hour by meeting individually with guests who had more specific questions.

She holds her Coffee and Conversation hours every month at different locations around her 35th District, which includes Midland, Saginaw, Bay City and a few other municipalities.