The Republican Majority in the Michigan House of Representatives shot down amendments by State Representative Jim Ananich (D-Flint) to use a significant portion of the funds Michigan receives from the national foreclosure settlement to boost public safety. Despite this missed opportunity, Ananich will continue to push for resources to put more police on the streets and help prevent scrap metal theft.

Ananich’s statements on the amendments he offered are below:

 

Amendment to SB 1160, which creates the fund to direct settlement dollars -

“I’m offering an amendment today to address another important fallout of the foreclosure crisis - public safety. While many of these efforts in the current plan are worthy goals, I feel we’re missing a real opportunity to make these neighborhoods safer, which will ultimately help the housing market and our economy.

This amendment would do two things; it will allow local communities to have access to funding to public safety resources. As we all know, it’s not just homeowners losing a home when they are foreclosed upon, it’s also their community losing the police officers that were supported by those revenues.

Also, it will encourage the Attorney General to focus some of the resources on property crimes such as scrap metal theft and arson that we also know is a result of foreclosures. Scrap metal theft is a plague on our communities, businesses, churches, and schools, and we have a real opportunity here to actually do something about it.”

Amendment to HB 5015, which appropriates the funding -

“This amendment directs a portion of the settlement to fund public safety efforts, such as more police, stopping scrap metal theft, and arson prevention. If we invest in all these other activities without making sure homes will be safe, we might as well just hand this money right to the thieves who will be tearing them apart for the scrap metal.

We’re all familiar with the Bible verse in Matthew that points out how foolish it is to build a house on a foundation of sand instead of a foundation of rock. A commitment to public safety and taking on this scrap metal theft will make sure we are building our communities, our economic recovery, and our housing market turnaround on a rock solid foundation.”

 

 

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