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Tuesday, July 1st, 2008Schmidt Looks to Take Local Experience to State Level in House 76th
Schmidt Looks to Take Local Experience to State Level in House 76th
Volume #47, Report #127, Article #4--Tuesday, July 1, 2008
SCHMIDT LOOKS TO TAKE LOCAL EXPERIENCE TO STATE LEVEL IN HOUSE 76TH
With 16 years as a Grand Rapids city commissioner in his back pocket, Roy Schmidt is the only Democrat seeking to replace term-limited Rep. Michael Sak (D-Grand Rapids), and given the district's leaning toward that party he will likely take the post in 2009. Mr. Schmidt (www.royschmidt.org) is running for the Kent County seat covering the west side of Grand Rapids. The district has a Democratic base of nearly 60 percent and Mr. Sak won his first race with 60.7 percent of the vote and his re-election bids with 67.4 percent and 72.8 percent in 2004 and 2006, respectively.
Mr. Schmidt, a territory manager for pharmaceutical company Wyeth Inc., also has a history of winning his city commission seat by wide margins, including his last re-election bid where he garnered 84 percent of the vote.
Mr. Schmidt said he expected to face a Democratic primary for the open seat but one never surfaced. He added that he did lay the groundwork for running early on, talking with people and gaining endorsements. So far, he's netted several endorsements from Mr. Sak, Rep. Robert Dean (D-Grand Rapids), Mayor George Heartwell, several city and county commissioners, Michigan Chamber of Commerce, Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, Right to Life of Michigan, United Auto Workers, Michigan Association of Police Organizations, Michigan Association of Realtors, Michigan Professional Firefighters Union, Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Milwrights, Commercial Alliance of Realtors, Grand Rapids Association of Realtors, Grand Rapids Firefighters Local 366, Grand Rapids Police Labor Association, IBEW Local 275, Rental Properties Association of Grand Rapids and West MI Friends of Labor.
Mr. Schmidt said the economy is the top issue in his campaign because as he goes door-to-door he hears from people who are "plain scared about their jobs." The state has to work in a positive way toward job creation and retention, he said, adding he helped with the work of having Grand Rapids spur efforts for brownfield development and renaissance zones and getting those economic development tools through the Legislature. He said that not only led to positive developments downtown such as the Medical Mile, but local leaders listened and worked with businesses to create jobs and make Grand Rapids a place where people wanted to invest their money. Mr. Schmidt said the process of getting rid of the Single Business Tax and going to the Michigan Business Tax, including an 11th hour effort to delete the service tax and put a surcharge on the MBT, was a "debacle." "It's just unfortunate. The tax, from what I hear and talk to people, the tax is causing businesses more taxes." While he admitted not having a full understanding of the complexities of the MBT, he said he is "more than happy" to fix the nearly 22 percent surcharge. Mr. Schmidt also said the education system and fighting home foreclosure are among his priorities. He didn't have a position on expansion of charter schools, saying school safety seems to be more of a priority for people he's talked to. He also believes the state's gun laws don't need to be changed but what's on the books should simply be enforced. As for his stance on same-sex marriage, Mr. Schmidt said because of his personal religious beliefs he does not support same-sex marriage. But he does support civil unions and benefits for same-sex partners. "I know that gay people enjoy loving and committed relationships and that they are dependent upon each other in those relationships as any other couple. In the absence of a legal marriage they should be entitled to the protections of health and death benefits as straight couples are," he said. Asked about his opinion on various ballot proposals, Mr. Schmidt said he doesn't support the part-time Legislature initiative because it would give bureaucracy "more of an opportunity to take over." He also said he is influenced by his time in the city commission post, which was considered part-time, but he always saw it as a full-time position. Mr. Schmidt said the Fair Tax initiative does have some good points and he does believe in simplifying the tax structure particularly given business' experience with the new MBT. But he said a meeting he attended on the proposal did leave some questions left unanswered and he wonders if it's too radical a change for people to fully comprehend the ramifications. As for the embryonic stem cell research initiative, Mr. Schmidt said he didn't know enough about the issue to comment. And while he initially said he opposes medical marijuana, he also wanted more information before commenting on that ballot initiative.
Gongwer News Service: State Government News Reporting Since 1906. Copyright, 2008
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