Senator Jim Runestad's Press Releases

LANSING, Mich. — State Sen. Jim Runestad announced on Wednesday that he has introduced legislation to protect young children from accidents caused by electric bicycles (e-bikes). “I’ve seen too many freak accidents where young children wind up seriously harmed while riding one of these e-bikes,” said Runestad, R-White Lake. “They aren’t the traditional bicycles that I rode when I was a kid — these bikes can

LANSING, Mich. — State Sen. Jim Runestad announced his plans to introduce legislation that would repeal the 2024 sales and use tax reforms that were specifically carved out to promote and support data center developments. “People have been left in the dark about data center developments in Michigan despite the clear, long-term effects these projects can have on local communities, natural resources and power grids,” said

LANSING, Mich. — State Sen. Jim Runestad on Thursday announced he has introduced legislation to prohibit critical race theory, the 1619 Project and anti-American academic theories from being included in public school curricula. “Critical race theory is blatant indoctrination,” said Runestad, R-White Lake. “These inflammatory lesson plans go well beyond educating students. They seek only to confuse and divide students based on race or sex and

LANSING, Mich. — State Sen. Jim Runestad is preparing to introduce legislation to limit the use and scope of data obtained by Flock and other traffic cameras. Senate Bill 1131 seeks to put meaningful restrictions on the use and management of data collected by these cameras and help ensure that the privacy of Michigan residents is protected. “Passively collecting information 24/7 as people go about their

LANSING, Mich. — State Sen. Jim Runestad recently introduced legislation to require that key information from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) held by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) be shared with the federal government as part of an ongoing effort to root out fraud in America’s welfare systems. “This bill will help reel in fraud within public assistance programs,” said Runestad,

LANSING, Mich. — State Sen. Jim Runestad recently introduced legislation to improve transparency within the state’s major utility companies. The new legislation builds upon another bill the senator recently reintroduced to curb the endless rate increase requests from utility companies, which was never taken up by the Democrat-led Senate after first being introduced in 2024. The bills are a continuation of Runestad’s longstanding efforts to rein