Julie's People-Centered Priorities

As a practicing physical therapist for over 27 years, I have always advocated for my patients. During that time, I have seen firsthand the challenges patients face not only from illness, but also from insurance barriers, gaps in coverage, and delays in treatment. As a legislator, I focus on making our health care system more accessible and affordable for patients, and on making health insurance work for Michiganders.

During my time as House Health Policy Chair, I championed codifying key elements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into Michigan law and sponsored legislation that prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage based on gender, gender identity and sexual orientation, which was signed into law in 2023.

This term, I helped fix an everyday problem facing grieving families - receiving timely death certificates so they can move forward with the mourning process. This bipartisan package requires physicians to electronically sign death certificates and submit them through a secure, online portal. It was signed into law in March of 2026.

I will continue to fight for reproductive freedom for all people. Reproductive healthcare is essential for the safety and well-being of Michiganders, and I will keep fighting for these rights in our state. In 2023, I proudly voted to repeal a 1931 law that criminalized abortion, helping to secure reproductive rights for individuals in Michigan. Every session I have been in the legislature, I have sponsored bills that would require insurance companies to provide coverage for a 12 month supply of birth control. In 2025 I proposed a bill that would require these companies to cover FDA-approved treatments for menopause and perimenopause symptoms.

We can and should do better when it comes to taking care of each other, because everyone deserves access to affordable health care.

I attended public schools growing up, my mother taught at the local community college, and my sister is an educator — so when I advocate for education funding in Lansing, it's personal.

I voted for historic per-pupil funding increases for Michigan public schools, and helped secure free breakfast and lunch for every child in the state regardless of family income.

I championed the bipartisan “Sexual Assault Prevention and Education” bill package and sponsored HB 4120, signed into law in 2023, requiring that every mandatory reporter of child abuse or neglect — teachers, counselors, coaches, health care providers — actually receive training to recognize and report what they see.

My record of sponsoring legislation on an environmental literacy task force for Michigan public schools (HB 4961-2023), and launching Kalamazoo's first Legislative Youth Advisory Council — giving local high school students direct exposure to government and public policy with an actual seat at the table demonstrate my commitment to public education.

Where we live is at the center of our lives – it’s where family comes together, community is born, and where we build our lives. It is clear that when housing is unattainable for so many people, everything else is interrupted: work, school, and health.

I have been working on affordable housing even before being elected as representative. As Chair of the Kalamazoo County Commission, I voted to put the “Homes for All” initiative before voters. With voter approval secured, Kalamazoo was the first county in Michigan to launch this program, which has already raised more than $25 million for affordable housing and essential repairs throughout the county.

In 2022 I voted for $50 million in state funding to expand affordable housing, and to capture $500 million more in federal funding to protect housing for individuals and for rental assistance for those in need. Many are still in need of affordable housing, and I will continue to work with my colleagues in the legislature to provide incentives to local governments to build more housing and streamline permitting processes.

Decades of disinvestment have left Michigan's roads, bridges, and water systems stretched thin, and fixing that requires more than good intentions. It takes relationships and years of hard work. While in office, I have been dedicated to improving the infrastructure in our community by helping secure $26 million for the U.S. 131 Business Interchange in Kalamazoo, a project that had been in the planning stages for decades and was completed in November of 2025. This project not only improves traffic flow, it also reroutes trucks out of residential neighborhoods, resulting in cleaner air quality for the families who live there.

Environmental protection, public health, and commerce rely on well-built and managed infrastructure. That’s why I championed state funding to support lead pipe replacement in Kalamazoo. In 2022, I voted for a bipartisan $4.7 billion infrastructure package — one of the largest water infrastructure investments in Michigan history — that paid for sewer and water upgrades, dams, roads and bridges maintenance, and broadband infrastructure for underserved areas.

I believe that Michigan is only as strong as its infrastructure, and I will continue to work to expand and protect our infrastructure to improve quality of life for all Michiganders.

Community safety means making sure people have what they need to stay safe and live without fear in their own neighborhoods.

As part of this approach to community safety, I helped secure funding in the state budget for behavioral health specialists to respond alongside Kalamazoo's law enforcement officers on mental health crisis calls. It's a model that's working in communities across the country: getting the right responder to the right situation, because not every crisis is a criminal matter.

I also championed funding for community violence intervention programs to address gun violence that has occurred in too many of our neighborhoods. I proudly voted for commonsense firearm safety reforms, like universal background checks, to help keep guns out of the hands of criminals.

Community safety often comes down to having the money needed to provide services. I have helped secure $1 million for a new Kalamazoo Township fire station, $500,000 for fire gear and other safety equipment for the City of Kalamazoo aimed at reducing cancer risks among firefighters, and championed local revenue sharing from the state to help with the rising costs of providing essential public safety and emergency services.

I have brought together community leaders and law enforcement to address issues around behavioral health, immigration enforcement, and other emerging issues. Listening to both residents and leaders has helped me learn about issues in our region. I will continue to strengthen community safety by advocating for additional state investments in mental health and addiction services to better support residents.

Michigan’s water and natural environment are among its most valuable resources, and both are increasingly threatened by pollution, which harms us all. Living in a state with the most abundant fresh water in the world, I believe the right to clean, safe, affordable drinking water is non-negotiable. I proudly voted for SB 565 in 2021, later signed into law, which invested $4.7 billion in clean, safe drinking water via lead line replacement, dam and road repairs, and clean energy. And I will continue to champion adding more investments in the state budget to help local governments replace lead pipes.

I also sponsored a package of bills to protect children from lead poisoning by lowering the blood lead level threshold in Michigan to match the federal level, and by requiring baby food manufacturers to test for harmful heavy metals in their products.

I believe the best way to address pollution is to prevent it from happening in the first place. That’s why I have sponsored proactive legislation to phase out the manufacture, sale, and use of perchloroethylene (PERC) in dry cleaning in Michigan. I have carried that same commitment to our environment through my work on the Kalamazoo County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, where I spent more than a decade working to clean up pollution, restore damaged areas, and protect our community from harmful forever chemicals. I also sponsored legislation that will create a PFAS pilot program to study the effects of PFAS exposure across Michigan. We need leaders in Lansing who will hold polluters accountable and prevent ecological disasters from occurring again.