Wyandotte State Senator Introduced 7 Bills in 2012

State Sen. Hoon-Yung Hopgood (D-Taylor), whose district includes Wyandotte, introduced seven pieces of legislation in the state Senate in 2012. 

He also introduced 16 amendments to other bils.

Here's a look at the bills and amendments introduced by Hopgood in 2012, courtesy of MichiganVotes.org:

Bills

• Introduced 2012 Senate Resolution 177: Recognizing October 8-12, 2012, as Turn Up the H.E.A.T. Week in the state of Michigan
  September 27, 2012, . Passed by voice vote in the Senate on September 27, 2012.
• Introduced 2012 Senate Bill 1138: Post medical provider complaint statistics online
  May 23, 2012, to require the Department of Community Health to post on the internet statistics of complaints and disciplinary actions regarding physicians and other health professionals, and require health care facilities to post similar statistical information about their own providers. However, the bill would not require names to be named.
• Introduced 2012 Senate Resolution 142: Declaring May 2012 as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in the state of Michigan
  April 25, 2012, . Passed by voice vote in the Senate on April 25, 2012.
• Introduced 2012 Senate Bill 1081: Revise physician's assistant licensure detail
  April 16, 2012, to revise the examination requirements for surgical assistants seeking a state physician's assistant license.
• Introduced 2012 Senate Bill 1017: Rate all state tax credits, deductions and exemptions
  March 13, 2012, to create a commission selected by legislative leaders of both the majority and minority parties to evaluate and determine whether each item on a list of so-called “tax expenditures” is “generating a good return on investment.” This $33 billion list mostly consists of potential expansions of various taxes paid by individuals (examples include repeal of the 18 mill principle residence property tax exemption, the state income tax personal exemption, and the sales tax on food exemption), but also contains selective “corporate welfare” type tax breaks given only to certain firms or industries (which are often cash subsidies styled as “refundable tax credits”).
• Introduced 2012 Senate Bill 989: Extend “parenting time” restrictions
  February 29, 2012, to revise the restrictions to granting child custody or “parenting time” to a parent who has been convicted of sex offenses, and ban it altogether if the conviction was for a felony that involved a minor.
• Introduced 2012 Senate Bill 944: Authorize extra punishment for threats to politicians and judges
  February 14, 2012, to establish sentencing guidelines for the enhanced penalties proposed by Senate Bill 943 for making threats against politicians and judges.

Amendments

• Offered an amendment to 2012 House Bill 5267: Revise school dropout recovery program funding
  December 12, 2012, to cap the amount that school districts must contribute to the state-run school employee retirement benefit system from their local, state and federal revenue streams at the amount they paid in fiscal year 2011-2012, and earmark some of the money set aside in recently enacted pension reform bills to cover this shift. The amendment failed 11 to 26 in the Senate on December 12, 2012.
• Offered an amendment to 2011 House Bill 4003: "Right-to-work" for government, school employees (as enacted; originally something else)
  December 6, 2012, to still require public school teachers to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. The amendment failed by voice vote in the Senate on December 6, 2012.
• Offered an amendment to 2011 House Bill 4003: "Right-to-work" for government, school employees (as enacted; originally something else)
  December 6, 2012, to strip out a provision that adds a $1 million appropriation, which under a state Supreme Court ruling several years ago has the effect of making the bill "referendum-proof." See House Joint Resolution W for an explanation. The amendment failed by voice vote in the Senate on December 6, 2012.
• Offered an amendment to 2011 Senate Bill 116: Make Michigan a "right-to-work" state (as enacted; originally something else)
  December 6, 2012, to strip out a provision that adds a $1 million appropriation, which under a state Supreme Court ruling several years ago has the effect of making the bill "referendum-proof." See House Joint Resolution W for an explanation. The amendment failed 17 to 21 in the Senate on December 6, 2012.
• Offered an amendment to 2011 Senate Bill 620: Authorize “parent trigger” charter school conversion
  June 6, 2012, to also allow a converted school to be returned to the regular school district ("de-charterized") if 60 percent of parents or 51 percent plus 60 percent of teachers petitioned for this. The amendment failed 17 to 20 in the Senate on June 6, 2012.
• Offered an amendment to 2012 Senate Bill 1040: Revise school pension system
  May 17, 2012, to mandate that charter school employees be enrolled in the "defined benefit" school pension system. Almost all charter schools provide employees with "defined contribution" 401(k) type benefits. The amendment failed 12 to 26 in the Senate on May 17, 2012.
• Offered an amendment to 2012 Senate Bill 1069: Cut tax imposed on business tools and equipment
  May 10, 2012, to tie-bar the bill to Senate Bills 1016 and 1017, meaning this bill cannot become law unless those ones do also. Those bills would create a system for rating selective “corporate welfare” type tax breaks and subsidies given to certain firms or industries. The amendment failed 12 to 25 in the Senate on May 10, 2012.
• Offered an amendment to 2011 Senate Bill 316: Require kindergartners be 5 on Sept. 1
  May 3, 2012, to earmark any budget savings realized in the transition to earlier kindergarten cutoff ages to government "early childhood education" programs. The amendment failed 14 to 24 in the Senate on May 3, 2012.
• Offered an amendment to 2012 Senate Bill 952: Appropriations: Department of Education
  April 25, 2012, to increase to 90 hours the maximum number of welfare-related "child development and care" service hours provided per recipient. The amendment failed15 to 23 in the Senate on April 25, 2012.
• Offered an amendment to 2012 Senate Bill 952: Appropriations: Department of Education
  April 25, 2012, to spend an additional $4.2 million on "college access challenge grants". The amendment failed 12 to 26 in the Senate on April 25, 2012.
• Offered an amendment to 2012 Senate Bill 952: Appropriations: Department of Education
  April 25, 2012, to spend an additional $2 million on a government "college access" program. The amendment failed by voice vote in the Senate on April 25, 2012.
• Offered an amendment to 2012 Senate Bill 961: Appropriations: K-12 School Aid budget
  April 25, 2012, to add $30 million intended to reduce the difference in spending levels between different school districts. The amendment failed 14 to 24 in the Senate on April 25, 2012.
• Offered an amendment to 2012 Senate Bill 961: Appropriations: K-12 School Aid budget
  April 25, 2012, to provide an additional $177 million to regular and intermediate school districts, to use against the amount they are assessed to cover school employee pensions. Also, to strip out $58 million proposed for creating "computer adaptive" tests for students in grades two through 12 that give students and teachers "immediate feedback" on the student's progress, and providing "incentive grants" to districts that use them. The amendment failed 13 to 25 in the Senate on April 25, 2012.
• Offered an amendment to 2012 Senate Bill 961: Appropriations: K-12 School Aid budget
  April 25, 2012, to cut $1,000 per student from support to charter schools, unless they place their employees in the (heavily underfunded) school employee pension system. The money saved would pay for the optional post-retirement health insurance benefits now provided to school retirees (which unlike cash pension benefits, are completely unfunded). Almost all charter schools provide their employees 401(k)-type retirement benefits, rather than the "defined benefit" pensions and retiree health insurance granted to conventional school employees (a system that was ended for new state employees starting in 1997, and has become very rare outside of government). The amendment failed 12 to 26 in the Senate on April 25, 2012.
• Offered an amendment to 2012 Senate Bill 961: Appropriations: K-12 School Aid budget
  April 25, 2012, to increase overall school spending by $495 million, and increase per-student spending by $300. The amendment failed 16 to 22 in the Senate on April 25, 2012.
• Offered an amendment to 2012 Senate Bill 960: Appropriations: Department of Natural Resources
  April 24, 2012, to spend $5 million on a government jobs program for young people in Flint, Saginaw, Pontiac, and Detroit. The amendment failed 12 to 26 in the Senate on April 24, 2012.

Here's his official biography, courtesy of his state website.

Senator Hoon-Yung Hopgood has been a resident of Taylor since 1976 when he was adopted by Diane (Chris) and the late Rollie Hopgood - where he currently lives with his wife, Sunhwa, and their two children. He was elected to his first term in the Michigan Senate for the 8th District on November 2, 2010 after serving six years in the Michigan House of Representatives. Senator Hopgood represents the Downriver cities of Allen Park, Ecorse, Lincoln Park, Melvindale, Riverview, Romulus, Southgate, Taylor, Wayne and Wyandotte. Senator Hopgood has the distinction as serving as the first Korean-American to hold state office in Michigan. Senator Hopgood was born in Inchon, South Korea on December 8, 1974.

 

Senator Hopgood attended Holland Elementary School, Hoover Junior High School and Truman High School where he graduated with honors in 1992. He went on to attend the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor where he obtained his Bachelors of Arts in 1996 while majoring in Political Science.

Senator Hopgood received an internship in the Washington, D.C. office of former Congresswoman Lynn Rivers in the summer of 1995. After graduating from the U of M, he worked for the Michigan State AFL-CIO as a Labor Coordinator during the 1996 campaigns. His candidate for state representative won in one of the closest races statewide and helped return the Michigan House to Democratic control.

At the beginning of 1997, Senator Hopgood began working for the House Democratic Policy Staff. He was able to work on a variety of legislative issues but concentrated on K-12 education. In 1999, he joined the legislative office of then State Representative Raymond Basham. While in Rep. Basham’s office, Senator Hopgood was engaged in several important legislative issues for the district, as well as the state. He also provided many constituent services for the 22nd House District.

Senator Hopgood is a member of the Michigan Democratic Party, the 15th District Democratic Party, the Democratic Club of Taylor, the University of Michigan Club of Downriver, the Asian-Pacific Americans and the Board of Directors for the Michigan Center for Civic Education. He is also a member of the Wolverine Caucus, Arts Caucus, the Children’s Caucus, the Southeast Michigan Caucus and the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators.

Senator Hopgood has been engaged in several volunteer efforts which included child literacy programs, holiday meal deliveries, Angel Night patrols in the city of Detroit and low-income assistance programs.

Senator Hopgood was first sent to Lansing when he was successful in a five person Primary Election for State Representative on August 6, 2002 and went on to win the General Election on November 5, 2002. While in the House, Senator Hopgood served on the Education, Energy and Technology, and the Regulatory Reform Committees. He was also a member of the Steel/Mining Caucus, the Children’s Caucus, the Capitol Speakers Bureau and on the Board of Michigan Youth in Government. In the Senate, Senator Hopgood serves on the Appropriations Committee, where he serves as the Minority Vice-Chair of the Agriculture, Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Natural Resources and the K-12 School Aid and Education Appropriations Sub-Committees. He also serves as Minority Vice-Chair of the Education Committee and the Energy and Technology Committee.

Senator Hoon-Yung Hopgood’s late father, Rollie, served as the President of the Michigan Federation of Teachers and School Related Personnel. His mother, Diane, retired as the principal at Johnson Elementary School in Taylor. His brother, Jung-Hoe, lives in Tallahassee, Fl. and works as a civil engineer. His sister, Mei-Ling, is an author and a freelance reporter and writer. His mother and several other relatives live in Taylor, Michigan.