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State Sen. Dana Poehankie outlines education, safety and labor priorities during Inkster visit
Summary
State Sen. Dana Poehankie told the Inkster City Council she is pushing pilot programs for free driver’s education, class‑size caps for early grades and an education campaign tied to Michigan’s child safe‑storage gun law; she also highlighted earned sick‑time and wage increases.
State Sen. Dana Poehankie visited the Inkster City Council on April 7 to provide a legislative update focused on education, public‑safety measures and worker protections.
Poehankie said the state launched a driver’s‑education pilot in Wayne‑Westland Community Schools funded at about $250,000 and that she will push to expand free driver’s ed more broadly. She described a separate initiative she called her “baby” — a plan to cap class sizes in kindergarten through third grade and said she would seek significant state funding for a pilot that would include Wayne‑Westland. In her remarks she stated an amount of "$12,000,000,000" for the pilot.
The senator highlighted the child safe‑storage gun law enacted in February. She said the Legislature removed the statute of limitations for certain second‑ and third‑degree criminal conduct against children, meaning some prosecutions of crimes against minors can proceed without the prior time limit. Poehankie also described a planned education campaign to distribute free gun‑storage locks to parents and to put information in students’ backpacks.
On labor and economic policy, Poehankie said the state restored unemployment duration from 20 to 26 weeks and increased weekly benefit levels; she noted a law guaranteeing earned sick time (40 hours for small employers, 72 hours for larger employers) and a scheduled minimum wage rise to $15 an hour by 2027. She also pointed to a new law prohibiting landlords from denying renters on the basis of source of income, including housing vouchers.
Poehankie urged residents to follow her town‑hall schedule and said she and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell will hold a Canton town hall on April 21 at Summit on the Park. She also cautioned that federal education funding and grant deadlines could change after July 1 and urged local officials to monitor potential shifts in grant distribution.
The senator took brief questions from council members about charter schools and federal policy; she described federal actions as capable of indirectly changing local grant availability, but said she would monitor developments.
The council thanked Poehankie for the update. Next steps she referenced include continued outreach on the driver’s‑ed pilot, advocacy for class‑size caps, and the April 21 town hall with Rep. Dingell.
