Candidate for Governor Alma Wheeler Smith Has a Plan, and a Story
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Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith in action in the Michigan Legislature.
Free college tuition for all Michigan students!
Scrap tax break giveaways to business, wipe out a business tax surcharge, lower the sales tax to 5.5 percent and extend it to services and levy a graduated income tax.
Those are the cornerstones of Michigan Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith's platform for governor.
She also would restore cuts to K-12 schools including more than $50 million slashed from affluent school districts by Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
A tuition tax credit program would in effect provide free tuition to all students.
Her plan is getting more attention as her campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor escalates.
No other candidate in either party has come up with any viable program to change the downward spiraling Michigan economy.
We like this program, and this candidate -- we really do!
Rep. Smith is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and served eight years on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Political commentator Tom Choske says: "I witnessed first hand how she is able to fight fire with fire in a political debate and push through agendas that, at the outset, others may not be willing to do."
That's exactly the quality we need in Michigan, and one noticeably absent in current political leadership.
Her focus on improving educational levels includes the MI FUTURE program, a reimbursable tax credit to reimburse tuition and fees for Michigan high school graduates attending Michigan's public vocational/technical schools, community colleges and universities. It will also fund a half-day pre-school program for four-year-olds at 50 percent of the K-12 foundation allowance.
Representative Alma Wheeler Smith, 68, was born in Columbia, South Carolina and moved with her family to Michigan when she was two. Her father Dr. Albert Wheeler, was mayor of Ann Arbor, and with her mother, Emma Wheeler, taught Alma and her two sisters, Mary and Nancy, the importance of public service and equal justice for everyone.
Since 1978, Alma has lived in Salem Township near Ypsilanti where her three now-adult children grew up.
She serves District 54 of the Michigan House of Representatives (Augusta Township, City of Ypsilanti, Salem Township, Superior Township, and Ypsilanti Township in Washtenaw County).
She was a State Senator representing Ann Arbor for eight years before being term limited. In 2002, she was a candidate for governor in the Democratic primaries. She was also the running mate for David Bonior in his unsuccessful bid for governor. She has served in the Michigan House since 2004, although she cannot run to retain her House seat in 2010 due to term limits.
Her sister, Nancy Francis, has served as a Washtenaw County probate judge since 1990. Her son, Conan Smith, serves as a Washtenaw County commissioner, and was elected chairperson of the Ann Arbor City Democratic Party in December 2008. Her daughter-in-law, Rebekah Warren, represents District 53 in the Michigan State House of Representatives.
Alma graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Journalism and did advanced degree work in Political Science and Business Administration. She worked as a senior television producer at the University prior to running for public office. She served as legislative coordinator for former Senator Lana Pollack and played a significant role in the passage of Michigan's landmark "polluter pay" law.
Among her legislative achievements, Ms. Smith has authored laws that established genetic privacy rights, regulated personal protection orders between juveniles and their parents or guardians, provided the first state funding for the successful drug court program, shared in the establishment of the first early childhood education programs, wrote the law that divested state retirement funds from Darfur, Sudan (Africa) and authored a constitutional amendment that brought the Michigan Compiled Laws into conformity with federal disability terminology.
Ms. Smith recalls her early life: "I grew up in a politically active family and my parents fought for equal rights for black families in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Michigan. Their courage to battle the ugly reality of discrimination was cemented by a family tragedy. I was born an identical twin in Columbia, South Carolina in the era of 'Jim Crow' segregation. "When we were two, my twin sister Lucille was playing with matches and set her dress on fire. As children will, she ran for Mom, fanning the flames. The ambulance that came to take Lucille to the hospital turned around and left her to die in our mother's arms because my family was black. In teaching us to live beyond that tragedy and to understand their fight for equality, my parents instilled in my sisters and me an abiding family value: the color of your skin, the depth of your wallet and the place where you live must never determine your opportunity for a great quality of life."
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