Jeff Irwin (politician)

Jeff Irwin (born June 19, 1977)^[1] is an American activist, progressive and politician serving as a member of the Michigan Senate. A member of the Democratic Party,^[2] he served on the from 1999 to 2010, and in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017.

In the Michigan Senate, he represents the 18th Senate district, encompassing the cities of Ann Arbor, Saline, Ypsilanti, and Milan (portion) and the townships of Ann Arbor, Pittsfield, York, Augusta, Salem, Superior, and Ypsilanti.^[3] He replaced Rebekah Warren, who was term limited.

Early life and education[]

Irwin was born in Petoskey, Michigan in 1977 and resided in Sault Ste. Marie with his parents, Cynthia Williams and Mitch Irwin.^[4] His father, Mitch Irwin, was a state senator from that area from 1979-1990. His mother, Cynthia Williams, was a labor lawyer and CEO of MESSA. He moved to Washtenaw County in 1995 to attend college at the University of Michigan.^[5] He graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science. Irwin lives in Ann Arbor and currently lives in Ward 3 with his wife, Kathryn, and their two children, Sylvia and Mackinac.^[6]

Prior to becoming an elected official, Irwin worked as a legislative aide to then State Senator Alma Wheeler-Smith. He also worked for the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, organizing programs for local environmental and conservation organizations. After several years working at LCVEF, Irwin served as Executive Director for the , advocating for clean air and clean water policies and holding elected officials accountable for their voting records in the state legislature.

Public Service[]

Washtenaw County Commission[]

Elected as a Washtenaw County Commissioner at age 22 in 1999, Irwin served for 11 years in Washtenaw County Government. On the commission, he was instrumental in building a new homeless shelter, increasing funding for human services and affordable housing, instituting a living wage policy, and helping to create the Washtenaw Health Plan, which extended health insurance to uninsured workers prior to the Affordable Care Act.

For his work, the Michigan Jaycees, a group providing development opportunities that empower young people to create positive change, named him “Best Young Government Leader of the Year” in 2000.^[7]

House of Representatives[]

After 6 terms on the County Commission, Irwin ran for Michigan’s 53rd House District in 2010.^[8] He was sworn in as a State Representative in 2011 and won 3 successive terms before being prohibited from running again due to term limits. As a State Representative, Irwin primarily focused on securing additional education funding for Michigan’s students, increasing healthcare coverage, criminal justice reform, and introducing legislation to protect the environment and natural resources. Irwin helped pass Medicaid expansion, extending Medicaid coverage to hundreds of thousands of Michiganders. He led opposition against fracking and in favor of clean energy, and introduced the first legislation to shut down Enbridge’s “Line 5”, a pipeline that runs through the Straits of Mackinac in Lake Michigan. Irwin also led the introduction of cannabis legalization and asset forfeiture reform.

In 2012, Irwin and five of his House Democratic colleagues filed a suit against the, at the time, Michigan House Republican Speaker Jase Bolger, Floor Leader Jim Stamas and Speaker Pro Tem John Walsh. This suit was in response to the passage of controversial legislation affecting graduate research assistants and the collection of union dues by public employers, and changes to the rules about petition signatures and ballot initiatives. The suit alleged that Republicans were violating the Michigan State Constitution by not granting requests for recorded roll call votes on whether legislation should take immediate effect.^[9]

The Ingham Circuit Court initially ruled in favor of Irwin and his colleagues granting an injunction against the legislation in question. This ruling was appealed to the Michigan Court of Appeals which overturned the lower court’s ruling.^[10]

In 2013, Irwin introduced a bill that would fully decriminalize marijuana,^[11] and sponsored legislation to legalize same-sex marriage in Michigan, recognize same-sex marriages that were licensed in other states, and reverse the state's ban on extending health benefits to domestic partners of public employees.^[12] Since introducing legislation on these topics in 2013, Michigan has legalized adult use of cannabis, dramatically reformed civil asset forfeiture, and begun the process to shutdown Line 5.

Irwin was ranked as the most liberal legislator in the Michigan House in 2014.^[13]

In 2016, Irwin spearheaded reducing the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) threshold for 1,4 dioxane from 85ppm to 7.2ppm, following the discovery of a family affected by numerous health conditions,^[14] found drinking and living with well water with high levels of dioxane. He also organized a DEQ Townhall^[15] on dioxane in Ann Arbor, bringing together experts like Roger Rayle, who had been tracking the spread of dioxane in the area for decades, precipitating the EPA SuperFund application by Washtenaw County.

State Senate[]

In October 2017, Irwin announced his candidacy for the Michigan Senate in the 18th District.^[16] Other candidates in the Democratic primary were Michelle Deatrick, Anjua Rajendra, and Matt Miller. On August 8th, Irwin became the Democratic nominee for state senate in the 18th District.^[17]

On November 7th, Irwin defeated Martin Church, the Republican senate nominee, in the general election by 70,271 votes.^[18]

As a State Senator, Irwin serves on the Appropriations, Judiciary and Public Safety and Oversight Committees, as well as the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. In the Appropriations Committee, he serves as minority Vice-Chair of the Universities and Community Colleges subcommittee and on the Health and Human Services and General Government subcommittees.^[19]

In the Senate, Irwin has introduced legislation to tighten regulations against polluters, allow more juvenile offenders to seal their records, expunge all cannabis-related offenses, ban PFAS in food packaging and dramatically expand the Earned Income Tax Credit. He was also instrumental in securing statewide funding that increased direct care workers’ wages by $2.35.^[20]

During the 2019-2020 legislative session, five of Irwin’s bills were signed into law.^[21] Irwin’s legislation allowing juveniles to expunge traffic offenses and have certain offenses automatically expunged, and limiting the use of bench warrants for first-time failures to appear in court were both signed into law in 2021.

Political Beliefs[]

Campaign Finance[]

Irwin has been an outspoken critic of public officials accepting and using corporate campaign donations. He strongly supports limiting the amount individuals can give to a political campaign and banning corporate political donations. In the House, Irwin introduced legislation to eliminate "pay-to-play" schemes by limiting the awarding of state contracts to campaign donors.^[22]

Following a 2016 investigative report which showed that Michigan lawmakers were evading campaign finance law prohibiting the contribution of corporate funds to individual candidates through a loophole allowing the establishment a non-profit 527 administrative account that can accept corporate donations, Irwin described these accounts as “undisclosed slush funds”, further saying that candidates “are not allowed to take corporate checks” and even though there is loophole that “doesn't mean that it's the right thing to do.”

The report had a large corporation that received a state tax-break had donated to a 527 administrative account belonging to the, at-the-time Michigan Senate Majority Leader, Arlan Meekhof.^[23]

Criminal Justice[]

In 2015, Irwin introduced legislation to prohibit civil asset forfeiture in Michigan unless a person is convicted of a crime. Since then, this reform has been made in Michigan law, and further reform has gained widespread support in Michigan.

In 2020, Irwin introduced legislation that would require all police officers, new and current, receive training on implicit bias and violence de-escalation techniques, as well as take a mental health screening, as a part of their initial training and certification. It passed the Michigan Senate unanimously, but did not pass the Michigan House.^[24]

In 2014 and 2021, Irwin introduced legislation that would require parental consent before a child could be used by police as an informant^[25]

In 2021, his legislation that greatly expanded expungement for juveniles and automatically expunged certain non-violent offenses committed by juveniles was signed into law by Governor Gretchen Whitmer.^[26]

Electoral History[]

2018[]

2014[]

2012[]

2010[]

References[]