By David Hutchinson
State Representative Tom Kunse and State Senator Roger Hauck held an “office hour” meeting with the public at Cops & Doughnuts bakery in Clare on March 24. The two statesmen addressed a variety of residents’ questions and concerns from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. About 20 to 30 people attended the casual event.
One resident asked about coal power plants. Kunse said the governor was unlikely to reverse a decision to shutdown a plant.
Kunse recommended studying information about the electric grid from the Midcontinent Independent System Operator website (misoenergy.org). MISO is an organization that oversees energy transmission amongst 15 American states (including Michigan) and the Canadian province of Manitoba. According to the MISO website’s “Fuel Mix” section, the majority of energy production comes from coal and natural gas (together over 50%). Solar, nuclear, and wind make up most of the remainder (during the day). As of March 25, the total energy demand was estimated to be 89% of “committed capacity” during the day.
Kunse said Michigan had two high-voltage power lines, and there was a third line expected to be built. Hauck said the most demanding times for the energy grid were hot summer days when everybody had air conditioning running. The high temperatures reduce solar panel performance, and there is often not much wind for windmills. Kunse liked nuclear, gas, and coal plants for their day-to-day, year-round energy production. With too much reliance on solar and wind energy, Kunse warned, Michigan could have “rolling brownouts.”
Another resident asked about election petitions. Kunse said that candidates needed to avoid fraudulent signatures.
Someone else asked about the Palisades nuclear power plant. Kunse said building a new nuclear power plant elsewhere would have two sets of permits to clear before operating—permits to build and permits to connect to the energy grid. He said the Palisades plant already had a permit for the grid and was planning to restart operations. According to CNBC (March 22, 2025), the plant needs repairs but its owner, Holtec International, “hopes to restart Palisades this fall” with “$1.5 billion loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, $1.3 billion from the Department of Agriculture, and $300 million in grants from the state of Michigan.”
The next resident talked about property taxes in other states and the “Ax MI Tax” constitutional amendment proposal. “People are losing their homes because of property taxes.” Hauck said he was working on a bill that would allow homeowners to transfer part of their property tax caps to newly purchased houses. He said some homeowners could not afford to move because of rising taxes.
Kunse added that building costs were were also unaffordable to many. He said the cost to build a house was $400 a square foot, much higher than when he built his home. “We built our house for less than $100 a square foot.”
Hauck said affordable housing was another issue. Zoning made it unaffordable in many areas. “Thank God for Clare.” Kunse said zoning decisions belonged at the township level, not the state level. A resident said some homeowners were having difficulties building “little cabins” or “tiny homes” because of zoning commissions. “Hatton’s having problems.”
Someone else asked the legislators what happened at their “office hours” meeting in Reed City earlier that day. They said most of the discussion was about election laws and photo ID. The legislation in question, House Joint Resolution B of 2025, would change identification requirements for voting and voter registration.
Another resident asked about the potash plant project in Hersey, MI and the traffic it would cause in the Farwell area. Kunse said the operation has been “two years away for the last twelve years.” It would generate an estimated “30 trucks a day” output. The rail terminal for transferring material between trains and trucks would be on Kunse’s land where the railroad crossed US-10. He said trucks were more efficient over short distances, but trains were more competitive at long-distance trade. Hauck added that potash was a valuable component of fertilizer, and it was imported from Canada and Russia.
Kunse then discussed the issue of property taxes. If Ax-MI-Tax passed (eliminating property taxes in Michigan), then lots of government programs would be short of funding. In the case of schools, a resident said getting rid of things like administrator salaries and DEI programs would solve the issue. “The schools are not going to be hurt at all.” Kunse said convincing voters to support Ax-MI-Tax would be an uphill battle.
Kunse warned residents about how busy the upcoming 2026 election cycle will be. There will be races for U.S. Senate, Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Michigan Senate, and Michigan House of Representatives. “It’s gonna be hard to get oxygen!” “People are knocking on doors right now for the November ‘26 election.”
Hauck said to run for U.S. Senate would cost tens of thousands of dollars. A resident said there should be a cap on election campaign funding. Hauck said the radio station in Mount Pleasant was able to build a new facility because of federal election money. Kunse said campaign funding was ruled as protected speech by the Supreme Court.
A few residents asked about Daylight Savings Time. Kunse said he wanted “the people” to decide. “Put it on the ballot.” “Let’s make a decision and be done with it.”
The discussion turned to the state budget and school funding. Kunse hoped that at least a budget for schools could be settled by July. He also said Schools of Choice was hard on some schools, particularly Farwell. Declining enrollment made it more difficult for schools to compete.
A resident asked what would happen if the federal Department of Education was closed. Hauck and Kunse said school funds would be managed by other government agencies. They did not think that the funding would disappear.
Another resident said it was “scary” how academic performance had declined over her lifetime. Kunse said parents were responsible for kids’ education. It was a matter of “personal responsibility.”
Someone asked about a penitentiary in Baldwin being reactivated for holding immigrants. Hauck said it was a privately-held “ICE facility” but did not have further information.
Kunse called the meeting to a close but said he and Hauck would stay a bit longer to talk privately. Kunse’s office phone number is (517) 373-7317, and his web address is repkunse.com. Hauck’s office phone number is (517) 373-1760, and his web address is senatorrogerhauck.com.
