Richard Helppie's Common Bridge
The problems we have in the country are solvable, but not solvable the way we’re approaching them today, because of partisan politics. Richard Helppie, a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist seeks to find a place in the middle where common sense discussions can bridge the current great divide.
Richard Helppie's Common Bridge
Episode 286- Michigan Gubernatorial Candidate Series: Tom Leonard
What does it take to transform a state facing serious economic and educational challenges? In this illuminating conversation, former Michigan House Speaker Tom Leonard outlines his vision for revitalizing Michigan as he campaigns for the governor's office.
Michigan's struggles are starkly quantified—ranking 49th in unemployment, near last in population growth, and facing an education crisis where only 25% of fourth graders read at grade level. But Leonard sees tremendous untapped potential in the state's natural resources, research institutions, and hardworking citizens. "This state has all the ingredients it needs for success," he explains. "We just need the right recipe, the right policy, and the right leadership."
Drawing from his experience as a prosecutor in Flint and his legislative accomplishments, Leonard presents specific solutions to Michigan's most pressing problems. His education plan draws inspiration from the "Mississippi Miracle" that transformed literacy rates through early assessment, targeted tutoring, and parental empowerment. For economic growth, he advocates reinstating right-to-work laws, implementing regulatory and licensure reform, and addressing the property tax burden that has many residents feeling "taxed out of their homes."
The conversation goes beyond standard talking points to explore innovative approaches to healthcare, environmental justice, and criminal justice reform. Leonard makes a compelling case for telehealth expansion, highlighting how tele-mental health services could reach every Michigan teenager for just $6 million—compared to $600 million for traditional in-school counselors. He also addresses environmental cleanup of the Rouge River as both an ecological necessity and a matter of social justice.
Throughout the discussion, Leonard emphasizes a positive, solutions-focused approach to governance that transcends partisan divides. "When a party is void of ideas, void of vision, and focused only on hatred of one person, they lose," he observes. His campaign offers an alternative centered on problem-solving and demonstrated success in bringing diverse stakeholders together.
Ready to learn more about a vision for Michigan that prioritizes education, affordability, and opportunity? Subscribe to The Common Bridge for more nonpartisan discussions on policies shaping our future.
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Welcome to this episode of Season 6 of the Common Bridge, where policy and current events are discussed in a fiercely nonpartisan manner. The host, richard Helpe, is a philanthropist, entrepreneur and political analyst who has reached over 5 million listeners, viewers and readers around the world. With our surging growth in audience and subscriptions, the Common Bridge continues to expand its reach. The show is available on the Substack website and the Substack app Simply search for the Common Bridge continues to expand its reach. The show is available on the Substack website and the Substack app Simply search for the Common Bridge. You can also find us on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. The Common Bridge draws guests and audiences from around the political spectrum and we invite you to become a free or paid subscriber on your favorite medium.
Speaker 2:Hello, welcome to the Common Bridge. I'm your host, rich Helpe, and we're going to continue today by interviewing the candidates for the governor of the great state of Michigan, and today we've got with us Mr Tom Leonard. Tom, welcome to the Common Bridge, very happy to have you. Yeah, thank you, rich Glad to be here.
Speaker 2:Now listen. Michigan is a very important state. If you don't live here, if you're not a voter, this is important. Michigan is on an international border. We do a lot of trade with Canada and throughout the world. We are sitting at the hub of transportation centers. We've got the largest freshwater reserves in the world, there's copper up north and there's a great future ahead if we play it right. And we've all seen states that haven't played it right. So running for governor today Tom Leonard. It's tomformichigancom. He was born in Montrose, near Flint, michigan. His first legal position he was a clerk at Genesee County and he's been working in a number of legislative areas, including mental health, reforming the teacher's pension system and the first leader to pass constitutional carry. He has been elected as a state representative for Clinton and Gratiot counties and his third term he was the unanimous selection for the Speaker of the House. Speaker. Welcome to the Common Bridge. I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 3:Thank you very much.
Speaker 2:What other parts of your bio might be interesting to the listeners, readers and viewers of the Common Bridge?
Speaker 3:Yeah, probably, you know the big one is in terms of career. I was a prosecutor in Flint for three years and I tell people that was still the greatest job that I ever had. Half my time that I was there I was a drug prosecutor working with our undercover drug unit and there were many nights I used to go on the streets with the officers. I'd watch them perform their duties and again, it was just a fascinating job. But showing them that I cared enough to be out there with them, I mean I can't tell you how much that meant to law enforcement. But most importantly, I tell people the greatest job that I have is being a dad, a husband and a dad. And that's why, rich, that's why I'm doing this.
Speaker 3:You look at the state of the state right now. The only state that Michigan beat for population growth the first two decades of the century was West Virginia. We are 49 out of 50 for unemployment, we are bottom 10 for income growth, and the statistics just go on. And my biggest fear, like many, is that 10 to 15 years from now because I know that's going to come in a blink of an eye, my little girl or my little boy, they're going to come to me and they're going to say Dad, I'd love to stay here in Michigan with you and mom, but unfortunately I have to leave for better opportunity. I don't want that to happen. That's why I'm doing this.
Speaker 2:What do you see as some of Michigan's greatest assets, and how would you, as a governor, make use of these to realize a better future for our state?
Speaker 3:Well, I mean, all you have to do is spend a few hours traveling the state and frankly, maybe I'm a little biased, but I don't think any other state can compete. I mean you mentioned we've got the Great Lakes here you go to the Upper Peninsula. I mean you cannot find a more beautiful area. We've got three of the greatest research institutions in this country right here in the state. But, most importantly, we've got, I believe, the best people and the hardest working people. This state has all the ingredients that it needs for success.
Speaker 3:We just need the right recipe, we need the right policy. We need leadership in this place that's going to put the right policies in place so that the people in the state can thrive. That's what we need. I joke, my wife is a Hoosier and right now Indiana is thriving. They're growing their population. Their unemployment is less than us. They're growing incomes faster than we are. And I often joke to her have you ever driven through Indiana? I mean, indiana should never be beating Michigan in anything. So we just need the right leadership and the right policies in place.
Speaker 2:Well, there's many things we need to work on as the next governor comes in. What are the two or three things the next governor you or one of the other candidates must do in that office?
Speaker 3:Right. So there are some what I call the very basic things that we have to do. Ok, so right to work? We need to bring right to work back to the state. When you look at the top 10 growth states in this country, nine of the 10, all but Delaware are right to work states. When Michigan's right to work law was repealed two years ago, michigan was mid-pack for unemployment. We were one-tenth of one percent off the national average. Now we are 49 out of 50. That's not a coincidence. Michigan needs to be a right-to-work state again.
Speaker 3:We need regulatory reform in this state. I mean Metro Detroit is the eighth worst area in the entire country to build homes. Affordable housing is an issue here in this state. I mean just in the past five years, rent is up 40%. The average housing cost is up $100,000. We need regulatory reform. But you know what? We also need licensure reform. I have an uncle Married my aunt. He moved here several months ago. He was a journeyman electrician in South Carolina for over 20 years. When he moved here it took him four months to get a job because of all the hoops and the tests that he had to take and everything he had to jump through to get a job. This ought to be the easiest state in the entire country to find a job If you were licensed in another state. We've got a skilled trades crisis here. We've got an affordable housing crisis. Let's get people here. Let's let them work.
Speaker 2:That sounds logical to me. And why would you have all this broad field of candidates? Why would you be the best governor to guide this state?
Speaker 3:So you know a history of success and I'll go back to that in just a minute. But you know, janelle and I and Janelle's my lovely bride we spent and I say we because this is a team effort. No one person can do it alone. And if anybody says I can do it alone, they're not being truthful to you and they're not being truthful to themselves. So we spent a lot of time thinking, praying about this and I did a lot of traveling across the state just listening to people and what I found was is there really wasn't a candidate out there that was really talking about issues and trying to identify problems with real solutions. Everything was about how bad Gretchen Whitmer is or how bad Jocelyn Benson is and frankly, that is not what the people of the state are looking for. They are looking for a problem solver. So that's number one. But number two, a history of success, I mean when I came into the legislature. I'll give you just a couple examples.
Speaker 3:When I came into the legislature my first term preliminary examination reform that's the first step in the criminal justice process. When I was a prosecutor, I saw what a disaster this was. I saw how it was taking officers off the streets, but I saw how it was re-victimizing victims every single day and I said we've got to get something done with this process. Everybody told me, tom, we've tried for decades to do something. We can't get it done. I started working on it and I realized within just a few short weeks no legislator had ever taken the District Court Judges Association and the Prosecutors Association, put them in a room and had them talk about it. We passed that legislation almost unanimously. We got it done. Driver responsibility fees the legislature had tried on those for years to eliminate and get rid of those. I made it a top priority of mine. We got it done. Teacher pension reform the same thing. So I would say look at my past track record a history of success. That's why I know I'll be successful as the state's next governor.
Speaker 2:Next year when we elect a new governor 2026, children are going to be born in 2026. They'll graduate high school in 2044. What kind of future should they expect?
Speaker 3:Well, if we don't turn this thing around, they're going to expect another future in another state. That's what's going to happen. So you mentioned our children.
Speaker 3:One of the really big issues that we are focused on and we came right out of the gate, and I think every politician I don't care if it's Republican, democrat, independent better be talking about this is the education crisis that this state is facing, especially with their grade reading. Right now, only 25% of the fourth graders in this state can read at a proficient level 5% in the city of Flint, 11% in the city of Detroit. And I can tell you, rach, as a former prosecutor, if a kid can't read, if they drop out of school because they're illiterate, you've basically created a pipeline to a welfare check or a prison cell. Why would any company, why would any business want to come here or expand here if they know that our children are not going to be able to read and we're not going to have a base that's educated? So that's a big one when it comes to our children. Third grade reading is one of the biggest issues that we're focused on right now.
Speaker 2:Third, grade reading is one of the biggest issues that we're focused on right now, and how would we as a state go about improving the scores for the third grader so that child born next year, in 2026 going to third grade in 2033, roughly what can be done during that first term of a new governor that would make a difference for that?
Speaker 3:third grader. So I say look no further than the Mississippi miracle. And I love this example because Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the country. They spend far less on education than we do and yet 10 years ago they were 49 out of 50 for third grade reading scores and because of the right reforms they are now top 10 in the country. That's why it's deemed the Mississippi miracle.
Speaker 3:So what did they do? First things first, early assessment. So kindergarten first, second, third grade, each of the children. They are assessed three times a year so they can get their hands around and determine which kids are struggling. Then, once they identify who those kids are, they invested into high quality tutors to put them in the classrooms and get these children help, and that has proven to be the most effective. I mean, listen, some of these teachers. They are teaching in classrooms right now with 25, 30 kids. These teachers cannot be asked to do this alone. They need that help in their classroom high quality, certified, qualified tutors in those classrooms. Third, they took the bold step and they said you know what? Qualified tutors in those classrooms. Third, they took the bold step and they said you know what? We can no longer just pass a child along because we want to or we think it's the right thing to do. If they're not proficient, we have to hold them back. They took that bold step. Michigan needs to do the same thing. But probably even most importantly, they empowered parents in this process. They made certain that there was a system in place of support. They made certain there was communication. They made certain that if the child had to go to summer school, that there'd be transportation available.
Speaker 3:Again, mississippi really focused on third grade reading, and the last thing I would say is this We've got an advantage. I think that Mississippi did not have Governor Whitmer and I had been telling Republicans across the board one issue I think they really could have come to the table and supported her on was universal early childhood development. Okay, universal pre-K, but that universal pre-K is not focused on third grade reading, and I think what we need to do is make certain that that money and those investments go into the science of reading, phonics. We need to make certain that we're preparing those kids at a young age so that when they get to the third grade they can read and then we can advance them to the fourth grade. And the bottom line is this Children spend the first few years of their life learning to read, and then they read to learn. If they can't read to learn, they're going to be damned through the rest of their education career. Third-grade reading, I believe, is the foundation. It's what we've got to focus on.
Speaker 2:Well, I'd sure like to see that come about, and many of the candidates have talked about education as being part of our declining population and that we should have priorities in place to make us a growth state again. So we've got birth rates falling, out-migration of college educated which is surprising to me, given everything here Retirees going to the Sun Belt, going to get a little bit of that, and then immigrant populations that maybe we're not seeking. Besides education, what should we be thinking about in terms of population growth?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, well, we've hit a few of them. I mean, you know, I'm a firm believer that you know, in addition to education, empowering workers and we've discussed a couple of them Right to work I mean right to work, in my opinion, is a it's. It's a reform that empowers workers. It forces unions to be responsive to the workers that they're supposed to be representing. This regulatory reform that you know, that I already mentioned, but also, you know, the licensure reform.
Speaker 3:I don't know why we don't become a universal reciprocity state. There's only a few that do that. We would have such an advantage if we would do that. But also in our education system, we need much more flexibility. I mean, you look at our merit curriculum right now. I think one error that we have made as a state is we've essentially told every kid unless you go to a university, you can't be successful. Listen, that's hogwash. I mean, I've met with skilled trade shops. I've met with people in the skilled trades that are saying, listen, 22, 23-year-old kids can come out, they can make $70,000, $80,000 a year and have no college debt. And these are good, clean jobs. If a child is a junior or a senior in high school, why force them to take another math class, or why force them to take another foreign language course? Let's create more flexibility. Let's let them go into the trades if that's what they choose to do.
Speaker 2:Well, look, I'd sure like to be able to get a plumber, an electrician, carpenter when they're needed. But one of the things when I think about that type of trade school education, which I'm very much in favor of okay, grew up in a blue-collar place, we used to have great middle-class standards of living for doing those skilled jobs, and as boomer retirees we're going to need more of that. All right, because we can't do our stuff safely anymore. All right, we've got to be a little more careful. But I've started looking into what some of the classifications are for government service, and oftentimes it's a degree here, a degree there, and I'm just wondering if we're disadvantaging people if we also don't get after the civil service classifications.
Speaker 3:Well, I mean, listen, when you look at the civil service classifications, I like to tell people in Michigan there are five branches of government. You've got the executive, the judicial, you've got the legislative and then you've got civil service and higher ed. You know, civil in the trash or they're not allowed to. You know, take something to the office next to them because their classification says they can't, they're going to get grieved. I mean, that is not efficient. But you know, that goes to one of the other issues that we are talking about as well is government accountability and completely changing the culture in Lansing. Okay, so I had somebody approach me a few days ago or, I'm sorry, a few weeks ago, and they said, listen, I am a one issue voter. I said, okay, what is that? And they said I am a state worker and I want to know, if you get elected governor, when can I expect to go back to the office? And my response was tomorrow. And they kind of looked at me like shocked and I said and let me tell you what else we're going to do when you go back to the office. We're going to program your phone such that on the fourth ring, if it's not answered, that call goes directly to the department director's cell phone. I said we have to change the culture in Lansing, but it's not just within civil service. I mean, we've talked about affordable housing.
Speaker 3:Ok, let me give you an example with the legislature. So in November, there were two bills that were introduced. One was going to put a substantial burden on electricians. The other one was going to do the same thing to plumbers. Ok, these bills were navigating through the process for several weeks and at the last minute, the plumbing bill advanced. It went to the governor's desk, she signed it, and the one involving electricians it died.
Speaker 3:And I often ask the question do you know why? And people are like, no, I don't. And I say because the environmentalists came in at the last minute and they said if you pass this bill that will impose a burden on electricians, this bill that will impose a burden on electricians, we will no longer be able to build thousands of acres of solar panels across this state. Now, let that sink in for just a moment. We have an affordable housing crisis in this state and there are legislators that said, essentially, that day, we care more about building thousands of acres of solar panels than we do building affordable housing for the people of the state that can't afford it. That is a culture we have got to change in Lansing.
Speaker 2:Yes, and while I also saw that Consumers Power just sold their 13 hydroelectric plants to private equity with the idea that the private equity is going to sell the power back to Consumers Power and I don't know much about that, other than that transaction did occur and hopefully there's some investment there. But you mentioned Governor Whitmer and you know we are in a political world, so the political landscape, how do you think her legacy, you know, or performance in office is going to play in next year's race?
Speaker 3:The question is going to be how checked in is she? I mean, listen, I like to remain positive, I like to look forward because I know that's what the people of the state expect. Okay, but we also have to be honest. I mean, as we sit here, in almost mid-September, we are facing a government shutdown and the governor is out of the country. She needs to be in Lansing every day, forcing some type of budget deal. So the question is going to be what is her legacy going to be? Is she going to be checked in, you know, over this last year? I don't know. I think that's the dilemma that she faces right now. Is she going to be known as the governor that checked out in her last two years? For her sake, I hope not, and for the sake of the state, I hope not. But that's what it's looking like at this point.
Speaker 2:And that's going to cast a shadow over this whole race. If people are going to run against that or can't get out from behind those coattails- it will, but you know earlier.
Speaker 3:Going back to your question about what separates us, I mean, the one thing I want to make clear is, you know we have really been focused on a positive vision for this state. I like to tell people I call it the Dan Campbell approach. Okay, so when, dan Campbell, you're going to bite someone's knee, ken, no, we're not going to do that, but when he? But you know I'm in favor of that. Well, you know, and sometimes that might be necessary, but the bottom line is this when he became coach of the Lions and he took that stage of that first press conference, he didn't focus on four decades of failure, he didn't cast blame, he didn't point the finger, he just said we've got a problem here and with a lot of grit, a lot of determination and a positive vision in working together, we're going to turn this thing around. We can do the same thing with that same message here in the state. It's just simply going to take the right leadership and that's what we're doing. We're taking the Dan Campbell approach Every single day. We're focused on issues.
Speaker 3:I tell my fellow Republicans sometimes I go and I speak at events where it's only Republicans and they want you to throw them the red meat. They want you to just simply talk about Gretchen Whitmer, or they want you to talk about Joslyn Benson. And what I tell them is this I say here's some tough talk. I said if we learned anything from November, when a party is void of ideas, when a party is void of a vision and all they are focused on is hatred of one person, they lose. The same thing will happen to Republicans if our only focus is Gretchen Whitmer or Joslyn Benson. We've got to be focused on solving problems with a positive solution. That's what we're going to do over the next several months.
Speaker 2:And I think that's really interesting because we do have President Trump and it will be a midterm election how does President Trump's policies, his popularity, his polarization play into that 2026 run for governor?
Speaker 3:So I think, as long as this president continues to deliver on the promises that he made on the campaign trail, I believe we will be just fine. So I just saw a ratings poll come out this morning and I believe he was at 46 or 47 percent approval. That would be in the state of Michigan, ok, and 18, when Republicans had a very, very tough environment. He was floating between high 30s and low 40s. Ok, if he's at 46, 47 or he's close to 50, we can have a very good, solid year. But what he has to do is he's got to be focused on delivering on those campaign promises. At this point he's done it on immigration OK, we will see.
Speaker 3:If tariffs bring manufacturing back, I believe he can be successful. But I also think the question is going to be if manufacturing comes back to the United States, the bigger question is for us here in Michigan will they choose Michigan, or are they going to choose Kentucky or Tennessee? Or, as I said earlier, are they going to choose Indiana? But I think this president I mean certainly he is he is the biggest personality in the entire country. We all know that for either party, ok, and he's going to loom large, but he ultimately, I believe he is going to be a net asset for Republicans and we are going to need him in the state next October, next November, making certain that his low propensity voters are turning out for us again next November.
Speaker 2:Well, it's going to be a senatorial race as well. Gary Peters is retiring. He's been there. You know, quietly more than anything, and how do you think the impacts of that senatorial race going on in the state at the same time?
Speaker 3:we've got midterms and the governor Well, I mean I can tell you, first and foremost, it's going to drive up costs for everything. I mean, I can't even fathom how expensive TV ads are going to be next year in the state when you've got a gubernatorial race where you're probably going to have $100 million spent. Who knows what Mike Duggan's going to be able to raise running as't independent. You're going to have his expenditures. But as you mentioned the Senate race, I mean there are some people predicting that could be a $150-$200 million Senate race.
Speaker 3:You've got John James' seat is going to be open in the 10th. That's going to be a fight. There's going to be millions spent on that race. Tom Barrett's race in the 7th is going to be the. You know it's the closest race in the entire country. So when push comes to shove, there's probably going to be three, four hundred million dollars spent on television ads. This is going to be a very expensive race. That's why I believe that any candidate running for governor yes, the television ads are going to be important, but you better have a ground game as well, because you're going to have to get out your votes on the ground as well if you're going to be successful.
Speaker 2:Well, president Trump did not spend and the pundits said, oh, he can't win. And he did successfully. But you mentioned Mike Duggan. So we've got Mike Duggan, we've got Bernie Sanders, we've got other independents. Is there a possibility that that party polarization is going to benefit the independents, where people say you know what, no Republicans, no Democrats, let's just get somebody that's not affiliate?
Speaker 3:You know, I think that depends on whether or not Republicans choose to nominate somebody that's focused on issues, or whether or not they choose to nominate somebody that's only focused on the other side or soundbites. I mean, we have to have somebody that truly understands issues. But ultimately, I believe Mike Duggan will be a net positive for Republicans. And let me be clear about this the mayor and I we worked very well together when I was speaker. There were a couple issues that we worked, you know, side by side, trying to get across the finish line. I consider him a friend.
Speaker 3:From time to time we talk, but we have to be honest with ourselves, and I think he needs to be honest as well. He's not an independent. Have to be honest with ourselves, and I think he needs to be honest as well. He's not an independent, he's a Democrat. I know he's running as an independent, but if somebody were to really and I think the media is just now starting to do this ask him where do you differ from Democrats? His answer is I don't hate Donald Trump. That's not a political issue. That just makes you a decent person because you don't hate the president. Ok, so I think that it's a differentiator.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I think I mean it's just. It's odd that everybody understands what that means.
Speaker 3:But I think, I think, ultimately, when voters really start to hone in on this race and they really start to get educated about the issues and they see, my goodness, we've got one Republican running against essentially two Democrats, I think that is going to benefit the Republican, but again, it's got to be a Republican that's out there talking about issues. If not, then you're going to see Joslyn Benson become the next governor of the state.
Speaker 2:See? Well, let's get into some of the policy areas. We've mentioned housing. We talked a little bit about education. What about taxation? There's been proposals from in the current administration let's raise the income tax, let's make it. You know other than one rate. We have one candidate in the race saying let's just do away with the income tax. Lots of states don't have a state income tax. I don't know how many there are, but Tennessee, florida, texas, washington, new Hampshire, nevada, all very high growth states, and you know people can do that arithmetic. If four and a half percent is not coming out of four and a quarter percent is not coming out of your paycheck, it's money in your pocket.
Speaker 3:Absolutely so in. You know, as we were we were mentioning before we went on went on camera. I love doing these types of interviews because we can really get into the detail in the policy. Ok, so you know, first let's look at the budget. So, when I left the legislature in 2018, the state budget was $59 billion. This next budget that's going to ultimately get passed is likely going to be somewhere around 83 billion. Okay, so there is no doubt that the budget has grown much, you know, much quicker than people's pocketbooks.
Speaker 3:Ok, so I say the people of the state deserve a tax cut. Ok, but I think we need to sit down and we need to have a serious conversation about tax reform overall. Ok. So the income tax when you look at the top 10 growth states in this country, five of the top 10 either have a substantially lower income tax than Michigan or they have no income tax at all. I believe Michigan ought to strive to be a zero income tax state. I truly do.
Speaker 3:Okay, but the number one issue that I hear about when I'm out there on the campaign trail it's not just the number one tax issue, it is the number one issue right now is property taxes. People feel like they are getting taxed out of their homes. So we've got to do something with property tax relief in the state again. And you know you look at if you really want the state to grow, if you want our young kids to move here, you want them to stay here. If they're going to buy a home in 60, 70, 80% of their income is going to be tied up in a mortgage and property taxes. Think of the stress that that puts on their marriage. No more date nights, no more vacations. But you know what? Now they're second guessing whether or not they can start a family. You look at seniors and retirees that don't know if they're going to be able to stay in their forever home or they might want to sell their home. But if they buy something even smaller, they're not going to be able to afford the property taxes because that property tax cap is going to be lifted.
Speaker 3:So property taxes, we need to do something there as well. But you know what? Even with our gas tax, I mean, did you know? Michigan is one of a few states where we collect a sales tax at the pump, and I think we're the only state that that sales tax does not go directly to roads. So what does that mean? A billion dollars per year is collected at the pump and it does not go to roads. Okay, we've got to do something about that as well. Rich, every cent collected at the pump ought to go into roads. So, again going back to your original question, I think we need tax reform overall. Certainly, the citizens of the state need a tax cut, but I think we need comprehensive tax reform overall to make us more competitive.
Speaker 2:I agree. People want to get value for their money, and you know we're sitting here in Ann Arbor, which has very high taxes, and the city of Ann Arbor. Though, they deliver some pretty good services. The first responders are well-trained and well-equipped. Parks are clean. Yeah, it's expensive, but you can see what you get for it. It doesn't go into the vortex in Lansing. So, as we talk about affordability, health care and health insurance and the Medicaid reforms coming through, how do we make Michigan more affordable and, in particular, health care and health insurance?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I mean, I think there are several things that we can do on the health care front. Ok, so Michigan really needs to expand and use, in my opinion, telehealth. Ok, especially telehealth. Ok, I mean, this is the world, this is the age that we live in. Okay, so I'll give you, I'll give an example. So a few years ago, with the COVID funds, obviously, the kids in our school that had been locked out of their schools, you know, you saw mental health issues go up exponentially. Okay, so the legislature I think they appropriated $800 million. It was gonna be a little over $200 million over the course of four years. That money is gone and that money was appropriated to help kids with those facing mental health issues. Okay, so the money was gone.
Speaker 3:A study was put in place and the experts found that, hey, for us to put a counselor into every school building across the state would cost the state of Michigan $600 million. Number one, we don't have that money. But, number two, if we did have that money, we don't have enough counselors across the state to even have to put in each building. So what do you look at? And I started looking at this and I started talking to some companies that offer tele-mental health. So basically, the kid can sign up, they can go online, there's an app and they can basically get the services that they need from somebody you know talking to them on the internet or talking to them through an app on their phone. What would you think, so, to put a counselor in every room or every school building? $600 million. What would you think that these companies could provide tele-mental health services to every single teenager across the state for $35 million? $6 million, six million dollars oh my, one percent of the cost. And you see those savings in telehealth as well, and that would really help. Number one, in rural areas, where they can't get to, you know you can't get to, you know, certain health experts or it's tough to get to, you know, a hospital or a clinic. But also that really helps our elderly or those with disabilities who really can't jump, you know, get in the car and get to where they need to go. So we really need to expand telehealth.
Speaker 3:Certificate of need. That is a big issue and I didn't realize what a big issue it was until I started working with a company that wanted to bring a revolutionary cancer treatment here to the state and unfortunately they were not able to utilize the equipment that they had purchased, which cost them $16 million, because of the certificate of need laws. Now, thankfully, we were able to get some reform done that allowed them to bring that revolutionary cancer treatment here. But why is it that we should have all these burdens? We really need to do something with our certificate of need laws as well.
Speaker 3:But also, I mean I know there are a lot of experts out there that are into value-based care. So basically what that says is hey, we're going to pay doctors more money for outcomes. If they have better outcomes, we're going to pay them and, frankly, if they don't, we're not going to Value-based care. I believe is a big one. But you know, health care is going to be a big issue moving forward. I mean, this state is going to experience a primary care physician shortage 800 primary care physicians short within the next 10 years. Already, one third of the counties across this state are what they deem maternity deserts, which means they don't even have an OBGYN available to deliver babies. I mean, health, healthcare is a big issue facing the state and that's something we're going to have to focus on as well.
Speaker 2:There's a proposal, as I know, to let a health practitioner work at the top of their license so that they can do more, and telehealth. As long as people can have a private area to get the services and have the connectivity and a device, it makes a lot more sense. And, you know, even if you're a working person, you don't have to take time off from work. Prior to Medicare in my private insurance, telehealth handled a lot of primary care. It was very efficient, so we're going to be on in 30 seconds. Didn't have to stop anything.
Speaker 3:And they also too and I, you know let me make this clear about the, you know, the teenagers or those in school, because I had this question comes up often with tele-mental health services is well, there'd have to be parental consent? Right? The answer to that is yes, you know, we're certainly not promoting anything that would allow you know a child to sign up and start receiving counseling or some type of health care without parental consent If they're not an adult. The parent would have to be part of that process.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, we've talked a little bit about right to work. We've talked about some of the education and foundational. We're in this era right now where DEI seems to be fading, yet affirmative action has lifted people from minorities, given them an opportunity to participate in the economy. What would be ahead for the state of Michigan on those very sensitive social political issues?
Speaker 3:Well, I mean, frankly, you know, affirmative action, the citizens. They enshrined into the Constitution I believe it was back in 2006, and said discrimination is wrong. We don't care what your color is, we don't care what your gender is, discrimination is wrong, period. And I am a strong opponent of, you know, affirmative action. I actually, you know, we're here in Ann Arbor.
Speaker 3:I was a student at the University of Michigan at the height of the affirmative action fight and I'll tell you there's two major reasons why I'm opposed to the use of affirmative action. Number one, obviously I think people ought to be, you know, decisions ought to be made based on merit, not on the color of somebody's skin. But also, I don't think and I and I had this, you know, I had this, uh, if you want to say, very spirited conversation with a graduate student instructor of mine. I said the number one reason why I oppose affirmative action I do not believe it's fair to people of color. And I remember meeting this man and I think he had gotten his undergraduate degree from harvard. He was one of the smartest people I'd ever met. This guy was more than qualified to be here studying and getting his phd from the university of michigan.
Speaker 3:But the problem is because of the color of his PhD from the University of Michigan, but the problem is because of the color of his skin for the rest of his life. People are going to look at him when he applies to a job and say, oh, he made it into Harvard and he made it into the University of Michigan because of the color of his skin. That is wrong. Nobody should ever have that type of asterisk on their name because of the color of their skin. So I am a strong you know again opponent of the use of affirmative action. Number one, because people ought to be judged based on their merit. But number two nobody, because of the color of their skin, ought to be judged moving forward and have people think that they got into a university because of affirmative action.
Speaker 2:So I understand where you're saying the education. Lift everybody up, give them the opportunity. Now we have a lot of environmental things, like in the cities. We have some beautiful cities. Detroit is on a really nice track right now. Things aren't perfect, but how do we handle the city issues that we see? We've got the National Guard moving into cities across the country. We have unsafe streets. You know more incidents of industrial pollutants. When you think about the cities in our state, anything in particular about them that you'd be interested in as a governor?
Speaker 3:Well, let me give you a specific example, and this is an issue I cannot believe. Over the last five or six years we have dropped the ball on. Okay. So environmental issues come up quite often and I'm a firm believer. Hey, let's fix the problems. Let's fix the issues that we can really fix.
Speaker 3:Prime example the Rouge River here in southeast Michigan. It flows through Dearborn, it flows through Detroit and for nearly 60 years there has been a problem of industrial pollutants in that river and in fact they have even told the citizens of Dearborn, the city of Detroit, if you catch a fish out of that river, do not eat it because it's going to be contaminated. Why shouldn't the citizens of Detroit or the citizens of Dearborn be able to fish in the Rouge River, just like a citizen in northern Michigan? Can, you know, fish in one of their rivers? Well, under the infrastructure plan that Joe Biden signed into law a few years ago, there was money set aside for Great Lakes restoration and basically it was a two to one match and what experts said was it would cost about $800 million to fix a 60-year problem. So basically the feds were willing to cover two-thirds of that cost. There was no legislator in town talking about it. The governor wasn't talking about it.
Speaker 3:Now I go back to the Detroit bankruptcy settlement and what Rick Snyder did with the foundations, what he did with the local governments, what he did with the unions. Could you imagine if we'd had a governor in place that would have gone to the mayor of Detroit, the mayor of Dearborn, and gone to the head of all these foundations and said listen, we've got a problem and we've got one opportunity to fix it. The federal funds are set there. We need to come up with between two and $300 million. Mr So-and-so from Foundation X, would you be willing to put money into a pot and help us do this? I will guarantee you that they would, to ensure that people in Detroit and people in Dearborn could utilize that river. It never happened. So these are the types of issues that I'm looking forward to going in there and fixing, the issues that have been on our plate for 60 years that nobody's talking about.
Speaker 2:Well, look as a kid that crossed the Rouge River many times on a log and actually fell in a few times not a pleasant experience. I would have been real behind that, because it was always considered dangerous and polluted and it does need to be cleaned up. And I know there's some efforts going on in certain communities, but not enough. But that's a great example of an asset that we have here and I've never heard anybody pose the question yeah, why is it? We can fish in Manistee, but we can't fish in Westland.
Speaker 3:That doesn't make sense and, frankly, if we care about civil rights and social justice, to ask the question very pointedly why isn't it that people of color in southeast Michigan can't utilize their fresh water the same way people in northern Michigan can? They should be able to and again, that was a complete, in my opinion, missed opportunity. That is something that we should have jumped on. Those are the types of issues that the next governor of the state needs to start focusing on fixing the issues that we can resolve. But it's going to take political will and actually putting our heads together to get it done and working together.
Speaker 2:Look as a former prosecutor and potentially our next governor, when you look at some of the things around policing and prosecution and cashless bail and we've just had recent tragedies of people that obviously needed to be restricted before they did more harm and they're creating multiple tragedies. What could the governor do? Is the government empowered at all to do anything in terms of some of these policies?
Speaker 3:Well, absolutely, and I'll come to that in just a moment. Let me. Let me take a step back, for for just a moment. I mean, you look at my track record when I was speaker of the House. Okay, when I came in so I was a prosecutor I was tough on crime. I'm still tough on crime, but you also have to be smart.
Speaker 3:When I came to the legislature, when I was a prosecutor, I saw it used to be in the state of Michigan that if somebody had a felony and a misdemeanor on their record, they could no longer get them expunged because they had two convictions. And I looked at that and I said that is crazy. If we're going to have people out there, they're not going to be in jail, they're not going to be in prison, they need to be able to get a job. We need to expand expungements a little bit. So I was the one that introduced legislation to expand expungements in the state of Michigan. I mentioned driver responsibility fees. We had a situation where, because of driver responsibility fees, 350,000 people in this state, most of them the working poor, could not lawfully obtain a driver's license, 75,000 of them in the city of Detroit. I fought like crazy and made certain that we not only got rid of those fees but we granted those 350,000 people amnesty and gave them their driver's licenses back immediately.
Speaker 3:I was a huge proponent of the indigent defense reform. I mean, I believe that if you're going to prosecute somebody, they need to have adequate counsel, but we also need a governor that's going to stand with law enforcement and, as you mentioned, cashless bail. I mean, look what it's done to California, look what it did to New York, and I talked to a group of police officers today and I told them, if I'm the state's next governor, we're going to send a clear message on day one. If any type of bail reform hits my desk, it's going to be vetoed immediately. If there's any type of reform that's going to get rid of your qualified immunity so that you can't do your job, it is going to be vetoed immediately.
Speaker 3:But you know what? If we also have an attorney general or we have prosecutors that are prosecuting police officers that are simply out there doing their jobs, they're going to have a governor that's going to stand with them and tell them they're going to get a pardon immediately if something goes wrong. In that case, the bottom line is this Morale is down with law enforcement. Half of the police chiefs across the state have said they do not have enough police officers to provide basic services. The same with our sheriffs, the same with our prosecutors. We've got to change the culture in the state and we need a governor that's going to stand with them.
Speaker 2:Mr Speaker, the Driver Responsibility Act. What does that do? Is there a short definition in lay terms? What does that mean?
Speaker 3:So it's hard to you know, I guess, give a quick explanation. But essentially what had happened? It was nothing more than a money grab. So in the early 2000s the state was facing a government shutdown and this was a bipartisan mess up. You had a Democratic governor, you had a Republican legislature and they were trying to get money anywhere that they could. And essentially some person came up with this grand idea we're going to take 20 or 25 moving violations. For one of those violations, we're not only going to fine you in court, but we're also going to send notice to the Secretary of State's office and talk about bureaucracy, who then has to send notice to the Department of Treasury to send you a bill for $1,000 and say if you don't pay the state $1,000, we're going to deem you a bad driver. If you don't pay that $1,000, we're going to revoke your driver's license.
Speaker 3:The best example I could tell you is this one no proof of insurance. So somebody gets pulled over for speeding. Police officer walks up the vehicle's insured. But hey, they've got a glove box with a bunch of papers and they say where's your insurance? And they can't provide proof. They're nervous, what have you? And the police officer writes them up for no proof of insurance. Okay, they go to the courtroom. They pay their civil fine $200, $300. They go home. Three, four months later, the state of Michigan sends them a bill and says well, because you couldn't provide a proof of insurance, we're deeming you a bad driver and now you've got to pay us a thousand dollars.
Speaker 2:Amazing Right, and a check for a thousand dollars makes me a good driver, so you take.
Speaker 3:And again it really impacted the working poor. I mean, you take somebody that's making, you know, 13, 14, $15 an hour, at the time probably $10 an hour. They could not afford $1,000. So I would go into misdemeanor pretrials when I was a prosecutor and we would have dozens of these young men and women out the door saying listen, sir, I have no hope of ever getting a driver's license back. Please just hold me responsible for the next one. Let license back. Please just hold me responsible for the next one. Let me go on my way. I'm just going to drive without a driver's license.
Speaker 3:Not that that was wrong, and you know Governor Snyder and I we kind of had to go to battle on this one because you know he was a huge proponent of the skilled trades and bringing jobs to Michigan and I was with him. But I said, governor, if we are going to bring more skilled trades here, we've got to make certain these people can legally drive there. Let's get rid of these driver responsibility fees. Let's give these people amnesty, let's give them a driver's license back, let's give them hope. And I often say on the campaign trail imagine a conservative former speaker that used to represent mid-Michigan going into Detroit. There were 75,000 drivers that did not have a driver's license. Imagine going and campaigning in Detroit saying, hey, I was the one that fought to give you your driver's license back.
Speaker 2:It would be a powerful message and there's a lot of people running from Wayne County, so, absolutely, you've got to go there. Mr Speaker, this has been a very fascinating conversation and we could probably talk here for another several hours. There's a lot going on in the state. Is there anything that we didn't talk about that we should discuss?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So you know I've talked about the positive vision, the positive message. I've talked about, you know, my time as a prosecutor and I often tell this story. So people know about me, they understand how I view the world and how I'm going to conduct myself on this campaign. I'm often asked the question with people here that I was a prosecutor hey, what was the biggest case you ever worked on and how many years did that person go to prison for? And I tell them we had several of those. But the biggest and the proudest case that I ever worked on wasn't a case where we put somebody in prison. It was one where we kept a young man out.
Speaker 3:And I showed up to this court hearing one day and this young man he was 17 years old, he'd been charged as an adult with three 10-year felonies assault with intent to do great bodily harm, less than murder. He shot these three young men at a bus stop in the north end of Flint. I showed up to this court hearing and his defense attorney said Tom, he said, do me a favor, I want you to go back into the holding cell and I want you to spend some time with this young man. Come back and let me know what you think. I sat there for over an hour. This young man, orange jumpsuit, just sobbing. He said sir. He said I don't know what to do. He said everything in that police report is 100% accurate. But what's not in there is this what I did that day was in self-defense. These three men attacked me. I thought they were going to kill me and I shot them. And it's three people's word on one I'm going to go to prison for 10 years. My life is going to be ruined and I don't know what to do. And for some reason there was just something in my heart that day, I believe this young man.
Speaker 3:We went out, we got an adjournment. My officer in charge wasn't happy about it because he was overworked. But him I said Rod, go to that bus stop and I need you to determine whether or not there was surveillance that day. About four hours later he came back holding this DVD. We popped it in and everything that that young man said was 100% accurate and it was in self-defense. Within an hour we got him out of jail. We had the other three arrested for falsifying a police report.
Speaker 3:I tell that story because of this as I travel the state. There are a lot of people that are much like that young man. They feel like their government is coming down upon them. They feel like, no matter how big their pay raise is, it can't keep up with their bills. They don't feel like their kids are being educated and they just want somebody to take the time to listen to them and then identify the problem and go out there with real solutions, working together as a team to get the job done. That's what we did that day for that young man and that's exactly what I'm going to do as the state's next governor.
Speaker 2:Any final closing thought. For the voters of Michigan and the listeners, the readers and the viewers of the Common Bridge, that's a great. I love that story. That's justice done.
Speaker 3:I would just I would love for them to go to our website, tom4michigancom, and it's F-O-R, not the number four. So, tom4michigancom, Take a look. I mean look at our issues page. I mean, we really put meat on the bone. This campaign is about solving problems. They're not going to go to our website and just see a bunch of talking points. They're going to see real solutions to the problems that Michigan faces. That's what we're going to do over the next several months.
Speaker 2:We've been talking today with Tom Leonard. He is a candidate for the Republican nomination for the office of governor in this great state of Michigan. The primary comes next year, as does the general election. Michigan again a very important state for the nation, very important state for international relationships. And with our guest, tom Leonard, this is your host, rich Helpe signing off on the Common Bridge.
Speaker 1:Thanks for joining us on the Common Bridge. Subscribe to the Common Bridge on Substackcom or use their Substack app, where you can find more interviews, columns, videos and nonpartisan discussions of the day. Just search for the Common Bridge. You can also find the Common Bridge on Mission Control Radio on your RadioGarden app.