State lawmakers, local officials address Lowell chamber members

Dennis Mansfield - Staff Writer

30 Aug. 2025

Members of the Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce got the chance to hear from a quartet of state and local leaders during the chamber’s “Breakfast Club – State of the State & Greater Lowell Area” event, at the Lowell City Hall, on Wednesday morning, Aug. 20.

The event included updates by Michigan legislators Sen. Thomas Albert, R-Lowell, and Rep. Gina Johnsen, R-Portage, as well as Lowell Area Schools Superintendent Nate Fowler and Lowell City Manager Michael Burns.

Albert said one of the more important topics on his agenda is bettering educational outcomes for Michigan students. “Education is not going well in the state of Michigan,” Albert said. “Even the governor (Gretchen Whitmer) agrees.”

According to Albert, Michigan ranks in the bottom 10, in educational outcomes, despite top states in the Midwest, in per pupil spending. “We’re trending in the wrong direction,” the senator added.

Albert said he’d like to see officials focus on ways to increase overall attendance, while also, cutting down on the number of non-teaching days per school year. “We need to get back on track with that,” he said.

Another focus for state lawmakers, according to Albert, should be the repeal of Public Act 235, which requires Michigan to be powered 100 percent by “clean energy” by 2040. “First, it’s expensive to do that,” he said. “Second, it’s not realistic. It’s not realistic to do it in that time frame.”

Both Albert and Johnsen offered their takes on current budget debates, with state officials working to adopt a new state budget by the end of September. The 2025-26 budget year is set to begin on Oct. 1.

Of all the state legislative issues, Albert said the budget is “what people care most about,” but added that efforts to get a new budget passed have been “the slowest I’ve ever seen it.”

The state senator added revenues are stable and officials are not expecting “a lot of cuts.” Instead, the holdup over the budget reportedly is a possible road construction package. “It’s not going to come from new revenues,” Albert said. “So, what are our priorities going to be?”

He added that another point of difference between lawmakers is funding of corporate subsidies through the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve fund, created in 2021, used to attract businesses to Michigan. Albert reportedly has reintroduced legislation to eliminate the fund and dismantle the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

“We really tried to create a program that was accountable,” Albert said Wednesday. “(But) it’s been an abysmal failure. We need to pursue policies that make us competitive,” he added. “I think we just need to get back to basics.”

At times, Johnsen seemed to echo Albert’s frustration with the ongoing budget process. “There’s a lot of inefficiencies in our system of government,” Johnsen said. “We need to secure the basics. You secure first things first, like you do in a home budget.”

And, like Albert, Johnsen said local school districts and governmental units should be receiving “at least” similar state funding as they have in the past. “You don’t have to worry about that,” she said. “The fear mongering, you just have to shut that down.”

Another issue for Johnsen is state mandates – that often come without any additional state funding – she believes could bankrupt small and rural fire departments. “These things don’t make sense,” she added. “We’re trying to push back on that, too.”

For Fowler, the focus was on the start of the 2025-26 school year, with students returning to local classrooms on Tuesday. “It’s such a fun day,” Fowler said. “We had a great first day.”

Besides celebrating the start of a new school year, the superintendent said local officials were also celebrating the school district’s inclusion in MLive’s top 50 high schools.

“I do feel good about where things are moving, going forward,” he said. “We are proud of the opportunities our students have. It’s hard-working kids, good teachers.”

The City of Lowell is also busy working on a number of projects, according to Burns. One of those is developments at the Covenant Business Park.

Burns said some of the work is happening “behind the scenes,” with officials currently unable to provide any updates to the public. “If we talked about it prematurely, it might not happen,” he said.

Other efforts include an updated water and sewer agreement between the city and Lowell Township, as officials look to address the growing number of housing developments in the area. Burns said the city is also continuing work to upgrade local streets and roads, as funding allows.

Burns said growth in the area is also placing new burdens on police and fire services, with fire calls more than doubling over the last decade. “That needs to be looked at differently,” he added. “How are we going to pay for that? I don’t know.”

While not having an answer for those attending the chamber event, Burns said he expects such issues to be addressed through discussion in the next six months or so.