Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on Tuesday released a set of policies he says will empower Michigan’s Black residents.
What his campaign calls the “THRIVE Agenda” is an outline of the legislation El-Sayed says he will introduce or support if elected to the U.S. Senate to directly address the priorities of African American communities across Michigan.
The policies tackle voting rights, maternal and environmental health, plus access to capital and housing.
“For generations, Black communities in Michigan have received promises of federal investment that never fully arrived, or arrived without any way to track whether it actually improved people’s lives,” El-Sayed said in a release. “This policy agenda is a commitment to keeping the priorities of Michigan’s Black communities centered in all of the work that I do. In the US Senate, I will fight to work towards a world where communities that are so often forgotten have the opportunity they need to thrive.”
El-Sayed still faces questions from some Black Democrats who largely supported U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham, in the Aug. 4 primary election. His general election opponent, Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, has been campaigning in Detroit in hopes to convince Stevens supporters to back Rogers.
Rogers was in Detroit near Eastern Market to talk about housing affordability on Sunday, Sept. 13.
Many former Stevens supporters have already pledged support to El-Sayed. The Congressional Black Caucus PAC, which endorsed Stevens in the primary, announced its endorsement of El-Sayed last week.
El-Sayed’s THRIVE plan, first published by Michigan Chronicle, “tackles the systems that have long left Black Michiganders behind,” his campaign said.
As a U.S. Senator, El-Sayed says he would expand access to capital for minority businesses by closing the lending and contracting gap by expanding CDFI and SBA lending to minority-owned businesses, with a five-year goal of doubling the share of SBA-backed loans reaching Black and Latino-owned firms.
The plan also targets housing, by expanding Low-Income Housing Tax Credit allocations, adjusting HUD’s Area Median Income calculations, and expanding down-payment assistance and FHA/USDA loan access in majority-Black neighborhoods.
On maternal health, El-Sayed says he would support locking in 12-month postpartum Medicaid coverage, expanding Medicaid reimbursement for doulas and midwives, and taking the RxKids program national.
The Democratic Senate nominee has described himself as one of the architects of the largest expansion of Rx Kids in Michigan while the Wayne County health director.
Rx Kids, spearheaded by Flint’s Dr. Mona Hanna, is a direct grant program that provides cash assistance to new mothers and babies. El-Sayed worked with Hanna as Wayne County’s health director to bring Rx Kids to Wayne County.
Another aspect of the plan is a focus on clean water and environmental justice. He says he would speed up lead service line replacement and PFAS remediation, and place a 2% cap of household income on clean water.
El-Sayed’s campaign is also taking up issues central to the campaigns of his opponents: Supporting the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and expanding opportunities for HBCU students through apprenticeship investment, and addressing infrastructure funding.
He’s also pitching a loftier goal, which is working toward debt-free and tuition free higher education.
While El-Sayed would be lawmaking for the entire country, there’s local precedent for tuition free college. The state’s Michigan Reconnect program, a last-dollar scholarship program that pays for students to attend in-district community college tuition-free, has helped thousands of students who don’t have a college degree pursue an associate degree or skill certificate.
