An Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention would be established within the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs to help veterans navigate behavioral health challenges like Rep. William Bruck (R-Erie) described in testimony under HB 5276.

Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Lawton) proposed spending $8 million Thursday to deploy Michigan National Guard members to the Mexico-United States border in Texas.

Members on both sides of the aisle agreed today on an amendment funding the state’s Selfridge Air National Guard Base at $10 million, but when the Democrat-proposed amendment prevailed over the Republican-led one, Rep. Tom Kuhn (R-Troy) called out Dems for “political theater.”

Deploying Michigan National Guard units to Texas to aid its state authorities in managing illegal Mexico-United States border crossings is an action the Legislature's Republican leaders are pushing for, following a recent trip to Eagle Pass, a Texas city adjacent to the river Rio Grande.