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Tonya Schuitmaker
| Tonya Schuitmaker | ||
 | ||
| Michigan State Senate District 20 | ||
| Incumbent | ||
| In office | ||
| January 1, 2011 - present | ||
| Term ends | ||
| January 1, 2015 | ||
| Years in position | 2 | |
| Party | Republican | |
| Compensation | ||
| Base salary | $71,685/year | |
| Per diem | $10,800 yearly expense allowance | |
| Elections and appointments | ||
| First elected | November 2, 2010 | |
| Next election | November 4, 2014 | |
| Term limits | 2 terms (8 years) | |
| Prior offices | ||
| Michigan House of Representatives | ||
| 2004 – 2010 | ||
| Education | ||
| Bachelor's | Michigan State University | |
| J.D. | Detroit College of Law (1993) | |
| Personal | ||
| Birthday | March 10, 1968 | |
| Profession | Attorney | |
| Websites | ||
| Office website | ||
| Campaign website | ||
 | ||
Contents |
Prior to her election to the Michigan House of Representatives, Schuitmaker was a partner in the law firm of Schuitmaker, Cooper and Schuitmaker. Tonya began practicing law in 1993, specializing in family, estate, business and municipal law. She was admitted to the State Bar of Illinois in 1996, Florida in 1994, Michigan in 1993 and the American Bar Association also in 1993. She was president of her home-town Bar Association, the Van Buren County Bar Association from 1997-1998.
Rep. Schuitmaker graduated in 1986 from Mattawan High School. She earned her B.A. in business from Michigan State University in 1990, and her J.D. from the Detroit College of Law in 1993.
Issues
Presidential preference
2012
Tonya Schuitmaker endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election. [1]
Voting record
Key votes of 2009-2010
- Click below to see how this representative voted.
- Super Speedway, Lawmakers voting on whether TO EXTEND A SPECIAL TAX PERK for a super speedway.
- Driver Responsibility Fees, Lawmakers voting on whether TO IMPOSE 'driver responsibility fees.'
- Crony Capitalism, Lawmakers voting on whether TO RESTRICT THE RIGHT of shareholders to sell their own stock.
- Right to Work, Lawmakers voting on an amendment SUPPORTING RIGHT-TO-WORK zones.
- Dept. of State Cost-Saving, Lawmakers voting on whether TO SLOW DOWN PROGRESS ON THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S COST-SAVING CONSOLIDATION PLAN.
- Golf Carts, Lawmakers voting on whether TO SUBSIDIZE the production of electric vehicle batteries.
- Home Court Disadvantage, Lawmakers voting on whether TO GIVE MORE TAXING POWER to local government in Kalamazoo so it can finance a taxpayer-subsidized sports arena.
- Fire Safe Cigarettes, Lawmakers voting on whether TO BAN the sale of cigarettes that are not "fire safe."
- Balancing Act, Lawmakers voting on a budget to CUT REVENUE SHARING PAYMENTS to local governments as a way to balance the state budget without raising taxes.
- Balancing Act 2, Lawmakers voting on a cut of less than 3 percent to K-12 school aid payments so as to balance the state budget without tax increases.
- A Good Tax Gone Bad?, Lawmakers voting on the Michigan Business Tax.
- It’s From the Children, Lawmakers voting on whether to RAID $90 MILLION from the Michigan Higher Education Student Loan Authority.
- Left Behind, Lawmakers voting on whether TO FINANCE "No Worker Left Behind" with a 59.9 percent increase in general fund spending in the 2009 DELEG budget.
- First Class Schools, Lawmakers voting on whether to keep Detroit Public Schools' "first class" status even though the district no longer meets the population standard.
- Politically Correct Capitalism, Lawmakers voting on whether to INCREASE SUBSIDIES for plug-in traction battery packs used in electric cars.
- Politically Correct Capitalism 2, Lawmakers voting on whether to GIVE SUBSIDIES for Michigan film production.
- Politically Correct Capitalism 3, Lawmakers voting on whether to INCREASE ELECTRIC CAR SUBSIDIES for a subsidiary of a Korean battery company.
- Secret Ballot, Lawmakers voting on whether to keep a SECRET BALLOT for union elections.
- Property Taxes Assaulted Again, Lawmakers voting on whether to allow public schools to EXPAND THE USE OF SINKING FUND property tax spending.
- Sneak Attack, Lawmakers voting on whether to allow public schools to EXPAND THE USE OF SINKING FUND property tax spending.
- Grapes of Wrath, Lawmakers voting on whether TO BAN home shipment of beer and wine to Michigan consumers.
- Subsidize Manufacture of Electric Cars, Lawmakers voting on whether to authorize a refundable Michigan Business Tax credit for makers of plug-in traction battery packs used in electric cars.
- Authorize Special Tax Breaks for Ethanol Gas Stations, Lawmakers voting on whether to authorize a non-refundable Michigan Business Tax credit equal to 30 percent of the costs incurred by a gas station to convert existing pumps and tanks, or acquire new ones that deliver E85 ethanol or biodiesel fuel.
More voting record details
- List of all of Tonya Schuitmaker’s roll call votes, bills introduced, and floor amendments from MichiganVotes.org (use site’s “advanced search” to narrow by date range, issue category and/or keyword).
- List of Tonya Schuitmaker’s 15 missed roll-call votes
Committee assignments
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Schuitmaker served on the following committees:
| Michigan Committee Assignments, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| • Appropriations | ||||
| • Energy and Technology | ||||
| • Health Policy | ||||
| • Judiciary, Vice-chair | ||||
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Schuitmaker served on these committees:
| Michigan Committee Assignments, 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| • Appropriation | ||||
| • Energy and Technology | ||||
| • Health Policy | ||||
| • Judiciary, Vice-chair | ||||
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Schuitmaker served on these committees:
| Michigan Committee Assignments, 2009 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| • Appropriations | ||||
| • Energy and Technology | ||||
| • Judiciary, Vice-chair | ||||
Elections
2010
- See also: Michigan State Senate elections, 2010
Schuitmaker won election to the 20th District of the Michigan State Senate in 2010. He defeated Democrat Robert Jones in the November 2 general election.[2]
| Michigan State Senate, District 20 General election (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
 Tonya Schuitmaker (R)
|
47,680 | |||
| Robert Jones (D) | 34,507 | |||
2008
On November 04, 2008, Tonya Schuitmaker ran for District 80 of the Michigan House of Representatives, beating Jessie Olson. [3]
Tonya Schuitmaker raised $88,519 for her campaign.[4]
| Michigan House of Representatives, District 80 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Tonya Schuitmaker (R)
|
23,425 | |||
| Jessie Olson (D) | 14,936 | |||
2006
House District 80
- Tonya Schuitmaker (R), 61%
- Jessie Olson (D), 39%
2004
House District 80
- Tonya Schuitmaker (R), 58%
- Art Toy (D), 42%
Campaign donors
2010
In 2010, Schuitmaker raised $818,333 in contributions. [5]
Her three largest contributors were:
| Donor | Amount |
|---|---|
| Senate Republican Campaign Cmte Of Michigan | $379,835 |
| Schuitmaker, Tonya L | $100,000 |
| Citizens To Elect Tonya | $19,829 |
2008
In 2008 Tonya Schuitmaker collected $88,519 in donations. [6]
Her five largest contributors in 2008 were:
| Donor | Amount |
|---|---|
| Michigan Association of Realtors | $5,000 |
| Schuitmaker for Majority | $5,000 |
| Michigan Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association | $4,954 |
| Michigan Electric Cooperative Association | $2,300 |
| Michigan Chamber of Commerce | $2,150 |
Recent news
This section displays the most recent stories in a google news search for the term Tonya + Schuitmaker + Michigan + Senate
- All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.
Tonya Schuitmaker News Feed
- Lawmakers host annual expo for seniors, veterans - Comvoicesonline
- Snow days: Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signs law allowing longer school days ... - MLive.com
- Sticker shock - Herald Palladium (subscription)
- Public invited to Human Trafficking Legislative Day at the Capitol - Sentinel-Standard
- Gov. Snyder, state legislators attend Feeding America West Michigan Food Bank ... - The Grand Rapids Press - MLive.com
- West Michigan sex trafficking investigation - WZZM
- Fired Mattawan coach receives support - WOOD-TV
- Conflict of interest may have benefited doctor of 'filthy' Muskegon abortion ... - MLive.com
- Michigan House approves Bridge Card fraud, medical authorization form ... - MLive.com
- Senators consider abortion doctor case - WOOD-TV
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Scorecards
Common Sense in Government
Common Sense in Government published a legislative scorecard in July 2010 scoring Michigan's state legislators on the votes they cast on seven bills. According to the group, the seven bills, and how a legislator voted on them, were chosen based on the insight CSG thinks these votes give about the extent to which an individual legislator votes in accordance with "the limited government, free market principles that Michigan needs to get back on the right track."[7]
On this scorecard, Pappageorge was given a score of 43%. From the perspective of Common Sense in Government, a 100% score was the desired score.[8] 5 out of 22 of Michigan's Republican state senators earned a higher score than Pappageorge, with 57% (Nancy Cassis) as the highest score anyone received. The average score of the state's Democratic state senators was 3%.[8]
Tea Party Scorecard
The Independent Tea Party Patriots, a Michigan Tea Party group, grades the votes of this and every other Michigan legislator on “core tea party issues” in a regularly-updated scorecard. 100% is considered an ideal rating.[9]
January 2011 - March 2012
Tonya Schuitmaker received a 62% rating on the January 2011 - March 2012 Tea Party Scorecard.[9]
Personal
Schuitmaker and her husband Steve have two children.
External links
- Tonya Schuitmaker's campaign website
- Senate website
- Project Vote Smart legislative profile
- Project Vote Smart biography
- Michigan Votes - Tonya Schuitmaker
- Campaign Contributions: 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004
- Tonya Schuitmaker on Facebook
References
- ↑ Mitt Romney Campaign Website "Mitt Romney Announces Support of Michigan Speaker of The House Jase Bolger and Additional Members of The Michigan Legislature," September 19, 2011
- ↑ Official Election Results from 2010 State Senate races
- ↑ Michigan House of Representatives official election results for 2008
- ↑ Follow the Money's report on Schuitmaker's 2008 campaign contributions
- ↑ 2010 contributions
- ↑ 2008 contributors to Tonya Schuitmaker
- ↑ Make Lansing Listen, "Common Sense Votes Scorecard", July 21, 2010
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Make Lansing Listen Michigan Senate scorecard
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Michigan Votes, "Tea Party Scorecard Jan 2011-Mar 2012," accessed June 22, 2012
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Michigan House of Representatives District 80 2005–2011 |
Succeeded by Aric Nesbitt |
| |||||||||||||||||
- 2012 endorsement of Mitt Romney for President
- Current member, Michigan State Senate
- Former member, Michigan House of Representatives
- State representative not eligible for re-election because of term limits, Republican, Michigan, 2010
- Republican Party
- 2010 challenger
- State Senate candidate, 2010
- 2010 winner
- 2010 candidate
- Michigan
- 2010 open seat
