As Co-Chair of the bi-partisan Legislative Biotechnology Caucus (LBC), Rebekah is working with key stakeholders to provide Michigan-based companies and research institutions the tools necessary to create, retain and attract industry and job providers to the state. The potential for such growth has tremendous implications for Washtenaw County, home to the University of Michigan and innumerable biotechnology start-ups.

At the same time, Rebekah has lent her support to Michigan’s once-burgeoning film industry. According to a 2011 report by Ernst and Young, entitled the “Economic and Financial Impacts of the Michigan Film Tax Credit,” qualified film productions resulted in an estimated total of 3,860 additional jobs in Michigan in 2010, a 47% increase over the prior year. It also found that when combining the direct and indirect impacts, film productions qualifying for the credit generated an estimated $309.3 million of total Michigan economic output in 2009. In other words, for each dollar of direct spending on film labor and in-state purchases, total spending in Michigan increased by $2.60.

Aware that the film industry has brought tremendous economic development to our state with an immeasurable ripple effect on our local businesses, Rebekah voted against Governor Snyder’s plan to severely cut Michigan’s tax incentives. While the proposal ultimately passed, leading to a sharp downturn in the number of film productions coming to the state, she continues to work with her colleagues to find a solution that will reinvigorate this promising new sector.

Finally, a long-time advocate of lifting the ban on embryonic stem cell research, Rebekah supported the successful ballot initiative in 2008 after similar legislation failed to gain traction in the Legislature. As opponents now seek to circumvent the will of the people with legislation that chips away at its very core, Rebekah remains committed to this critical research, both for the potential it shows for those with debilitating diseases and the opportunities it creates for economic growth within our world-renowned medical community.