DETROIT — State Rep. Sylvia Santana (D-Detroit) hosted an auto insurance town hall at Kadesh Missionary Baptist Church on Monday evening. The event drew 120 attendees who were interested in discussing the high rates of auto insurance in the city. In fact, the ZIP code with the highest insurance rates in the nation, 48227, is located in House District 9.

“I represent three of the top poverty-stricken ZIP codes in Michigan, one of which has the highest insurance rates in the nation,” Santana said. “I cannot stand by and watch legislators take political positions while the people of my district are faced with high or no auto insurance, are forced to use a suburban or out-of-state address, or are ultimately stuck with driver responsibility fees. In the end, this all leads to dirty driving because Lansing remains unable to find a solution.”

Last night’s town hall came on the eve of a press conference between Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Speaker of the House Tom Leonard (R-DeWitt), who announced their joint proposal for lowering auto insurance rates in the state. Santana spoke at the event. In April, Duggan and Leonard joined a group of bipartisan legislators in visiting the 9th House District to speak with members of the community about the high rates of insurance.

“As a representative of the city of Detroit, I stand in support of bipartisan efforts to resolve the issues of high auto insurance rates in Michigan,” Santana said. “My district specifically has demanded that I take action on this issue, and that is why I am committed to working on finding a solution. I fully support the legislative process and hope that as negotiations continue, all interested parties will continue to communicate in a professional and honest manner. My office is open to anyone who proposes reasonable solutions to this challenging subject. The insurance rates for Michigan drivers simply must be lowered for the sake of Michiganders everywhere.”