Abortion Stabenow supports reproductive rights and opposes the criminalization of
abortion. She voted against "abortion trafficking" bills and tying
HHS grants to a recipient's abortion policies.
Cannabis legalization Stabenow supported
Michigan Proposal 1 in 2018 to
legalize cannabis for recreational use, although she would like to ensure law enforcement is involved so that the law is implemented correctly.
Food assistance In 2013, Greg Kaufmann of
The Nation wrote an article stating that Stabenow was prepared to cut $8 to $9 billion from the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). In a lengthy statement, Stabenow's office rejected these accusations, maintaining that she "strongly opposes any changes to food assistance that make cuts in benefits for people who need help putting food on the table" and that she "has been the number one defender against the House Republican proposal to cut food assistance by $40 billion." Kaufmann doubled down on his charges and challenged Stabenow's office's claims in detail. In 2017, Stabenow fought to prevent the creation of additional work-requirement rules on SNAP recipients who were older or had smaller children and led a bipartisan effort to get the legislation passed.
Foreign policy In October 2002, Stabenow was one of 23 senators who voted against
authorization of the use of military force in Iraq. In April 2019, Stabenow was one of 34 senators to sign a letter to President
Donald Trump encouraging him "to listen to members of your own Administration and reverse a decision that will damage our national security and aggravate conditions inside
Central America", asserting that Trump had "consistently expressed a flawed understanding of U.S. foreign assistance" since becoming president and that he was "personally undermining efforts to promote U.S. national security and economic prosperity" by preventing the use of Fiscal Year 2018 national security funding. The senators argued that foreign assistance to Central American countries created less migration to the U.S. by helping to improve conditions in those countries.
Flint water Stabenow secured $100 million to repair and replace the water lines in
Flint, Michigan, which were
contaminating the drinking water with lead. She also pushed to include a program that would provide fresh fruits and vegetables to Flint children as part of the
Farm Bill.
Economic issues Stabenow received low scores from free-market groups (
Competitive Enterprise Institute, 2013, 0%;
American Conservative Union, 2016, 0%;
Americans for Prosperity, 2015–16, 0%) and high scores from fiscally liberal groups (Progressive Punch, 2015, 92%;
NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, 2012, 91%). In 2007, Senator Stabenow joined the bipartisan (70-23) support of
NOPEC in order to combat conspiratorial policies by foreign oil producers, extending Sherman Anti-Trust Act protection to include foreign cartels such as OPEC, and bring down US oil and gas costs for US consumers. In 2008, she voted against the
Troubled Asset Relief Program proposed by President
George W. Bush. In 2009, Stabenow voted for President
Barack Obama's $787 billion
stimulus plan. In October 2011, Stabenow called for tax breaks for firms developing bio-based products, using crops like
soybeans and corn to create prescriptions drugs, plastics, and soaps. In August 2012, Stabenow expressed support for "strategic partnerships between farmers and industry" and for a recent Obama directive to boost federal purchases of bio-based products. In 2015, she introduced the Stabenow-Portman Amendment (SA 1299) to address
currency manipulation in the
Trans-Pacific Partnership. In 2015, the
International Economic Development Council gave Stabenow the Congressional Leadership Award "for her significant contributions in the area of economic development." The IEDC cited her work on the
2014 Farm Bill, her sponsorship in 2013 of the New Skills for New Jobs Act, and her role in the federal bridge loan program." In 2017, Stabenow introduced her American Jobs Agenda, which included two acts: the Make It In America Act and the
Bring Jobs Home Act. The former, "would close loopholes in a 1933 law designed to give American companies priority when the federal government purchases goods." She said the act would require that the U.S. government: "buy American...If the federal agency says they need a waiver, they need to measure how many American jobs will be impacted by purchasing that product made overseas." The latter, "would create a tax cut for companies bringing jobs and business activities back to America from another country." In April 2017, Stabenow was one of eight Democratic senators to sign a letter to Trump noting government-subsidized Chinese steel had been placed into the American market in recent years below cost and had hurt the domestic steel industry and the iron ore industry that fed it, calling on Trump to raise the steel issue with
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping in his meeting with him. In May 2017, she and Senator
Gary Peters announced a $210,000
EDA grant to the West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission "to help spur economic development in West Michigan." The same month, she said that owing to a major change in farmers' margins since the 2014 Farm Bill, the farm safety net needed to be strengthened, especially for dairy farmers. At a July 13, 2017, economics
roundtable, she said that the "#1 request she gets in Michigan" is for "Professional technical jobs, building construction jobs—folks that can actually make things and do things." She said that Democrats can succeed in elections by "going to our core. We are the party that are willing to take risks to make things better...We believe in our core in an economy that actually works for everybody. That is how you grow America." The
Biotechnology Industry Organization thanked Stabenow in 2017 for supporting development of a "biobased economy," specifically for her introduction of the Renewable Chemicals Act of 2017, which would "allow taxpayers to claim a production tax credit of 15 cents per pound of biobased content of each renewable chemical produced during the taxable year." On October 3, 2017, Stabenow and Peters introduced the Small Business Access to Capital Act, designed to "reauthorize and improve the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) to help small businesses grow and create jobs." It built "on the successful SSBCI initiative that both lawmakers championed in the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010" and that "funds the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and other state-led lending programs that leverage private financing to help small businesses access the capital they need."
Immigration Stabenow received high marks from groups supporting immigration (
American Immigration Lawyers Association, 2013–14, 100%;
National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, 2013–14, 100%) and low marks from groups opposed to immigration:
Federation for American Immigration Reform, 2014, 0%;
Numbers USA, 2017, 0%. During the two-day
January 2018 government shutdown, Stabenow was among 81 senators who effectively ended the shutdown by approving a three-week stopgap spending bill that "included reauthorizing the
Children's Health Insurance Program for six years". This agreement was obtained after the Republican leadership "pledged to soon take up immigration legislation". She said they had "reached a bipartisan agreement that funds children's health insurance and moves us closer to a solution that provides long-term certainty for Michigan families and our national defense". In January 2017, she opposed
Trump's executive order temporarily limiting immigration from several Muslim majority countries, saying it: "is ruining America's reputation in the world, undermining our relationships with our most critical allies, and most heartbreakingly, destroying the lives of good and law-abiding people." Stabenow voted against providing
COVID-19 pandemic financial support to undocumented immigrants on February 4, 2021.
International relations Stabenow supported Obama's
Iran deal that sought to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons for 10 years and attempted to halt their uranium production.
Income inequality Recounting a 2014 Senate hearing on
income inequality,
George Packer singled out Stabenow as the only committee member who pushed back on the idea that it was caused largely by the withdrawal from the workforce of middle-aged people who preferred to collect welfare. Stabenow "pointed out that almost all the voters she heard from in high-unemployment Michigan still wanted to work."
Government spending She received low scores from low-spending advocates (
Club for Growth, 2016, 8%;
Council for Citizens against Government Waste, 2015, 0%;
National Taxpayers Union, 2015, 9%).
Education in 2016 In 2011, Stabenow introduced the Reengaging Americans in Serious Education Act (RAISE UP Act), whereby the
Labor Department would fund programs to help "disconnected youth" get diplomas, degrees, and job certifications. In 2012, she co-sponsored a bill to freeze
student loan interest rates at 3.4 percent and make additional funds available for
Pell Grants. In 2016, Stabenow and others introduced the Reducing Educational Debt Act, which she promoted with the #InTheRed
hashtag. She expressed "strong concerns" about Trump's nomination of
Betsy DeVos as
Education Secretary, saying: "DeVos and her family have a long record of pushing policies that I believe have seriously undermined
public education in Michigan and failed our children."
Gun policy Stabenow supports
gun control and supports a national assault weapons ban. After the
Orlando nightclub shooting, Stabenow participated in the
Chris Murphy gun control filibuster. One month later, she supported bills to ban people on the
terrorist watchlist from buying guns and to expand background checks. Neither bill passed the Senate. Stabenow blamed the
National Rifle Association of America (NRA) for the bills' failure to pass. In 2017, following the
Las Vegas shooting, Stabenow and
Debbie Dingell introduced a law that would make it illegal for people convicted of misdemeanor
stalking to buy guns. Stabenow has an "A+" rating from the
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and an "F" rating from both the NRA and the
Gun Owners of America.
Health care Stabenow had helped open 10 community health centers in Detroit while in office. In the
2000 campaign, she: "promised to make the
pharmaceutical industry lower prescription drug prices, to maintain
Social Security benefits and to give
Medicare a new prescription drug plan." She pledged to "fight the pharmaceutical and insurance industries—the two industries that spend the most money
lobbying federal officials" and accused the pharmaceutical industry of "making up to 20 percent net profit each year...on the backs of families, seniors and businesses." Her spokesperson said: "In the last election, I think the pharmaceutical industry spent more campaigning against her than any other candidate...She was enemy number one." Stabenow voted for the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in December 2009, and for the
Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. She also sponsored S. 2257, the Excellence in Mental Health Act. On September 1, 2016, she said that approving money to combat
Zika was a top congressional priority. In August 2019, Stabenow was one of 19 senators to sign a letter to
United States Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin and
United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar requesting data from the Trump administration in order to help states and Congress understand the potential consequences in the event that the Texas v. United States Affordable Care Act (ACA) lawsuit prevailed in courts, writing that an overhaul of the present health care system would form "an enormous hole in the pocketbooks of the people we serve as well as wreck state budgets".
Housing In April 2019, Stabenow was one of 41 senators to sign a bipartisan letter to the housing subcommittee praising the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 4 Capacity Building program as authorizing "HUD to partner with national nonprofit community development organizations to provide education, training, and financial support to local community development corporations (CDCs) across the country" and expressing disappointment that Trump's budget "has slated this program for elimination after decades of successful economic and community development." The senators wrote of their hope that the subcommittee would support continued funding for Section 4 in Fiscal Year 2020.
Defense In December 2011, Stabenow voted in favor of the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012. The bill included highly controversial provisions, drafted by Senators
Carl Levin and
John McCain in closed session, that would allow for the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens deemed potential terrorists and enemies of the state.
Environment Climate change On August 10, 2009, Stabenow was reported by
The Detroit News as saying, "Global warming creates volatility. I feel it when I'm flying. The storms are more volatile. We are paying the price in more hurricanes and tornadoes." She has, however, opposed regulation of greenhouse gases, enhanced fuel efficiency standards in California, and greenhouse gas emission reporting standards. Stabenow's proposed amendment to keep the EPA from regulating
greenhouse gas emissions for two years also drew criticism. The amendment would have given “coal-fired power plants, oil refineries and other industrial sources a two year exemption” from rules requiring them to report greenhouse gas emissions. She defended her position by calling her amendment: "a common-sense approach that allows protections from carbon pollution, determined by scientists and public health experts, to continue being developed while providing businesses the support and incentives they need as they reduce pollution, generate new clean energy technologies and create jobs." In February 2019, in response to reports of the EPA intending to decide against setting drinking water limits for perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and
perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) as part of an upcoming national strategy to manage the chemicals, Stabenow was one of 20 senators to sign a letter to Acting EPA Administrator
Andrew R. Wheeler calling on the agency: "to develop enforceable federal drinking water standards for PFOA and PFOS, as well as institute immediate actions to protect the public from contamination from additional per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)."
Drilling in the Great Lakes In 2010, Stabenow called for a total ban on drilling in the Great Lakes. Critics noted that "a U.S. federal ban on all oil and natural gas
offshore drilling in the Great Lakes" had already "been in place since 2005" and that Canada banned offshore oil drilling but had "roughly 500 offshore gas wells in Lake Erie" plus 23 "slant wells" that "drill for oil on shore but extend under Lake Erie." In 2015, Stabenow and Gary Peters introduced the Pipeline Improvement and Preventing Spills Act "to ban shipping of crude oil by vessel on the Great Lakes and require a comprehensive, top-to-bottom review of hazardous pipelines in the region." In May 2017, Stabenow expressed support for the bipartisan effort to retain funding for The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. In September 2016, Stabenow and Peters led an effort to link an aid package for the
Flint water crisis to flood relief funds for
Louisiana.
Canadian waste disposal On August 31, 2006, Stabenow, Senator
Carl Levin and Representative
John Dingell announced an agreement that would completely cease
Ontario's dumping of solid waste in Michigan within four years. This had been an issue in Michigan for the past several years. Stabenow had previously introduced legislation in the Senate intended to reduce the dumping of Canadian trash in Michigan. In July 2006, the Senate unanimously passed a law sponsored by Stabenow requiring the payment of a $420 inspection fee for every truckload of Canadian trash brought into Michigan.
Fairness doctrine Asked in 2009 by
Bill Press whether she would support a return of the
Fairness Doctrine, under which the federal government enforced an ideological "balance" on the airwaves, Stabenow said yes: "I absolutely think it's time to be bringing accountability to the airwaves." Asked whether she would push for Senate hearings on the subject, she said, "I have already had some discussions with colleagues and, you know, I feel like that's gonna happen. Yep." It has been noted that Stabenow's then husband was
Tom Athans, an executive in left-wing radio (
Air America,
Democracy Radio), whose career would have benefited from such legislation. Stabenow is probably the most prominent politician to seriously support a new Fairness Doctrine.
GMOs Stabenow, as
Senate Agriculture Committee Chair, added an amendment to the
2013–14 Farm Bill that prohibited state laws requiring
GMO labeling for foods. She has been criticized because this amendment aided
Monsanto and other agribusinesses, which donated over three-quarters of a million dollars to her campaign during that election cycle. In 2016, she was again criticized for her role in the passage of a law that overruled state laws mandating GMO labeling.
Trump nominations In January 2017, Stabenow opposed Trump's nomination of
Jeff Sessions as
AG: "Because of his record on
civil rights and his votes against anti-
domestic violence legislation, I cannot support him to be our nation's highest law enforcement officer...Families in Michigan and across the country deserve an attorney general who will enforce the nation's laws fairly and equally." That March, she opposed Trump's nomination of
Neil Gorsuch to the
Supreme Court: "After reviewing Judge Gorsuch's rulings, it is clear that he has a long record of siding with special interests and institutions instead of hard-working Americans. And, therefore, in my judgment, he does not meet this standard of balance and impartiality." In July 2018, citing his past rulings on presidential powers, she opposed
the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, furthermore stating that the FBI should perform a background check regarding
multiple allegations of sexual assault. She similarly opposed Trump's 2020
nomination of Amy Coney Barrett, stating: "It's very clear from her writings, multiple writings, that she will be the vote that takes away health care for millions of Americans, including 130 million people and counting with pre-existing conditions..." She voted against the nomination while wearing a
face mask depicting Barrett's predecessor
Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Retirement On January 5, 2023, Stabenow announced her intention to retire from the Senate. Her announcement cited a desire to "pass the torch" to Michigan's next generation of leadership: "I have always believed it's not enough to be the first unless there is a second and a third". She also noted time with family as a motivation for her retirement. The end of Stabenow's term in the Senate marked 50 years of her holding elected office. In February 2023, Michigan Representative
Elissa Slotkin launched a campaign to succeed Stabenow in the Senate, and Slotkin went on to win the general election in November 2024. ==Awards and honors==