Rising Politician Unveils Small-Business-First Platform, Promising Relief and Reform for Main Street
Detroit, MI – November 28, 2025 First-term State Assembly candidate Maya Delgado today released a 12-point small-business policy platform that positions Main Street as the centerpiece of Michigan’s post-pandemic recovery, vowing to streamline licensing, seed a $250 million micro-loan fund, and appoint a cabinet-level “Small Business Advocate” accountable directly to the governor.
“Small firms employ two million Michiganders, yet every week I meet owners who spend more time filling out forms than filling orders,” Delgado said. “We can’t preach innovation while forcing entrepreneurs to fax paperwork to three different agencies.”
The announcement comes as inflation-adjusted revenues for Michigan’s 900,000 small businesses remain 7 % below 2019 levels, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2025 State Profile.
Nationally, real-time data from the Small Business Roundtable show that 38 % of owners tapped personal savings this year to cover operating expenses, up from 29 % in 2023.
Delgado’s plan, dubbed “Main Street Forward,” draws on best practices identified in the newly launched MI Small Business Helper digital portal, a regional resource hub funded by the Gilbert Family Foundation that has already consolidated 80 local support organizations and $18 million in active grants.
A key plank would scale that model statewide, integrating state licensing boards so that approvals for permits, tax IDs, and health inspections are processed through a single online dashboard.
“When resources live on one shelf instead of eighty, founders spend time growing payroll, not hunting PDFs,” said Wafa Dinaro, executive director of the New Economy Initiative, the philanthropy behind the portal. Dinaro, who is non-partisan, noted that platform users have reported a 30 % reduction in time-to-launch since the site debuted in October.
Other proposals include:
- A 48-hour “Permit Pledge” for standard business registrations, enforced by automatic fee reductions if agencies miss the deadline.
- Expansion of the state’s angel-tax credit to 35 %, capped at $250,000 per investor, mirroring successful programs in Colorado and Ohio that increased seed capital flows by 42 % within two years.
- Creation of a “Small Business Bill of Rights,” codifying a 30-day payment standard on all state contracts, banning predatory renewal clauses in commercial leases, and guaranteeing a right to mediation before eviction.
- Forgiveness of the first $7,500 in state fines for non-safety violations if owners complete a free compliance workshop, an idea borrowed from New York City’s “Mom-and-Pop Tsar” proposal.
Delgado, 34, a former urban-planning analyst and daughter of Mexican immigrants who started a neighborhood bakery, has already secured endorsements from the Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). Polling by Lansing-based EPIC-MRA last week shows her statistically tied with the incumbent in the 21st District, long considered a safe seat for the opposition.
“Candidates talk about jobs; Maya talked about cash-flow cycles and inventory software,” said JosĂ© GarcĂa, CEO of GarcĂa Manufacturing, a 65-employee precision-parts firm in Southwest Detroit. “That granularity tells owners she actually understands the spreadsheet, not just the slogan.”
The campaign released a fiscal note estimating the platform would cost $112 million over four years, offset by redirecting 12 % of the state’s $900 million corporate-incentive fund toward grants under 250 employees. Independent analysis by the Anderson Economic Group projects the package could add 14,000 jobs and boost state GDP by $1.3 billion if even one in ten eligible firms adds a single new worker.
Early voting begins December 8. Delgado will tour twelve Main Street corridors next week, hosting “Coffee & Compliance” pop-ups where owners can test the proposed one-stop permit portal on tablets.
About Maya Delgado for State Assembly
Maya Delgado is a first-time candidate for Michigan’s 21st House District. A former small-business owner and urban-policy analyst, her campaign focuses on economic mobility, streamlined regulation, and equitable access to capital. More information: www.mayadelgado.com.
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