STATE REPRESENTATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Served as Democratic Floor Leader, the second ranking Democrat in the Michigan House of Representatives. Tied for longest serving Democratic Floor Leader since institution of legislative term limits.

• Sponsored Public Act 118 of 2019: bipartisan legislation that was signed into law to prevent local governments from taxing residential solar energy systems, protecting homeowners who install solar panels. Ann Arbor was the only municipality in the state that taxed solar panels at the time the bill was passed. 

• Sponsored Public Act 190 of 2020: a criminal justice reform law that was as part of landmark bi-partisan package to create an automatic expungement system in Michigan, allowing eligible residents with qualifying misdemeanor and non-violent felony records to have those records automatically cleared upon meeting eligibility requirements, removing unjust barriers to employment and housing.

• Sponsored Public Act 246 of 2022: an act to force landfill operators to increase environmental clean-up funds as part of a major bi-partisan rewrite of Michigan’s waste recovery laws.

• Sponsored Public Act 140 of 2022: a law to restore worker protections that had been suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Sponsored Public Act 56 of 2021 to regulate intoxicating hemp-derived products such as Delta-8 THC under Michigan's marijuana regulatory framework rather than leaving them largely unregulated, protecting Michigan’s public health and youth.

• Secured $3.5 million in state funding for Avalon Housing to expand affordable housing in Washtenaw County.

• Secured $700,000 in state funding to improve and upgrade affordable public senior housing at Lurie Terrace.

• Secured $250,000 in state funding to support the development of the Grove on Platt Road in Ann Arbor which provided 50 new units of permanent affordable housing

• As Democratic Floor Leader, successfully negotiated the adoption of a Pride Month resolution for the first time ever under Republican legislative control.

• Sponsored legislation to enshrine marriage equality into Michigan law

• Sponsored legislation to: shut down Line 5, make polluters pay to clean up their messes, protect groundwater from over extraction, reduce methane emissions, expand access to home renewable energy, set a 100% renewable energy standard for Michigan’s utilities, and create lead-safe homes. 

• Sponsored legislation to grant in-state tuition to students with DACA immigrant status.

• Sponsored legislation protecting students who report sexual assault from being punished for reporting incidents (later signed into law under Democratic trifecta)

• Sponsored legislation promoting government transparency and ethics, including financial disclosure requirements for public officials.

•Sponsored legislation banning source of income discrimination in housing (later signed into law under Democratic trifecta)

•Sponsored legislation preventing HOA’s from banning solar panels (later signed into law under Democratic trifecta)

COUNTY COMMISSIONER ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Led Washtenaw County as Board Chair in adopting the first balanced four-year county budget in Michigan history and the first AAA bond rating in county history, providing long-term fiscal stability for county government

• Spearheaded the creation of the Washtenaw ID program, making Washtenaw County the first local unit of government in the Midwest to issue county identification cards, expanding access to banking, public services, and identification for residents who faced barriers obtaining state IDs. This program served as a model for other municipalities like Kalamazoo County and the City of Detroit. 

• Oversaw the establishment of the Washtenaw Dental Clinic, expanding access to dental care for uninsured and underinsured county residents.

• Re-established domestic partner benefits coverage for county employees and fought state efforts to eliminate those benefits before marriage equality became law.

• Sponsored updates to the Washtenaw County non-discrimination ordinance to officially prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation. 

• Passed an environmentally preferred purchasing policy to direct county procurement to prioritize environmentally responsible products and services.

• Led efforts to establish the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day in Washtenaw County.

• Authored and passed Michigan's first and only ordinance to regulate single-use plastic bags before the state preempted local regulation.

• Leveraged key vote on Washtenaw Roads Millage to guarantee that 20% of the money off the top would be used for the Border to Border Trail, resulting in tens of millions of dollars of investment in this prized non-motorized trail system, and adding requirements in the millage for meaningful investments in walking and biking improvements to road projects. 

• Spearheaded efforts to establish of the county's Resiliency Office and fund the hiring of a Director and Program Manager for the office. 

• Initiated a millage accountability ordinance to improve transparency in how public millage dollars are spent.

• Advocated for the creation of a county housing commission. 

• Initiated and led an effort to repurpose the former juvenile detention center site, for affordable housing. This project is now known as the Grove and represents dozens of new units of permanently affordable housing.

• Co-led the effort to create a County-wide transit system which ultimately led to the expansion of the AAATA service area to include Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti Twp and Pittsfield Twp. 

• Served as Washtenaw County’s representative on the body that helped to create the political framework for Regional Transit Authority

• Passed the strongest and most effective ICE-Free zone resolution in the entire state. Worked with Sheriff Dyer to implement it on day 1. 

Reproductive Health Record:

100% pro-choice

Washtenaw County Commissioner 2011-2016

Supported regular allocation of county funds to support Planned Parenthood including $53,000 allocation in 2011 and subsequent allocations that total over $185,000.

State Representative/Democratic Floor Leader 2017-2022

Votes on Legislation

As a legislator Yousef maintained a 100% pro-choice voting record. Some of the terrible anti-choice bills that he voted NO on during his six years under Republican control include:

2017-2018

  • Voted NO on SB 1198 - “Health; abortion; physical examination requirements; eliminate sunset”

  • Voted NO on HB 4500 - “Criminal procedure; sentencing guidelines; scoring of offense variable 9; clarify that an embryo or fetus must be scored as a victim.”

2019-2020

  • Voted NO on HB 4320 - “Health: abortion; partial-birth abortion provision; modify to include dismemberment abortion.”

  • Voted NO on HB 4321 - “Criminal procedure: sentencing guidelines; sentencing guidelines for the crime of dismemberment abortion.”

2021-2022

  • Voted NO on HR 22 - “A resolution to affirm the right to life of every unborn child in this state and call for the enforcement of all laws regulating or limiting the practice of abortion.”

  • Voted NO on HB 4644 - “Individual income tax: deductions; definition of dependent; include fetus.”

  • Voted NO on HB 5558 and 5559 “Health: abortion; knowingly performing research on a dead fetus, embryo, or neonate obtained from an abortion; prohibit.”

Co-Sponsored Legislation

As a legislator, he also co-sponsored and supported several efforts to expand abortion access and reproductive healthcare in Michigan. In addition to bills listed below, he endorsed and was a staunch public advocate for the passage of Proposal 3 of 2022. 

2017-2018

  • HR 0229 - A resolution to recognize the 45th anniversary of the issuance of the U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade ruling

  • HR 0139 - A resolution calling on the Governor, the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services, and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to adopt a healthcare bill of rights and urging the Governor not to make cuts to the Medicaid program.

  • HB 5611 - Labor; fair employment practices; reproductive health coverage information act

2019-2020

  • HB 5179 thru HB 5185 - Health: abortion; reproductive health act

  • HR 0009- A resolution to recognize the 46th anniversary of the issuance of the U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade ruling

2021-2022

  • HB 5542 thru HB 5548 - Health: abortion; reproductive health act

  • HR 0019 - A resolution to recognize the 48th anniversary of the issuance of the U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade ruling

  • HR 0217- A resolution to recognize the 49th anniversary of the issuance of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling.

6/30/2022 Michigan House - “House Republicans Squash Democratic Attempts to Repeal 1931 Abortion Ban and Pass Reproductive Health Act”

As Democratic Floor Leader, Yousef helped lead Democratic efforts to repeal the near-total ban on abortion.

“House Democrats moved to bring a bill to the floor, via a discharge motion, that would repeal the 1931 near-total ban on abortion that remains the state-level law. Republicans in the House voted against the discharge to keep the law from being repealed. Speaker Pro Tempore Pam Hornberger (R-Chesterfield Township) today refused considerations to repeal the 1931 ban while she presided at the rostrum over the chamber, taking action to keep this law in effect. Democrats also attempted a discharge motion to bring to the floor the Reproductive Health Act.”

6/15/2022 Michigan House - “Rabhi Bills Would Improve Services for Sexual Assault Survivors”

“State Rep. Yousef Rabhi (D-Ann Arbor) introduced three bills today to improve the medical forensic examination process for survivors of sexual assault. House Bill 6244 would protect survivors’ own DNA information from being used to prosecute the survivor or their family for offenses unrelated to the assault. HBs 6245 and 6246  would enable survivors to get follow-up care paid for by the Crime Victims’ Compensation Program, including prescription medications and tests for sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy.”

9/12/2025 Michigan Advance - “Trans advocates rally against U of M Health’s decision to end gender-affirming care for minors”

“Washtenaw County Commissioner Yousef Rabhi, a former state representative and the legislative director for the Michigan Nurses Association, said transgender youth in his community deserve necessary and life-sustaining care. Taking that away from them was ‘a crime… And at the end of the day, I want to remind us all of the people who make the decisions at this university,’ Rabhi said. ‘They’re elected by all of us. Every two years, you have an opportunity to elect regents. Use that opportunity to hold them accountable.’”