News & Events
MNA Legislative Update #4
05.20.2011
Joyce Stein, RN Speaks at Press Conference on Toxic Chemicals in Children’s Toys
Joyce Stein, a member of our Board of Directors and Chair of our Congress on Public Policy, spoke at a press conference this past Wednesday, May 18th, that highlighted the dangers of chemicals in many children’s toys and products. We are proud to have such a dedicated member in our midst who is willing to put herself out there whenever she can to raise awareness on important issues. Joyce has been working closely with the Michigan Network for Children’s Environmental Health, an organization that MNA regularly partners with to tackle environmental health issues.
Legislation is on the move
Michigan’s legislature kept us on our toes this week as House and Senate members continued to push through bad legislation in an effort to meet their May 31st budget deadline. Unfortunately, two bills that we have been closely monitoring moved in ways that we had hoped they would not.
HB 4152 Passes the Legislature
HB 4152, sponsored by Rep. Marty Knollenberg – R, passed the Senate on Wednesday, May 18th, and will now go to Governor Snyder’s desk for signing. HB 4152 freezes wages and benefits for public employees during contract negotiations, as well as step increases. Any increase in the cost of maintaining health benefits at the level specified in former contracts will fall on the employees. A key component of this legislation is that retroactive pay will now cease to exist and will not be an option for any employee, even if it took 6 months to get through the wage negotiation process.
SB 7 Passes the Senate
SB 7, sponsored by Sen. Mark Jansen – R, passed the Senate on Wednesday, May 18th, and will now go to the House for approval. SB 7 limits the amount of money an employer can put toward the coverage of employee health care to 80 percent of the total cost. Employees would then have to cover the remaining 20 percent of the total cost. This is a huge financial burden to bear in order to have access to full health care coverage. Please take a minute to send a letter to your state representative asking them not to support this legislation by clicking here. It is critical to get the word out now so that we can do our part to stop this legislation before it moves any farther in the legislative process.
House Health Policy
On Thursday, May 19th, the House Health Policy Committee heard testimony on the issue of childhood obesity in Michigan. The problem is growing rapidly and it will be important to start helping children and families make lifestyle changes early on to prevent the obesity problem from getting worse in the coming years. Currently, about 1 in 3 Michigan children are obese. The committee will hear more testimony on this issue next week, as well.
Senate Health Policy
On Thursday, May 19th, the Senate Health Policy Committee listened to a presentation by Anne Rosewarne, President of the Michigan Health Council, on the impending health care provider shortage in Michigan. The committee then heard testimony on a substitute for SB 384, a bill to clarify the ability of nurse practitioners and physicians assistants to prescribe controlled substances and to categorize the two professions together under physician supervision. Because of due diligence and hard work, we were able to help remove nurse practitioners from the bill language altogether, which was key in preventing bad legislation from moving forward and taking nurse practitioners with it. The full committee moved to adopt the substitute and they plan to meet next week to move forward on this legislation and any other topics that come before the committee. In a switch from the norm, the Senate Health Policy Committee will meet on Tuesday of next week instead of Thursday.
Budget Negotiations Impact Education, Revenue Sharing, and Film
As a result of budget negotiations this week, the legislature restored $310 million to the K-12 schools budget, which means that instead of taking a $300 per pupil cut, Michigan’s children will only take a less than $100 cut next year. The legislature also agreed to an additional $30 million for revenue sharing, half of which will go to the new incentive program that replaces statutory revenue sharing and half of which will go to the counties. Lastly, the revised film incentive program is expected to receive a $25 million appropriation. While this may seem like good news on the surface, the reality is that massive cuts are still being made across the state and, as a result, a $2 billion tax cut is being given to businesses that can afford to pay higher taxes and now won’t have to. Remember that the tax burden is still being shifted from businesses to the backs of the working class and that is not right. Some cuts never heal.
Staying informed is critical, as well as getting involved at the local level. Get yourself out there, call or write your legislators, let us help you set up in district meetings with them, and take some time to go to their monthly coffee hours. It is imperative that we all get involved and stay involved with this process.
