News & Events
MNA Legislative Update #17
10.21.2011
Workplace Violence Legislation Passes the Senate
On Wednesday, October 19th, the Senate passed SB 642 and SB 643, a tie-barred set of bills that make assaulting or battering a health care professional a felony punishable by higher fines and/or longer prison sentences. This is wonderful news for nurses across the state of Michigan, as many of them have seen an increase in violence in the workplace. The hope is that the legislation will act as a strong deterrent to those individuals who might be considering assaulting or battering a health care professional. Nurses work day in and day out to care for people when they are at their physical worst. They should not be subjected to violence when their goal is to help and heal sick and injured patients. We’d like to thank Senator Rick Jones for being the primary sponsor on SB 642 and Senator Roger Kahn for being the primary sponsor on SB 643. Without their leadership and efforts to pass these two pieces of legislation, the bills would not be moving forward in the legislative process. The bills will now move to the House of Representatives. Call or email your state representative today and ask them to vote YES on SB 642 and SB 643. Let’s keep moving this legislation in the right direction together!
Auto No-Fault Legislation Update
The House version of the anti-Auto No-Fault legislation, HB 4936, has passed favorably out of committee and is now in the full House to be taken up for a vote. As of October 13th, HB 4936 had been placed on second reading. After it reaches third reading, it will be taken up for a vote soon after. We do NOT want to see HB 4936 pass the House. Remember that this bill would do more harm than good by allowing individuals to purchase minimums as low as $500,000. If someone gets into a catastrophic car accident and no longer has Auto No-Fault insurance because of this piece of legislation, victims will find themselves with no way to access the care that they need to recover. Please call or email your state representative and tell them to vote NO on HB 4936.
“Like” the Main Street Contract on Facebook
As we continue our efforts to promote the Main Street Contract, get on Facebook and help us grow our numbers through social media. If you type Fight for Main Street in the search bar or click on this link once you’re logged onto Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/FightForMainStreet, you can access our page and click the Like button to join others in moving the Main Street Contract forward!
2011 Budget Facts and Figures
The passage of Governor Snyder’s budget has resulted in massive cuts to many programs that Michigan citizens depend on for survival. The following information was provided by the Michigan League for Human Services in an effort to show us through facts and figures just how damaging this budget is going to be for thousands of Michigan children and working families. As you will see, we deserve much better than this…
~ Over $550 million dollars will no longer be spent in our economy.
~ $470 per-pupil has been reduced for school districts.
~ $18 million has been cut from child abuse and neglect programs.
~ 11,000 families will no longer receive cash assistance grants.
~ 800,000 working families will lose approximately $294 in EITC funds.
~ 5,000 disabled Michigan citizens will have their benefits reduced 25 percent.
~ Michigan cut $4.8 million to employment and training services and completely eliminated the JET Plus jobs training program.
~ Michigan will likely trigger a federal audit for policy changes to its food assistance program. The last time this happened the state was fined more than $60 million.
~ Homeless shelters will lose $16.5 million due to recent changes in the tax code that no longer offer tax credits for charitable contributions.
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.
