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UNDER THE DOME

Capitol Update, April 19 through June 17, 2008

Cynthia Ann Paul

 

Granholm Signs Food Stamps Twice a Month Bill- SB 120, PA 107, Under this  new law, if the federal government permits, the state will distribute food stamps to recipients twice a month instead of the current once a month.  This is our Change to Win Partner UFCW’s bill.

 

Detroit AAA Gets Additional Funding- The Detroit Area Agency on Aging will receive $1.7 million over the next two years from the Department of Community Health to help nursing homes in the city improve care and become more financially stable.  The plan would provide the DAAA with $750,000 for the current fiscal year and $1 million in FY 2008-09.  Out of this, $350,000 would flow to SEIU Healthcare Michigan, which has created a new training center in the city, to provide additional training to nursing home workers.  Other of the funds will allow DAAA to assist nursing homes to correct quality and management issues.

 

DP Benefits Voted Down By the Supreme Court- A 5-2 majority of the Supreme Court held that the intent of voters to prohibit public entities from offering health insurance or other benefits to employees’ same-sex partners due to the marriage amendment that passed in 2004.

 

Smoking Ban Passes the Senate- Smoking would be barred in workplaces across the state, including bars and restaurants, under legislation the Senate approved on a 25-12 vote.  In passing this version of HB 4163,  the Senate stripped out virtually every exception the House had added, including an exemption for the Detroit casinos.  The House replaced the Senate version with the House passed version, sending back to the Senate.

 

House Passes Worker Protection Package- Employers would be barred from hiring or firing an individual based on credit history, appearance, health or the legal activities they engage in outside of work. HB 4532, HB 4887, HB 4926 and HB 4927. The off-duty activity bill (HB 4532) was amended only to apply to employers with 50 or more employees in a year.  The credit history measure (HB 4887) was amended not to apply to casinos, banks, credit unions and other places where the work entails dealing with money.  HB 4926 and HB 4927, which deal with a person’s fitness or physical attributes or a family member’s illness, were not amended before being shipped to the Senate.

 

House Passes Pay Equity Package- HB 4625 and HB 4626 prohibit employers from paying their employees unequally based on sex, race, weight or other description.  Violators would be subject to up to 90 days in jail and a scale of fines based on how many employees a company has with larger employers paying a bigger fine.  This is part of a package that creates a commission to look at pay equity in Michigan (HB 4627) that passed in February 2008

 

Public Service Accountability Introduced May 13th, - The Public Service Accountability Act holds state government accountable with a framework to evaluate whether or not privatization of public services is worthwhile and sound public policy and will save taxpayer money. These measures include the following:
1. A pre-privatization Cost-Benefit Analysis- Before contracting out or renewing a contract, the state department must do a detailed comparative estimate of the costs that will be incurred by the state over the life contract compared with the cost of having the service or activity provided by state employees.
· This cost-benefit analysis shall utilize accurate, reliable, and objective data, and actuarially sound techniques.
· The costs of privatizing the services shall include all hidden costs including necessary monitoring and oversight of the private entity, any cost overruns or additional expenses the state may incur.
· The department or agency shall use only accurate and up-to-date bids from reputable companies with a previous history or reputation of providing quality services or activities.
· These private entities must be adequately bonded, so as not to expose the state to any potential future liability or legal causes of action.
· There must be a cost savings of at least 10% of the costs of continuing to use state employees in providing the services or activities.
· This cost benefit analysis must be reviewed and approved by both the senate and house appropriations committees.
2. A private contractor shall be subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
3. A private contractor that has a contract with the state shall be subject to a comprehensive audit upon the request of any member of the senate or house appropriations committee member.

A big thank you goes out to Rep. Miller for introducing this groundbreaking piece of legislation.  This is one of SEIU’s priorities

 

May 15th- Local 517M Annual Lobby Day- The day started off with a press conference with Reps. Miller, Gonzales and Valentine on the Public Service Accountability Act followed by members speaking with their senators.  We visited the House Healthcare Reform Committee, where I turned in 32 cards in opposition to HB 5913.  After the committee hearing we had lunch in the Speaker’s Library, where we were joined by 23 legislators from both sides of the aisle.  After lunch the members spoke with their House member and followed up with a debriefing.  The issues included: State and School Retiree Healthcare benefits in jeopardy (HBs 5545 and 5913) http://seiuaction.org/campaign/standupforstateretirees2;  the Public Service Accountability (HB 6111) http://seiuaction.org/campaign/lobbyday3;  local governments and schools need additional funding   http://seiuaction.org/campaign/lobbyday2;  and ergonomics http://seiuaction.org/campaign/lobbyday4.  You can also find these on the State Council webpage.

A big “thank you” goes out to everyone who participated in this event and helped out setting it up.  We made a difference that day

 

SEIU Michigan State Council New Website- It is still at the same address as before, just the formatting has changed. A LOT.  You can still find my Under the Dome Columns under the Capitol Update tab.

 

Aramark Campaign Successful- SEIU, Unite Here, Operating Engineers were successful in getting the Detroit School Board to get rid of the contractor, Aramark, that was raping and pillaging the lunch program in the Detroit School System.  A big thank you goes to Erica Kimble and Baraka Johnson from Local 3.

 

The Seven Deadly Regs. Campaign-   Both houses of Congress voted to impose a moratorium on the seven harmful Medicaid regulations proposed by CMS, and did so with veto proof margins.  In an effort at ‘divide and conquer”, the Bush administration said he will veto any bill that subjects more than two of the regulations to a moratorium, without specifying any particular regulation. Iimplementation of these CMS regulations will cost MI $700 million in this year and $3.9 billion over the next five years.  I want to thank everyone for participating in the SEIU’s letter writing campaign.

 

Motion to File Amicus Brief in Support of Detroit’s Living Wage Granted- I filed a motion with the Michigan Court of Appeals to submit an amicus brief opposing Judge Stephan’s decision that struck down Detroit’s Living Wage ordinance on behalf of SEIU Local 3 and the Michigan State Council.  My motion has been granted and our brief is due July 10th.

 

IRS 115 Trusts (HB 5913)- We have made substantial progress on this piece of legislation, in fact, the most recent draft the Health Reimbursement Accounts are removed, it is tighter with respect to it solely being used for retiree healthcare and not other purposes and the language that codified the Mussleman decision (the MI Supreme Court Decision that held public employee health care is not guaranteed under the Constitution-unlike pensions) language was removed and in its place there is language to provide a contractual guarantee of healthcare benefits.  I want to personally thank everyone who participated in the letter writing campaign and lobbied and turned in a card in opposition on this issue.  It made a big difference.

 

Other Retirement Bills- The House Healthcare Reform Committee also moved onto the House floor bills that would move the legislative (HB 6118) and the state police (HB 6119) retiree healthcare administration to the office of retirement services.  The Committee also passed legislation that would increase the number of people of the State Employees Retirement Board to 11 members, adding one current employee and one retiree (HB 6120).

 

Binding Arbitration for Local Correction Officers- The House Labor Committee voted out a bill that would allow local correction officers to utilize a binding arbitration procedure similar to PA 312  to settle contract negotiations, ensuring continuity of services and the safety of our local communities HB 6112.  This is very beneficial for SEIU Local 502 that represents the local correction officers in our state's largest local correction facility (Wayne County).  Please take action at http://seiuaction.org/campaign/standupforcountycorrectionofficers

 

Juvenile Justice Early Retirement- In an effort to cushion the blow from recent decisions to close or consolidate operations in the Department of Corrections, the House Labor Committee has voted out two bills that would give an early out or early retirement option for some employees in the Department of Human Service’s Bureau of Juvenile Justice program HB 5944 and 5966.  It was intended to offset a budget decision made in the current fiscal year that resulted in the closure 80 medium security beds and 131 workers laid off at the W.J. Maxey Boys Training School. 

 

Budget Balancing Package- Measures that were part of target setting for the current fiscal year budget did clear the House and was sent to the Senate were HB 5833 (60-49) and HB 5384 (109-0).   It transfers $2.25 million of the unencumbered balance from the juror compensation fund  to the general fund and allows the hospital quality assurance assessment program fee to be collected until September 30, 2010 (the QAAP expires September 30, 2008). That measure also allows the state to retain $15 million more from the QAAP, which is assessed on medical providers, in order to offset the general fund. 

 

Criminal Background Check for School for the Deaf and Blind Clears Senate Committee- The Senate Education Committee approved legislation (SB 1349, SB 1350) bringing employees at the School for the Deaf and Blind under the School Background check law.  The Michigan Schools for the Deaf and Blind are apparently not public schools and not school districts under the current school code.


Comprehensive Government Reform Ballot Initiative is Being Circulated for Signatures- SEIU Local 517M Executive Board has taken a stance in support of, it includes the following:
Reforming the Legislative Branch
• Legislators’ benefits after leaving office to be the same as retired state employees
• Stop the revolving door between the Legislature and lobbying by enacting a two-year lobbying ban — the toughest in the nation.
• Require annual public disclosure of income and assets by all legislators
• Roll back the 38 percent increase lawmakers gave themselves in 2002
• Reduce the Senate from 38 to 28 and the House from 110 to 82
• Reform redistricting by appointing a bipartisan panel to set legislative districts
Reforming the Judicial Branch
• Judicial benefits after leaving office to be the same as retired state employees
• Reduce judicial salaries by 15 percent
• Toughen disciplinary and conflict of interest requirements
• Require annual public disclosure of income and assets for all judges and justices
• Add 10 judges to the lower courts and reduce the number of Supreme Court Justices from seven to five justices and the Court of Appeals from 28 to 20 judges
Reforming the Executive Branch
• Benefits after leaving office for the four statewide elected officials (governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and secretary of state) to be the same as retired state employees
• Reduce the salaries of the four statewide elected officials by 25 percent
• Stop the revolving door between the executive branch and lobbying by enacting a two-year lobbying ban — the toughest in the nation.
• Require annual public disclosure of income and assets for the four statewide elected officials
• Reduce the constitutional cap on the number of state government departments from 20 to the current 18
• Cut hundreds of appointed state boards and commissions
Election reforms
• Strengthen the ban on illegal aliens’ ability to register and vote.
• Make the Bureau of Elections independent of partisanship
• Allow no-reason absentee voting.
• Require post-election audits of election procedures
• Require paper trails for all voting systems
• Ban election official campaign role(s)
• Enact anti-fraud measures to protect the integrity of Michigan’s election process


Appointments-

Sharon Bommarito will move from the Department of Labor and Economic Growth to become the new state employer starting May 19.  She is currently a deputy director at DLEG and has served as the director of the Unemployment Insurance Agency and previously served as personnel director for the city of Lansing and deputy personnel director under former Governor James Blanchard.  The state employer oversees employee relations and collective bargaining on behalf of the administration.


Budgets-

Revenue Estimating Conference- The budget imbalance for 2008-09 is$368 million for the general fund and school aid funds, with $168 million of that in school aid. 

 

Revenue Group Urges Loophole Closure-With the prospect of less money for the coming fiscal year than originally projected, a variety of groups urged the Legislature on Thursday to reconsider some of the tax exemptions allowed as a way to boost revenue.   Officials with the 20 organizations representing human services, local government and education argued that tax loopholes are passing back or not collecting 55 percent of the state’s tax revenues. Though the groups offered a list of 22 loopholes they argued could be closed, raising as much as $425 million, the key issue was to have the various credits and exemptions reviewed as part of the budget process.  Among the loopholes the groups propose to close are bad-debt exemptions for retailers and tobacco wholesalers and sales tax exemptions for air and water pollution equipment, periodicals and vending machine sales.  The groups noted that each of the changes they proposed have at least been included in an executive budget and most had passed the House in 2007.

 

House Clears Department of Human Services Budget April 22-  HB 5814 added $5 million in general fund spending compared to what came out of the Appropriations Committee.  That brings the total appropriation to $4.6 billion, $1.3 billion in general funds. The House version represents an increase in gross spending of $42 million, or .9 percent, compared to the current fiscal year.  General fund spending would rise under the budget by $21.8 million, or 1.7 percent, comparatively.   But the bill spends less general fund and gross dollars compared to the executive budget recommendation.  The floor substitute keeps much of the budget intact from where it was in committee, though it does add more money to give licensed day care providers a 4 percent rate increase at a cost of $5.6 million.  That line item had been $4.9 million under the committee version.  The bill also provides $700,000 in general funds to finance one-time incentive payments for day care relative providers and aides to participate in a 10-hour child care training program.  The legislation also includes funding to support childcare home readiness and other training for day care activities.  The budget also recognizes more savings through child support pass-through than the House committee version did.  The House Democrats procedurally rejected Republican amendments that would put a four-year limit on cash assistance, ban public assistance to illegal aliens and require the department to report its expenditures in a more specific and real-time basis.  The budget was sent to the Senate on a party-line 58-49 vote with three GOP members absent.

 

Senate Passes DHS in Middle of May (HB 5814)- The department receives $22.5 million less under the budget as approved by the Senate Appropriations Human Services Subcommittee.  Primary among those cuts is the governor’s proposed day care rate increase as well as an assumption of fewer welfare recipients.   The version reported to the full committee totals $4.64 billion ($1.35 billion general fund), which is less than the $4.66 billion ($1.38 billion GF) recommended by the governor, but more than the $4.61 billion ($1.33 billion GF) passed by the House.  Among the cuts in the proposal, the subcommittee assumed smaller Family Independence Program caseload that would mean $12.06 million less general fund spending for that program.  The subcommittee also rejected a proposed rate increase for day care providers, saving $10 million GF.  The budget also assumed $9.2 million gross, $3.5 million GF, savings from the federal Title IV-E program.  But the savings also included reducing the proposed increase in FIP benefits to $1 per person per month from the $3 the governor had recommended, saving $4.8 million.  And cutting the clothing allowance increase to $60 per child from the governor’s proposed $75 saved $1.84 million, all general fund.  It did add some money back in, including $5 million GF for a private contractor to assist the department with child day care administration.  And $4.9 million GF provides a rate increase to licensed foster care providers.  In place of some of the monthly increase, the budget provides a $50 bonus for recipients meeting work requirements for 30 days and a $25 subsidy for those opening an individual development account.  The plan adds $1.02 million GF.  Subcommittee Chair Sen. Bill Hardiman also backed off from his push to privatize all foster care services, instead calling for a pilot of the idea in Kent County.   Foster care children reimbursement rates were increased to $27 from $25 (60% of them private contractors). 

 

 

House Passes DNR (SB 1106) would see more money than either Governor Jennifer Granholm or the Senate had approved under the budget reported from the House Appropriations Natural Resources Subcommittee.  It totals $291.1 million, $24.6 million general fund.  Gross, that represents a .6 percent increase from current year, but a 3.6 percent increase in general fund.  In contrast, both Ms. Granholm and the Senate had recommended cuts for the department.  Ms. Granholm recommended $287 million ($23.46 million GF) and the Senate approved $274.6 million ($13.4 million GF), while current year appropriations are $289.2 million ($23.7 million GF).  Much of the general fund change from the Senate was payments in lieu of taxes, which the Senate had moved to the Department of Treasury and the House subcommittee moved back to DNR.  The subcommittee also added $2 million for forest management, $1 million for conservation district grants and $500,000 for fish hatchery programs.  It also added a requirement that, for all local governments that submit accurate property tax bills by December 1, they receive payments in lieu of taxes by February 14.

 

Senate Passes HAL Budget- HB 5804 would give HAL about $53 million for FY 2008-09, a 7 percent increase over the current year. Of that, $39.9 million is general funds. That compares to the executive proposed budget of $53 million and the House approved budget at $57 million.  Much of the difference between the Senate and executive recommendation is in a $225,000 increase in arts and cultural grants from the general fund and $150,000 in federal funds, bringing the total Senate committee appropriation for that program to $8.1 million.  That compares to the executive recommendation of more than $7.9 million, which represents a 3.1 percent increase over the current year.

 

DLEG Budget Passes Senate (HB 5809)- It totals $1.358 billion, down $6 million from the House version and $58 million less than what the Governor proposed. And the subcommittee’s general fund of $45.8 million is less than half the House version of $94.8 million. The biggest difference is that the House added $40 million in workplace training funds that the Senate panel cut out.  New programs to train nurses and to help displaced workers in other fields get job training in careers with available opportunities were in the spotlight in the Department of Labor and Economic Growth budget.  But attempts to restore $40 million in general funds for the No Worker Left Behind program and $10 million for nursing corps faculty were defeated on mostly party line votes.  A $44 million increase in federal funds for the workforce investment act programs remained in  for enhanced worker training and nursing corps faculty support saw a $1 million cut (to $500,000).  The $40 million in general funds that the Governor had recommended and the House supported for the No Worker Left Behind program was ditched.

 

General Government Budget- Revenue Sharing (HB 5816)- It eliminates the 4 percent increase in revenue sharing.   The committee also trimmed Lottery’s advertising allocation by $1.8 million.  In another change made by the committee, a line was added to permit a possible addition of a Department of Treasury request for $2 million for the Tax Tribunal to increase its supervision of property tax law.

 

Department of Environmental Quality (SB 1097) Passes the Senate- It totals  $365.1 million, $44.85 million in general funds, is a .1 percent increase over the executive’s total spending recommendation, but down .3 percent in general funds.  Compared to the current year, the budget represents virtually no change in overall spending, but is 4.9 percent higher in general funds.  It includes $2 million in unclaimed bottle deposit revenue to reimburse retailers for retrofitting beverage container machines so they only recognize Michigan returnables.  The debate on the last of the Senate-originated budget bills, centered on operational memoranda the agency uses to guide implementation of statute.  An amendment to the bill created a workgroup of legislators, the department and others to develop recommendations to refine use of the practice.  Also disputed was an amendment added to tighten requirements for DEQ to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests, including notification of an individual named in the request.

 

DEQ Passes the House- It totals $368.5 million ($45 million in general funds). That represents a $2.8 million, or .7 percent, reduction from current year spending, but the general fund portion under the bill would go up by $2.3 million, or 5.2 percent.  The House Appropriations Environmental Quality Subcommittee did begin its review of the budget in May despite the bill was never referred to the Appropriations Committee and was simply immediately taken up as soon as the House received the legislation.  The House added a $5,000 placeholder for a water withdrawal assessment program, which is the only difference in total spending between the chamber and governor.  The House spends a total of $8,000 more in general funds than the governor.  All three budgets replace decreasing fee-based revenues with general funds.  The House budget deletes a prohibition on operational memoranda use in the DEQ and eliminates an audit on the Leaking Underground Storage Tank program, which were included in the 2007-08 budget for the department. The Senate budget included language requiring the department to work with the Legislature on developing recommendations for use of operational memoranda in the Leaking Underground Storage Tank program.   The House also adopted a series of amendments to the budget offered by Rep. John Proos  Those state that there can be no DEQ fee increase until after September 30, 2009, that the DEQ can’t administer the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program and that permit applications are considered complete within 30 days unless the DEQ notifies the applicant to tell them otherwise and then the application period is tolled until the applicant pays the fee or provides more information. A Republican amendment requiring the DEQ to be transparent in its spending was also adopted.

 

The Judiciary Budget Passes the Senate (HB 5810)- It totals $262 million, $834,100 above the total spending level recommended by the governor, and the $159 million general fund portion at $750,000 below the governor’s recommendation.  It removes  $1.1 million for a pilot run of five mental health courts.  It does include language to begin creation of a mental health court model for the Supreme Court based on 10 federal guidelines from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance.  Mr. Cropsey said funding for the appellate public defenders was better spent at the Court of Appeals, where employees had been taking mandatory leaves or furloughs so the department could maintain its budget.  The budget added $500,000 in federal funding for drug courts as well as $980,000 from the Department of Corrections for an intensive probation pilot program. 

 

Department of Transportation (HB 5808) passes Senate- Committee members battled over how to address their unhappiness with work going ahead on another bridge to Canada in Detroit, but an amendment to remove language allowing the Department of Transportation to complete its study but go no further was defeated by a party-line vote.  The Detroit River International Crossing study is looking at the need for a span in addition to a new privately-owned bridge that will eventually replace the Ambassador Bridge.  Senator Hardiman eliminated the public service accountability language in its entirety (Sec. 207) that was in the boilerplate.  Senator Anderson was lined up to offer an amendment to put it back in the budget, because he ran out of political juice.

 

Senate Passes State Police Budget (HB 5811)-  It totals $528.8 million and includes $7.3 million for a new trooper school to bolster a force that has dropped to 1,017. Chairman Garcia promoted idea of restoring $7 million for crime lab operations, but did not pursue it because of the tight revenue situation; he retained the $2-million provided by the supplemental budget to keep the crime labs open in Sterling Heights and Marquette

 

Department of Agriculture Passes the Senate (HB 5807)- It totals $104.9 million for the Department  $32.5 million GF  is $2 million below the level approved by the House.  The Senate’s version adds another $800,000 from the Department of Natural Resources to grants for local conservation districts for services to foresters.

 

Department of Corrections budget (SB 1095) Passes the House- It totals $2 billion, $1.98 billion in general funds. That represents a $17.8 million reduction in general fund spending compared the current year appropriations and is below the Senate and governor’s general fund spending for DOC. The committee amended the budget to include require a study on the prevalence of mental health and substance abuse issues in the prisons, but the panel rejected amendments that would have restored the county jail reimbursement program to the Senate’s version, as well as require the budget to be cut by 5 percent.   I provides for regionalization of the business offices, centralization of the warehouses and contracting out of the prisoner store.  It reduces the staffing assignment from 1.8 to 1.75, reducing overtime and potentially eliminating correctional officer jobs and jeopardizing safety in the correctional facilities and surrounding communities.  The boilerplate language retains SEIU’s public service accountability language, it also provides for a workgroups for the storekeepers, warehouse and business office workers to identify equivalent savings before and regionalization, centralization or contracting out occurs.

 

School Aid Budget Clears House (K-12) (SB 1107)- It totals $13.4 billion, which includes a $114.8 million increase in foundation allowances to schools. The Senate recommendation would allow for a minimum increase of $71 per student and a maximum of $216. The executive recommendation included the same maximum increase as the Senate, with a minimum increase of $108 per pupil. The House version includes a $55 to $110 per-pupil increase.  The budget includes $1.5 billion in federal funds, $43 million in general funds and $11.8 billion in restricted school aid dollars and is $515.5 million or 4 percent higher than the current year.  It was more fiscally restrained than the executive proposal, coming in about $100 million less than Ms. Granholm’s request but about $30 million higher than the Senate’s recommendation. The K-12 budget contains funding for early education, including foreign language education for younger students, an additional $15 million for early childhood readiness programs for four year olds and millions more toward grants that encourage math and technical readiness.  It also adopts the executive recommendation to wipe out the full foundation allowance for schools that don’t have full-day kindergarten as of 2009-10, allowing a partial reimbursement for schools that choose to retain half-day kindergarten.

 

Department of Education (SB 1096)- Passes the House-The budget totals $95.7 million and is  4.2 percent, higher than the current year appropriation, identical to the amount recommended by the governor and about $120,000 more than the Senate recommendation.  Of the nearly $96 million appropriated, slightly more than $8 million is from the general fund and $70.6 million is from federal sources. In order to help the department assume some educational assessment responsibilities that were formerly contracted out, the subcommittee concurred with the Senate and governor in appropriating an additional $1.1 million and seven full time positions.  Budget reductions in the subcommittee recommendation include cutting more than $7.5 million for data systems and for the creation of a testing item bank and reducing administrative funding by an additional $292,100.  The panel also agreed to an executive and Senate increase of $300,000 and three employees to pay for audit and oversight of school aid programs.  Many of the budget items include additions of staff, bringing the total number of full time positions in the subcommittee recommendation to 491, 18.5 higher than the current year and eight higher than the Senate’s recommendation.  The panel also deleted the prohibition against disciplining department employees for talking with the Legislature.

 

The Department of Community Health Budget Passes the House (SB 1094)- It totals $12.4 billion, $3.1 billion in general funds. That represents a $390 million more in spending above current year levels, but a $24 million general fund reduction.  The budget includes Medicaid coverage for 19-and 20-year-olds, as well as maintains funding for the Healthy Michigan Fund.  The House restores funding for the mental health court pilot program and provides a 2% wage increase for mental health direct care workers. It adds $1-million for background checks of new nursing home workers.  The House also adds $2 million for local health departments (Local 517 members), the House only provided $ 1-million.  The House increases the state retained share of the hospital and nursing home QAAP.  The House expands the Healthy Kids dental program to Muskegon area July 1, 2009.  The House concurred with the Executive on expanding community-based long term care services, realizing a savings in nursing home admission reductions.  The House concurred in reducing long-term care services line item by $31.3 million by limiting the nursing home variable cost component of the nursing home reimbursement from 4.9% to 2.5%.  The House increases the Adult Home Health Care Trust to $2,768,700 (the Senate provided $2,517,000) to provide health care benefits of adult home help workers.  Boilerplate language provides intent language for $50 cent wage or benefit enhancement for nursing home workers (wage pass through).  It also includes the department submit a report on the MI Choice adult home help program quality assurance indicators.

 

Community Colleges Passes the House (SB 1093)-It totals $310.6 million, all of which is paid for with general fund money. The appropriation is $8.4 million above the governor’s and Senate’s recommendation, but $8.3 million, or 2.6 percent, below spending for community colleges in the current fiscal year (that appropriation included a one-time payment to cover a delayed payment from the 2006-07 fiscal year).  Twenty-two of the state’s community colleges would share in $882,600 of new funding because they have students receiving Indian tuition waivers.  As sent back to the Senate, the budget was amended to add a workgroup to discuss the state’s nursing shortage. It also specifies that Michigan-made vehicles should be given preference when schools purchase a new automobile.

 

Higher Education Budget Passes the House (SB 1099)- It includes more spending for the state’s 15 public universities, with appropriation hikes ranging from 2.7 to 4.4 percent.   The budget also includes boilerplate language that asks the governing boards of each school to examine their operations for any potential conflicts of interest.

 

DMC Dispute- The House appropriations is holding meetings on the ongoing contract dispute between Wayne State University and the Detroit Medical Center, which was brought up during the discussion of the Higher Education Budget.

 

In the Courts-

Worker's Compensation- Michigan Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that an injured worker has the burden to prove he or she has a disability that qualifies for benefits. “The claimant must show more than a mere inability to perform a previous job” to qualify for benefits, Justice Stephen Markman said in Stokes v. Chrysler (SC docket No. 123648).  “A workers’ compensation claimant bears the burden of proving that he has a disability … and that burden does not shift to the employer.”  Joining Mr. Markman in the decision was Chief Justice Clifford Taylor and Justices Maura Corrigan and Robert Young Jr.  

Justice Michael Cavanagh, joined Marilyn Kelly and Elizabeth Weaver dissenting, said the majority went beyond what is required in the state’s worker’s compensation act by creating new procedures, discovery requirements and new evidentiary standards.