Lansing Update: MCC Announces Faithful Citizenship Webinar
Posted September 20, 2024
You Are Invited to MCC’s Webinar on Faithful Citizenship and the 2024 Election
To help members of the Catholic Advocacy Network like you respond to the call of faithful citizenship in the upcoming election, you are invited to an MCC webinar on the Catholic approach to voting, which is set to take place Tuesday, October 8, from 7 to 8 p.m.
MCC staff are routinely invited to parishes across the state to give talks on faithful citizenship, and this webinar will provide a similar format. The presentation is intended to equip Catholics by presenting what the Church and the Catholic bishops of the United States teach when it comes to voting and the issues, what it means to have a well-formed conscience, and how to navigate the challenges of comparing candidate positions to Church teachings.
Participants will be invited to see past partisan or ideological perspectives and to think with the mind of Christ when preparing to vote. To sign up to participate in the webinar, please click or tap here.
Act Now to Urge Increased Student Safety Spending in Potential Bill
Lawmakers should take advantage of the possibility of a mid-year spending bill to invest more into student safety, MCC said this week as it urged grassroots advocates to contact their lawmakers on the issue.
The Legislature is considering passing a supplemental spending bill this month, and more school safety funding is among the possible items to be included. In the budget passed earlier this year, which is set to go in effect October 1, lawmakers slashed school safety 92% across the board.
Nonpublic schools in particular across the state were left to divvy up $1.5 million for school safety grants instead of the previous year’s appropriation of $18 million. The funding for school security upgrades and mental health services would have been eliminated completely for nonpublic schools, if not for the 7,000-plus messages sent to lawmakers by grassroots advocates last spring urging them to preserve the funding.
Now there’s another possible opportunity to increase funding to help address one of the top concerns for Michigan parents just as the school year begins.
Detroit Archbishop Gives Faithful Citizenship Advice to Catholics in New Podcast
Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron dedicated the latest edition of his monthly Eyes on Jesus podcast to faithful citizenship and how Catholics should approach voting in the election this fall.
The archbishop, who is also chair of the MCC Board of Directors, talks about what faithful citizenship looks like, how to address the polarization seen in politics today, the issues for Catholics to consider and why abortion remains a preeminent priority, and urges the faithful to pray for all government leaders.
“Whatever direction the history of the United States takes, ultimately, the Lord is in charge,” the archbishop said on the podcast.
To listen to the entire Eyes on Jesus podcast, click or tap here.
MCC has also produced several materials and resources to help Catholics prepare to vote this fall.
A new edition of MCC’s Focus publication, A Catholic Approach to Voting in the 2024 Election, should be available at your parish, or it can be viewed online at cthl.cc/votecatholic. If it is not available at your parish, please ask your pastor or parish leadership to order free copies from MCC.
MCC has also published an election resources website for Catholics at cthl.cc/voting, which includes conscience formation and prayer resources, more information on Catholic social teaching, tips for researching candidates, and a guide to modeling faithful citizenship in the family. There are also links to assist with voter registration, requesting an absentee ballot, and other voting logistics.
MCC encourages you to use these resources as you prepare to cast your ballot this fall, and to share them with your Catholic friends, family members, and fellow parishioners.
MCC Selected to Help Lead Advocacy for Working Families Tax Relief Proposal
MCC will be represented on a statewide committee dedicated to increasing support for the Working Parents Tax Cut, a proposed policy that would provide targeted tax relief to working parents with young children.
Paul A. Long, MCC president and CEO, was recently announced as one of four members of the statewide steering committee to promote the proposed legislative policy, which MCC supports. The Working Parents Tax Cut would be geared toward parents to help them support their families and still afford expenses like childcare in the early years of their children’s development.
“The Catholic Church supports efforts to promote the dignity of low-income workers through tax policies that better enable parents to support their families,” Long said in a press release announcing the steering committee. “This proposal works to ensure that working fathers and mothers in our state can afford the expenses associated with childcare, so that married couples or single parents may continue to earn a living while their children are cared for.”
Specifically, the Working Parents Tax Cut would provide refundable tax credit payments on a per-child basis, for up to three children, to help families with annual earnings of $10,000 to about $60,000—in other words, the families who are most in need. The tax credit would amount to $5,000 per child for kids who are age 2 and under, and $2,500 per child for kids ages 3 to 5.
The Working Parents Tax Cut would build off the expanded Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), another policy MCC supports and helped advocate for its passage. To read more about the Working Parents Tax Cut proposal, please see previous coverage about the policy in Lansing Update.