Lansing Update: MCC Engaged on Multiple Issues as Lame Duck Session Begins in Earnest
Posted December 6, 2024
MCC Video Demonstrates Human Impact of Denying Licenses to Immigrants
This week, MCC issued a press release reiterating support for long-overdue legislation to allow undocumented Michiganders to apply for and receive driver’s licenses. MCC’s interest in the legislation is in supporting the dignity of individuals who must try to take care of themselves and their families without legal access to roads in Michigan.
To help illustrate the human impact of this policy, MCC produced a testimonial video featuring the story of Laura, who has lived in Michigan with her family for 18 years.
That’s long enough for her and her family to put down roots—her son attends Washtenaw Community College. It’s also long enough that Laura lived in Michigan during a time when she could get a driver’s license, before state policy changed in 2008.
To help MCC’s advocacy on the policy, you are encouraged to share the video of Laura’s story on your social networks. The video can be found on YouTube, as well as in posts on MCC’s Facebook and Instagram.
Catholics Urged to Press Lawmakers to Improve Safety Funding for Nonpublic Schools
Catholics across the state are urged to tell their lawmakers to increase school safety and mental health funding for nonpublic schools after they slashed funding in current budget and failed to add to it in a supplemental bill passed earlier this year.
Increased funding to promote school safety for all students continues to be an MCC priority as the lame duck legislative session commences. This week, MCC published a Word from Lansing column urging readers to get involved and message their lawmaker to support school safety for all students.
You can send a message to your lawmaker by clicking or tapping here.
Catholic Charities’ Ministry to Mothers Could Be Hindered Under Bill
Legislation intended to protect women’s reproductive health data could end up negatively impacting the work of Catholic Charities agencies that serve pregnant women and new moms, MCC said this week in opposing legislation that passed both a Senate committee and the full chamber.
Senate Bill 1082 and its definition of “reproductive health services” is so broad that it includes services or products that support an individual’s pregnancy status, such as social, psychological and behavioral interventions.
That could mean that the counseling that Catholic Charities agencies across the state provide to support women in their pregnancy would likely trigger the onerous consent provisions of the bill and ultimately hinder women from getting the help they seek.
MCC urged senators to oppose the legislation in written testimony this week. However, the Senate Housing and Human Services Committee reported the bill to the Senate floor, where it was taken up and approved this same week on a party-line vote.
Senate Bill 1082, sponsored by Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak), heads to the House next for further consideration.
Contraception Coverage Mandate Bills Draw MCC Objection
Taxpayers and employers with religious objections to contraception would be required to pay for it under a pair of bills that received MCC opposition this week.
Senate Bills 973 and 974 fail to provide an exemption for religious employers who provide prescription coverage for their employees and places a mandate on all taxpayers to fund contraception.
In written testimony shared with the committee, MCC observed that employers with sincerely held religious beliefs will be presented with an impossible choice: Either violate their conscience or cease to provide any prescription drug coverage for their employees.
Many Catholic employers do not pay for contraception for employees in adherence to Church teaching that holds that artificial contraception undermines the procreative purpose of the marital embrace. Many types of contraception are considered abortifacients, as well.
MCC noted that for religious employers, providing prescription drug coverage is a matter of justice and many consider it a duty to ensure employees have sufficient coverage and appropriate benefits. Without any religious accommodation, the bills will jeopardize public health and the common good by negatively impacting the health and welfare of employees, particularly if they lose their employer-provided prescription drug coverage because of this legislation.
The Catholic Conference observed that contraception is already widely available in Michigan, raising the question of the necessity of this legislation. Yet, the bills were reported to the Senate floor by the Senate Health Policy Committee, where they await further consideration.
MCC Speaks in Support of Bills Promoting Access to Affordable Water
Clean and affordable water is essential to human flourishing and a basic right, MCC said this week in offering support of legislation to help lower-income Michiganders afford access to water.
MCC spoke in support of a package to create a statewide program to assist lower-income water utility customers by limiting their water bills to no more than 3% of their household income.
The program would be funded by a $2 monthly charge on customer water meters, which is similar to an existing state program that provides home heating assistance funding for low-income individuals.
In comments during a virtual press conference, MCC noted the legislation also seeks to ensure water is accessible for both the present and future generation, which folds into the Church’s consistent teaching regarding the responsibility to care for God’s creation.
“By capping water bills, creating sustainable funding, and protecting families from shutoffs, we are taking meaningful steps to promote life and secure basic human rights,” said Tom Hickson, MCC’s vice president for public policy and advocacy.
The water affordability package—Senate Bills 549–554 and identical House Bills 5088–5093—have not moved yet from their respective committees.
Police Reform Legislation Gain Senate Committee, MCC Support
Legislation to improve law enforcement practices and protect the dignity of all people they serve received MCC support as it moved out of a Senate committee this week.
The police reform bills contained within Senate Bills 1091–1101 are similar to legislation from the previous session that MCC also supported.
Reforms include providing current and future officers with training on implicit bias and de-escalation techniques, and revocation of the license of a law enforcement officer who used excessive force if it resulted in the death or serious bodily harm of another person, as well as prohibiting the license from being reissued.
Law enforcement agencies would also be required to adopt “duty to intervene” policies to ensure policer officers step in if they see a colleague applying excessive force against someone else.
The bills were reported by the Senate Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety Committee to the full Senate this week. For more on MCC’s support for law enforcement reforms and their connection to the advocacy principle of securing restorative justice, please click or tap here.
A Quick Glance at Other Legislation of Interest That Moved This Week
Here is quick glance at other legislation that moved this week that MCC has previously weighed in on or reported on:
- With a party-line vote, the Senate this week approved legislation opposed by MCC that would allow a woman to have her patient advocate designation stipulate that life-sustaining treatment is not desired even if she is pregnant, which could lead to the death of unborn children. More here.
- A bipartisan package to better protect students from school shootings through more proactive efforts to address mental health and address concerning behaviors among students moved out of a House committee with MCC support. Details on some of the bills are available here.
- Legislation ensuring federal benefits for foster children remain with them and are not seized by the state, which is supported by MCC, cleared a House committee and is now on the House floor. The bill already passed the Senate on a 38-0 vote. More here.
- Incentivizing prisoners to participate in rehabilitation by offering productivity credits toward deducting time off their sentences is the aim of MCC-backed bills that were reported by a House committee to the House floor this week. More here.