Dear Friends,
Although spring is right around the corner, please remember to practice caution on the wintery roads and continue to keep winter supplies in your vehicle for the remainder of the season.
Featured in this newsletter:
- Gov. Whitmer signs Lowering MI Costs plan into law
- Senate repeals 1931 abortion ban
- Macomb Community College expands its apprenticeships to include careers in health care
- MSPC holds towns halls to take public comment on outages caused by recent ice storms
- 2023 Michigan Camp Directory available
- State awards $3.6 million for invasive species projects
If you have any questions, want to comment on pending legislation, or resolve any issues in state government, please do not hesitate to contact my office by phone at (517) 373-8360 or by email at SenPWojno@senate.michigan.gov.
Warmest regards,
Paul Wojno
State Senator
District 10
GOV. WHITMER SIGNS LOWERING MI COSTS PLAN INTO LAW, CUTTING TAXES BY $1 BILLION FOR WORKING FAMILIES AND SENIORS
Last week, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the Lowering MI Costs plan, one of the biggest tax relief initiatives Michigan has seen in decades. The plan will overhaul the unfair and unpopular retirement tax, expand the Working Families Tax Credit, and make significant investments in housing and community development.
By expanding the Working Families Tax Credit to 30 percent of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, 700,000 Michiganders—those who have the hardest time affording the basics—will see an average of $3,150 dollars back in their pockets. Phasing out the unfair and unpopular retirement tax over four years will ultimately put an average of $1,000 back in the pockets of 500,000 households. The Lowering MI Costs plan also invests $50 million of surplus tax revenue in the state’s Housing and Community Development Fund, which prioritizes projects offering veterans, seniors, people with disabilities, and working families safe, affordable places to call home. This is significant, sustainable and ongoing dedicated funding to affordable housing.
SENATE REPEALS 1931 ABORTION BAN, ENSURE ABORTION IS KEPT SAFE
On International Women’s Day, the Michigan Senate Democrats passed much-needed legislation to repeal Michigan’s 1931 statute that criminalizes abortion care and related acts.
The Senate bills recently passed are:
- Senate Bill 2 (Geiss), which repeals the 1931 ban on contraception and other information about reproductive health (by repealing section 40 of 1931 PA 328);
- Senate Bill 37 (Bayer), which would update the code of criminal procedure;
- Senate Bill 39 (Geiss), which repeals Section 14 of 1931 PA 328 that criminalizes providing an abortion.
- Senate Bill 93 (Anthony), which repeals penalties for the sale of drugs or medicine to procure a miscarriage.
Almost 2.5 million Michiganders—56.7 percent of voters—voted in November 2022 to create a constitutional right to reproductive freedom and protect women, their bodies, and their rights. The most urgent and pertinent part of fulfilling the public’s will on Proposal 3 is repealing the 1931 ban on abortion, without exceptions for rape and incest, and related statutes. When this archaic and dangerous law was passed, women only had the federal right to vote for a little over a decade. The 1931 legislation was drafted and enacted by an entirely male Legislature. With the recent passage of these bills, we are telling Michigan women and their nurses and doctors that we trust them to make these deeply personal decisions, and we’re doing that by getting rid of this harmful area of the law that says otherwise.
MACOMB COMMUNITY COLLEGE EXPANDS ITS APPRENTICESHIPS TO INCLUDE CAREERS IN HEALTH CARE
Apprenticeships are common in the skilled trades and manufacturing sectors but not so in the health care sector. Now, due to the support of congressionally directed spending appropriations, Macomb Community College (MCC) will be offering apprenticeships for the health care sector, in addition to the colleges Michigan Apprenticeship Program Plus (MAP+) Industrial Readiness program.
The new apprenticeship initiative for health care is being funded by $2.6 million secured by Sen. Debbie Stabenow. The MAP+ program continuation is supported by a $610,000 appropriation.
Macomb’s health care apprenticeship programs will include:
Certified medical reimbursement specialist: Handles claims management and medical billing.
- Certified professional coder: Updates patient records with standardized information needed for data management and billing purposes.
- Certified nursing assistant: Under the direction of a nurse, monitors patients’ vitals, assists patients in daily living activities, and ensures patients are safe and comfortable.
- Dental Assistant: Takes vitals, reviews patient histories, prepares patients for treatment, assists dental hygienists and dentists, and sterilizes instruments.
- Laboratory assistant: Assists medical lab professionals in processing clinical specimens for distribution.
- Medical assistant: Assists in administrative and clinical duties in medical offices and clinics.
- Pharmacy technician: Compounds drugs, dispenses medication, prepares or mixes intravenous drugs, and transfers prescriptions.
- Phlebotomy: Draws blood from patients and prepares the samples for testing.
MPSC TO HOLD SERIES OF TOWN HALLS TO TAKE PUBLIC COMMENT ON OUTAGES FROM RECENT WINTER STORMS
The Michigan Public Service Commission has scheduled a series of public town hall meetings to hear from those impacted by power outages that left hundreds of thousands of Michiganders without electricity after recent ice and snowstorms across the Lower Peninsula.
The MPSC will hold two in-person town halls in areas hard hit by the ice storm on March 20. Details are below:
WHEN: March 20, 2023, from 12 – 2:30 p.m.
WHERE: American 1 Credit Union Event Center, 128 W. Ganson St, Jackson, MI 49201
WHEN: March 20, 2023, from 5:30 – 8 p.m.
WHERE: Fordson High School’s auditorium, 13800 Ford Road, Dearborn, MI 48126
The MPSC also will hold a virtual town hall meeting, livestreamed over Microsoft Teams, March 21, 6-8 p.m. A link to participate through Microsoft Teams will be posted closer to the day of the virtual town hall at the event’s webpage.
In addition to attending the in-person or virtual town halls, written comments also may be submitted to the MPSC by mail to Executive Secretary, Michigan Public Service Commission, P.O. Box 30221, Lansing, MI 48909, or by email to mpscedockets@michigan.gov.
2023 MICHIGAN CAMP DIRECTORY AVAILABLE
The 2023 Michigan Camp Directory includes all the campgrounds in Michigan, their contact information, and the amenities that each offers. For the full guide, feel free to reach out to my office with the number of guides you’d like, your name, and mailing address.
You can contact my office via:
Email: SenPWojno@senate.michigan.gov
Phone: (517) 373-8360
Mail: Post Office Box 30036, Lansing, MI 48909-7536
STATE AWARDS $3.6 MILLION FOR INVASIVE SPECIES PROJECTS
The state of Michigan announced that 35 projects will share $3.6 million in grants through the Michigan Invasive Species Grant Program.
The program – cooperatively implemented by the Michigan Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development; Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy; and Natural Resources – addresses prevention, detection, eradication and control of aquatic (water-based) and terrestrial (land-based) invasive species in Michigan through four key objectives:
- Preventing the introduction of new invasive species.
- Strengthening the statewide invasive species early detection and response network.
- Limiting the spread of recently confirmed invasive species.
- Managing and controlling widespread, established invasive species.
- This year’s grantees have offered $532,300 in matching funds and services to support these projects, leveraging a total investment of $4,132,300.
The full list of grant recipients, project descriptions and award amounts is available on the Michigan Invasive Species Grant Program website at Michigan.gov/MISGP.