2023 LEGISLATIVE WINS SO FAR

NASW-Michigan's Director of Policy & Advocacy as well as the Chapter Legislative & Social Policy Committee work hard at creating and pursuing a Legislative Agenda. Below are some of the Legislative Wins that the chapter has seen recently.

Expanding Sexual Abuse Protections in Schools

• House Bill 4120 aims to keep communities safe by requiring MDHHS to create training materials for mandatory reporters and require employers to provide them to employees that are required to report suspected child abuse or neglect. The bill would also require MDHHS to make the materials publicly available on its website. 
• House Bill 4121 and 4122 aims to prevent child abuse by updating the Public Health Code to include a conviction for engaging in sexual contact under the pretext of medical treatment as grounds for disciplinary action against a health professional and require a disciplinary subcommittee to permanently revoke the license of a convicted individual.  
• House Bill 4123 and 4124 aims to protect Michigan children by prohibiting individuals from using or attempting to use their professional authority to prevent certain crimes from being reported, including child abuse and criminal sexual conduct, to law enforcement or a Title IX coordinator at a postsecondary education institution. 
• House Bill 4125 aims to support Michigan children by preventing a public school from expelling or suspending a student, with exceptions, for behavior resulting from sexual assault.  
• Senate Bill 66 aims to create environments that protect children from abuse by requiring schools to develop and distribute age-appropriate materials on sexual assault and sexual harassment for middle and high school students. 
• Senate Bill 67 aims to keep communities safe by prohibiting health professionals from engaging in sexual contact under the pretext of medical treatment. Senate Bill 68 would update sentencing guidelines in accordance with Senate Bill 67. 
• Senate Bill 69 and 71 aim to keep Michigan children safe by requiring parental consent and an additional health professional to be present during certain exams of minors and requiring patients’ records to be updated and retained for 15 years following the exams. Senate Bills 70 and 72 would update sentencing guidelines in accordance with the bills. 
• Senate Bill 73 aims to protect and support survivors by amending FOIA to exempt records that could reveal the identity of someone that anonymously reported being a victim of sexual misconduct. 
• Senate Bill 236 would update the definition of mentally incapacitated in the Michigan Penal Code regarding sexual assault to include any time a person is incapable of controlling their conduct due to the influence of a substance, regardless of if the substance was administered with or without their consent. 

Ban on Conversion Therapy

• Prohibits state-licensed providers from engaging in "conversion therapy" with minors.

Accelerated MSW Program Scholarship

• $5 million was allocated for behavioral health workforce expansion for an accelerated degree program. The $5 million will provide $30,000 grants to at least 150 individuals who have obtained bachelor in social work degrees to enter into accelerated master of social work programs. These grantees must also commit to a minimum of 2 years of public sector behavioral health work in the state immediately after completion of the program. 

Gun Safety Legislation

• Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law bills to expand background checks for firearm purchases and hold gun owners legally responsible for safely storing their firearms when not in use. 

Improving Access to Food Assistance

• Governor Gretchen Whitmer has signed Senate Bill 35, bipartisan legislation improving access to food assistance and lowering costs for Michiganders by eliminating the asset test for SNAP benefits. Michigan joins 36 other states in eliminating this burdensome requirement on food assistance, ensuring families can get the help they need to put food on the table without being forced to sell their car or empty their savings. It will give families more financial stability and reduce the amount of red tape and paperwork for health department case workers so they can focus on helping people. 

Reproductive Freedom

• Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed bipartisan legislation repealing the state’s 1931 law banning abortion without exceptions for rape or incest and criminalizing nurses and doctors for doing their jobs. Last year, Michiganders turned out in record numbers to get Proposal 3 on the ballot and enshrine reproductive freedom in the state constitution. The new laws remove the unconstitutional 1931 law from the books and ensure that Michiganders can make their own decisions about their own bodies. 
• Michigan joins 10 other states who have moved to protect reproductive freedoms and access to safe, legal abortion in the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson. The decision to become a parent or grow a family is one of the biggest economic decisions a person will make in their lifetime. Over 2/3rds of Michiganders support Roe v. Wade and want to repeal our 1931 law banning abortion. 77% of Michiganders believe that abortion should be a woman’s decision to make with a medical professional. 

Expansion of Civil Rights

• Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an expansion of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act into law. The expansion prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender or identity or expression in employment, public accommodations and public services, educational facilities, housing and real estate. The expansion passed the Michigan Senate and House of Representatives earlier in March.

Tax Breaks for Working Families

• Increased the Earned Income Tax Credit for families with low incomes from the federal 6% to 30%.
• “This bill puts money in people’s pockets when they need it most and helps lift many children out of poverty, more so than some other programs,” said Sen. McDonald Rivet.

BUDGET BILLS CLEAR LEGISLATURE WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT

The 2023-24 budget has passed the Legislature and will soon be on Governor Gretchen Whitmer's desk. HB 4437 , the omnibus budget bill, passed 61-47 in the House. In the Senate the bill passed 26-10. SB 173 , the education budgets, passed 58-50 in the House and 29-8 in the Senate. Both bills received immediate effect, including in the Senate with little fanfare.

Crafting the budget under complete Democratic control for the first time in four decades, House and Senate leaders provided increases across education while also funding an enormous number of specific projects in multiple areas, including infrastructure, schools, health, communities, downtowns and cultural attractions.

For social workers, two of NASW-Michigan’s budget asks were funded.

$5 million was allocated for behavioral health workforce expansion for an accelerated degree program. The $5 million will provide $30,000 grants to at least 150 individuals who have obtained bachelor in social work degrees to enter into accelerated master of social work programs. These grantees must also commit to a minimum of 2 years of public sector behavioral health work in the state immediately after completion of the program. 

Additionally, the School Mental Health Apprenticeship Retention and Training (SMART) grant was fully funded in this budget. This appropriation provides a clear pathway for schools to receive funds for SMART internships.
 

You can read all of the budget allocations here.