Health Care
Study: Michigan top 10 state for insured children
Michigan children are healthier, according to a new report from the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute. The state ranks 10th in the nation for the number of children benefiting from health insurance — and is second in the Midwest only to Illinois, per the study. The Medicaid expansion part of the Affordable Care Act, known […]
Gilda Z. Jacobs: Whitmer will reconnect parties, policy and people
My body may have been cold on Jan. 1, but my heart couldn’t have been warmer as I had the honor of being one of the thousands of friends freezing at the Capitol with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as she took her oath of office. I was proud to serve in the Michigan Legislature with Whitmer […]
Shutdown halts Michigan domestic produce inspections
Domestic produce being sold in Michigan grocery stores is not being federally inspected because of the partial government shutdown, according to state agriculture experts and national media reports. The shutdown has halted federal inspections of domestic produce, including fruits and vegetables grown in the U.S., per a federal lobbyist for the Michigan Farm Bureau and […]
Tlaib, workers talk impact of federal government shutdown
As long as the current partial federal government shutdown continues, Hodari Brown says his home mortgage is in jeopardy. “I haven’t been paid since December,” the Redford and federal government employee said Tuesday morning. “I also help to assist my parents.” Brown, a military veteran, joined U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) as the first-term Capitol […]
AG backs case against Trump contraception rules
Attorney General Dana Nessel is joining Massachusetts and other states in fighting rules issued under President Donald Trump’s administration meant to roll back Barack Obama-era mandates that had compelled insurance companies to cover the cost of contraception. The new Trump rules offer more leeway to companies and nonprofits wishing to deny birth control coverage to […]
Susan J. Demas: Nice girls don’t say ‘vagina’ … or ‘motherfucker’
As exhilarating at 2018’s pink wave election was for feminists — those who believe in the radical notion that women are people — we just got a 12-letter reminder that some things haven’t changed. After being sworn in, new U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) declared of President Trump at an event: “We’re gonna impeach the […]
Nessel asks Wayne Co. prosecutor to take over Flint water case
Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Friday plans to replace the current prosecutor in charge of ongoing criminal lawsuits filed against high level state officials in the office’s Flint water crisis case. Nessel’s office said she will replace Flint Special Prosecutor Todd Flood with Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, who was a member of Nessel’s transition […]
Snyder riles up Right to Life, environmentalists with Lame Duck decisions
Updated, 12/28, 11:30 p.m. Gov. Rick Snyder today vetoed legislation backed by Right to Life of Michigan that would have permanently banned doctors from prescribing abortion pills over the phone. The term-limited Republican has butted heads with anti-abortion forces before, as he’s often said he’s not focused on social issues, instead prioritizing business and economic […]
Whitmer announces last appointments before inauguration
Incoming Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer today announced her final round of appointments to state-level agencies. Clare Liening, a spokeswoman for the Whitmer transition, told the Advance that there would be no further appointment announcements before the inauguration on Tuesday. Whitmer has tapped Tricia Foster, who served as treasurer for the Whitmer campaign, to direct the […]
Snyder vetoes ‘baby box’, downtown development bills
Updated 12/28/18 at 10:50 a.m. Gov. Rick Snyder today vetoed 11 bills, including GOP-sponsored legislation that would have permitted altering downtown development areas and allowed parents to give up children in “baby boxes” in designated spots. The term-limited Republican is down to his final days in office after a hectic Lame Duck session that resulted […]
Snyder signs almost 50 more bills into law
As term-limited Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder prepares to leave office next week, he signed several dozen bills today that arrived on his desk during the frenzied legislative Lame Duck session. One of the bills makes cyberbullying a crime, House Bill 5017, sponsored by state Rep. Peter Lucido (R-Shelby Twp.). The bill is now Public Act […]
Whitmer looking at many options in Flint
Gov.-elect Gretchen Whitmer’s team today said she will work with Flint Mayor Karen Weaver’s office to continue ensuring that Flint residents have access to safe drinking water. “We’re working with the mayor of Flint,” the Democrat said when asked by a reporter during a media call this morning whether she’ll be involved in offering bottled […]