Health Care
Michigan Democrats come out against lawsuit squashing Obamacare
Several of Michigan’s top Democrats offered a full-throated defense of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Tuesday, as a federal appeals court in Louisiana considers its constitutionality once again. The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals began hearing oral arguments Tuesday in Texas v. Azar, in which 20 attorneys general argue that the ACA is unconstitutional […]
Susan J. Demas: Rick Snyder shows that civility is the last refuge of a scoundrel
Hell hath no fury like a rich white man scorned, even in the face of a major American city being poisoned. Former Gov. Rick Snyder’s place in history is presiding over the Flint water crisis, something for which even a panel he appointed blamed his administration. Progressives long warned that there were severe risks with […]
Immigration attorney Scholten joins Dem field challenging Amash
Hillary Scholten, a Grand Rapids-based immigrant rights attorney, is joining the Democratic field of candidates in seeking to represent Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District. Scholten, a Grand Rapids resident, staff attorney at the Michigan Immigrants Rights Center and who previously worked as an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), believes she can join the […]
Report: More than 15K homeless children in Michigan
According to a new report by the Lansing-based Michigan League for Public Policy, almost 16,000 children younger than 4 are homeless around the state, with three rural communities in Northern Michigan suffering the highest rates of child homelessness. Alicia Guevara Warren, the project director for MLPP’s Kids Count study, said that child homelessness could pose […]
Nessel joins AGs protesting change in poverty level measurement
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Monday that she has co-signed a letter urging the Trump administration to reconsider its planned changes to how the federal poverty level is set. In May, the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requested public comment on a plan that would change how inflation is factored into the […]
Gilda Z. Jacobs: Let lawmakers know this summer about policies that help working families
The band strikes up and the tiny flags start waving. Candy flies and kids swarm to grab all they can, their hands still sticky from the red, white and blue popsicles they recently inhaled. Grandparents sip lemonade and keep their eye out for the hot dog stand. Local lawmakers mill through the crowd, handing out […]
AG’s office has seized almost 20 million new docs in Flint water investigation
Updated, 2:26 p.m. 6/29/19 At a Friday night town hall in Flint, Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced they’ve seized almost 20 million pieces of new evidence in the now more than three-year-old criminal investigation of the city’s water crisis. Hammoud and Worthy said that only about 1% of the […]
Legal experts say Flint water crisis trials could be delayed for years
When Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office announced earlier this month that it would drop all charges brought in the criminal investigation of the Flint water crisis, it made national headlines — and shocked the city’s residents, who have waited half a decade for justice. Now, as Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym […]
State panel proposes nation’s toughest drinking water limit for 2 toxic chemicals
A panel of experts put together by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has proposed the nation’s most stringent drinking water limits for two chemicals in a suite of thousands of man-made, toxic substances. The panel submitted on Thursday its recommendation to the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART), which suggested drinking water limits for a handful of […]
State will replace troubled $231M child welfare computer system
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) announced Thursday that it will replace the computer system it uses to track child welfare cases, just five years after its implementation at a cost of $231 million. Speaking to reporters, MDHHS Director Robert Gordon didn’t provide specifics about the new system but said it would […]
Whitmer signs opioid overdose legislation
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a package of bills into law this week that will expand access to and the legal use of anti-overdose drugs in state institutions. The bills will make it legal for “most state and municipal entities, including public libraries and public universities, to purchase, possess, and distribute opioid antagonists, and will allow […]
Michigan lawmakers seize critical defense bill to tackle PFAS in drinking water
WASHINGTON — Michigan lawmakers on Capitol Hill are eyeing must-pass defense legislation as a vehicle to crack down on dangerous chemicals that contaminate drinking water across the state. Lawmakers in both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House want to force the government to do more to study, regulate and clean up the ubiquitous and […]