Despite federal statistics indicating that the practice of payday lending places low-income residents in the way of financial harm, the Michigan House Committee on Regulatory Reform passed legislation this morning that expands payday lending in the state by allowing consumers to borrow additional money at unreasonable rates. Opposing the legislation, MCC said the following: “It is our hope that if this legislation moves further through the process it can be amended to include a more reasonable interest rate and an honest evaluation of someone’s ability to repay the loan.” Read more…

Governor Whitmer and Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Michael Rice are mischaracterizing provisions of the Michigan Constitution to prevent the state from reimbursing nonpublic schools for complying with mandated health and safety requirements, Michigan Catholic Conference stated in response to a legal brief from the governor’s office. “The days are becoming numbered for public officials to rely on a discriminatory provision of the constitution that treats nonpublic schools as second-class institutions,” MCC said. Read more…

On Friday, November 1, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services proposed a rule change that will ensure faith-based adoption and foster care agencies are neither discriminated against nor excluded from federal funding due to their religious mission. The proposed rule change reconsiders a 2016 rule that penalized faith-based entities for adhering to their religious teaching and placing children with a married mother and father. Read more…

Currently, Michigan law requires all 17-year-olds to be charged automatically as an adult, regardless of the crime that has been committed. With the governor’s signature of the ‘Raise the Age’ bill package, Michigan joins 46 other states in the country that gives a judge the discretion to charge a 17-year-old as an adult based on the severity of the crime. “Michigan has just enacted good policy that will allow youths who commit lesser crimes to receive necessary resources at the juvenile court level,” MCC said in a statement. Read more…

Women who find themselves in a crisis pregnancy will no longer have access to state funds for maternal and child well-being support from local non-profit organizations after Governor Gretchen Whitmer today vetoed $700,000 in funding for the Michigan Pregnancy and Parenting Support Services Program. In addition to eliminating funds to help women in crisis pregnancies, Governor Whitmer also vetoed from the state budget monies that help ensure health and safety protections for students enrolled in nonpublic schools. These cuts were among 147 line-item vetoes issued by Governor Whitmer today from departmental budgets previously passed by the legislature. Read more…

The Central Michigan Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (CMPRSA) has recognized Michigan Catholic Conference (MCC) for the second year in a row by honoring the organization with three top awards for excellence in public relations and communication. CMPRSA presented MCC a first-place Pinnacle Award in the Speeches category and two second-place Excellence Awards in the category of Newsletters and Guest Columns/Op-Eds. Read more…

Michigan Catholic Conference released the following comments regarding a federal lawsuit filed by the Becket law firm in the Western District of Michigan seeking to protect the conscience rights of faith-based child placement agencies. Read more…

Following Gov. Whitmer’s budget presentation on March 5, MCC applauded a proposal to increase the state Earned Income Tax Credit in an effort to benefit the state’s working poor. However, MCC will continue to advocate for important pro-life and nonpublic school policies that the governor proposed cutting in her budget recommendations. Read more…

Michigan Catholic Conference President and CEO Paul A. Long offered the following sentiments regarding the death of former U.S. congressman Mr. John Dingell: “The outpouring of sympathy and condolences following the death of John Dingell in no small way exemplifies the extent to which ‘The Dean’ influenced so many in this state and the nation’s capital.” Read more…

Throughout 2018, MCC championed Senate Bill 752, a measure that assists low-income families in Michigan’s Family Independence Program (FIP). The bill, which passed the Michigan Legislature with bipartisan support, removes an obstacle to marriage for low-income couples with children and helps families build financial stability, without having to choose between marriage and retaining needed benefits for their children. MCC encourages Governor Snyder to sign this critical legislation into law. Read more…