News Release: Catholic Conference Outlines Advocacy Priorities for 96th Michigan Legislature

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 31, 2011

(Lansing)—Recognizing the significant challenges that accompany a $1.8 billion state budget deficit, Michigan Catholic Conference today announced that protecting the Michigan Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and maintaining adequate funding levels for state programs that benefit Michigan’s destitute population will top its advocacy agenda for the 2011–2012 legislative session.

“The Conference offers its agenda as an opportunity for dialogue and legislative action on a wide spectrum of issues that will advance the common good,” said MCC President and CEO Paul A. Long. “We look forward to working with state leaders and to participate in a constructive debate that will shape policy in Michigan for years to come.”

The Michigan Earned Income Tax Credit has been a major policy priority for the Conference due to its ability to lift low-income workers out of the stranglehold of poverty. According to the economically conservative Anderson Economic Group, the goals of the EITC are to “provide income support and reduce poverty” and to “remove barriers to work and encourage self-sufficiency.” Those who receive the EITC use the credit in ways that economically benefit local communities. In tax year 2009, for example, according to IRS estimates, the fully implemented Michigan EITC will have added $7.2 million to the local Saginaw County economy; $3.2 million in Monroe County; and $4.7 million in Calhoun County. Statewide, an estimated $280 million will have been added to local communities through a fully implemented Michigan EITC.

“The expense of the Michigan EITC is mitigated by the amount that is spent in the local economy by those who receive the credit; therefore, the EITC has a dual purpose: to act as a barrier to poverty and an incentive to work, and as an economic boost for local communities,” said Long.

Just as protecting the EITC and maintaining funding levels for necessary state programs are critical, the Conference will also pursue policies that uphold the dignity of the human person, promote educational choice, grant preferential options to the poor and vulnerable, guarantee religious freedom, support the traditional family structure, and encourage restorative justice.

“It is our hope that this Legislature will work to defend the life and dignity of all peoples of our state, especially those living on the margins of society,” said Long. “At a time when Michigan’s unemployment rate continues to hover around 11 percent, we are urging those who craft state policy to seriously evaluate how any reform of state government will impact the elderly and frail, the poor and disadvantaged.”

Michigan Catholic Conference’s advocacy agenda was approved in December by its Board of Directors and released this week through FOCUS, a periodic essay distributed to all Catholic parishes, schools, institutions and other locations and individuals across the state. Below is a detailed listing of public policy issues that are of interest to the Conference in the categories of Religious Freedom, Human Life, Children and Families, Health Care, Education, Economic Justice and Regulatory Policies, and Restorative Justice:

Religious Freedom

Human Life

Children and Families

Health Care

Education

Economic Justice and Regulatory Policies

Restorative Justice

Michigan Catholic Conference is the official public policy voice of the Catholic Church in this state.

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