Youth criminal justice stakeholders told lawmakers this week that some families of juveniles in Michigan owe upwards of $100,000 in non-restitution related fees to the court. They added that the time and money dedicated to collection of those fees outweighs any benefit to the state and Black families often bear the highest debts.
Author: Michigan Advance
The bills would repeal a ban on local project labor agreements and a law preempting local government’s ability to set labor standards including higher-than-state-minimum wage and other benefits — nicknamed the “Death Star” bill in reference to “Star Wars.”
The “Restaurant Workers Bill of Rights” would raise wages and improve work conditions for restaurant staff.
House Bills 4945 and 4946, both sponsored by state Rep. Amos O’Neal (D-Saginaw), would make it illegal for anyone convicted of felony or misdemeanor domestic violence to purchase or possess a firearm for eight years following their sentence.
Michigan has made strong progress in protecting voters’ rights and access to the ballot box in recent years, especially compared to other states, advocates say. However, state lawmakers and national voting rights advocates aren’t becoming complacent, as they’re continuing to push for solutions to fill gaps in voter protections.
An updated vaccine formulated to protect against new variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 will be available starting next week, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) said Thursday.
Though the groups have different primary focuses, they’re both fighting pollution that harms their communities. Mother Earth Foundation created a grassroots waste-management solution so effective it influenced the local government. That experience positioned it to offer guidance to Breathe Free Detroit, which is advocating for the community it represents to have more agency over how their waste is managed, too.
About 200 attendees came to Lansing to hear stories of climbing rents, unsafe living conditions and organized efforts to tackle the growing cost of living in Michigan. Nationally, experts say wages are remaining stagnant as rents skyrocket.
The climbing cost to rent a home in Michigan, advocates say, is destabilizing communities and leaving everyone from seniors to families with children and students living with roommates struggling to make ends meet. Michigan legislators are expected to introduce a “renters’ bills of rights” package in the fall to address this ongoing issue.
Michigan has the highest percentage in any state in the U.S. of transgender adults without a form of ID that has the correct gender listed at 77.7% of transgender adults. Nationally, it is estimated that more than half of transgender adults, or 476,000 people, lack an accurate ID.
Critics worry that the faster programs could do a disservice to young students.
Michigan could become the fifth state to enable residents to add a digital state ID to their phone under a package of bills recently introduced in the Michigan Legislature.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday signed the bipartisan $57.4 billion state general government budget for Fiscal Year 2024. Read further to see what’s in it
Canadian energy giant Enbridge has appealed a federal court ruling in Wisconsin. In a June 16 ruling, a federal judge in Wisconsin ordered Enbridge to shut down its Line 5 pipeline that runs through Michigan within three years and pay more than $5 million in profits to the Chippewa Indians Bad River Band.
President Joe Biden’s “Investing in America” tour took form in Grand Rapids on Wednesday morning as lawmakers and community leaders peered into a pit in front of the home of Paige Biek and her family.
Michigan lawmakers passed a $82 billion Fiscal Year 2024 budget Wednesday, with $24.3 billion of those funds dedicated to the state’s school budget.
Since The Fledge began offering free Narcan about eight months ago, Jerry Norris, The Fledge founder, has witnessed an increased demand for the spray that’s helping to address an opioid epidemic that in 2022 killed close to 83,000 people in the United States and at least 2,532 people in Michigan.
“This is a suicide prevention bill, period,” Equality Michigan Executive Director Erin Knott said in a prepared statement. “With 15% of Michigan’s LGBTQ+ youth reporting being threatened with or subjected to conversion therapy, this historic effort to end conversion therapy is literally life-saving for LGBTQ+ young people in our state.”