Michigan took a significant step toward becoming the latest state to operate under a state-based health care exchange Wednesday when it passed a bill package along party lines that would set up an exchange and provisions for fees and various forms of coverage.
Bills allowing home care workers to unionize passed the Senate on Wednesday hours after a rally on the Capitol steps urged passage of the legislation.
Advocates from 10 advocacy groups for criminal justice reform and formerly incarcerated individuals called for legislators to pass bills to expand resources to prisons across the state.
A coalition of home health care workers were joined by Michigan AFL-CIO officials on Wednesday to apply pressure to the Senate regarding the passage of two bills that they said would drastically change the state's approach to the "overworked and underpaid" home caregiver workforce.
The Senate set the table Tuesday for votes on its slate of budgets later this week by adopting a slew of floor amendments and moving more than a dozen budget bills through General Orders.
Members of the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission spent more time bickering than mapping on Tuesday, but the body was able to complete a third map configuration for Detroit's Senate seats this week.
Senate Democrats said Wednesday disparities in maternal health are growing in the state and must be addressed, which was why they introduced legislation that seeks to create equity while enhancing accountability for maternal health care providers.
A draft Senate map for the Detroit area drawn by professors at Michigan State University, done as a potential guide for the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission as they redraw the area under court order, could mean at least one open seat, an opportunity for a Republican pickup and some changes for incumbent senators.
A bill that would modify eligibility requirements for medically frail inmates to obtain parole drew favorable testimony Thursday before a Senate panel, which was told it would enable more terminally ill individuals to be moved to facilities to obtain end-of-life care.
Sen. Sylvia Santana requested a formal opinion earlier this month from the Department of Attorney General on the legality of the Michigan State University Board of Trustees' actions against its former chair which the senator called an "unprecedented and unjust," violation of the Constitution.