The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio,  on June 29 issued a ruling supporting the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of health coverage to tens of millions of uninsured people. The following is the statement from the Michigan League for Human Services:

“The decision reaffirms the constitutionality of  the Affordable Care Act’s requirement and opportunity to provide health coverage to indivduals who are uninsured.  Nearly 1 million people in Michigan lost private health care coverage between 2000-2001 and 2008-2009, the biggest decline in the country.  This ruling brings us one step closer to unimpeded, full implementation of  the law.  This is great news for the estimated 1.2 million Michiganians who will gain quality, affordable health care coverage when the law is fully implemented.”

While legislators have been congratulating themselves for completing the budget in record time, they have only completed the expenditure side of the budget for the Department of Community Health; there are still major unresolved revenue policies on which the expenditure appropriations are based.

Two of the outstanding revenue assumptions are the 1 percent claims tax and the coordination of information with auto insurers. Both of these require legislation, which to date, have not been approved by both chambers.

Now is the time to act on both measures.

The 1 percent claims tax (SB 348) would be levied on all health insurance paid claims and has been proposed in anticipation of the current Health Maintenance Organization use tax being phased out by the federal government. The claims tax is expected to generate sufficient revenue ($400 million) to preserve $1.2 billion in funding, with federal matching funds, for the Medicaid program.

According to subscription-only Gongwer, businesses are taking issue with the tax citing concerns about its potential growth. The Michigan Manufacturers Association reportedly wants the growth limited to 0.5 percent, or $2 million, instead of the 10 percent ($40 million) currently included in the bill. That’s limiting growth on the claims tax to a tiny fraction of the $14 billion DCH budget. Come on!

It makes little sense to scale back the growth in potential revenue in view of the continuing growth in the Medicaid caseload due to the economy, businesses dropping or limiting coverage, or employees being priced out of the market. This tax would provide a consistent and growing source of match for the program’s federal funds and can serve to strengthen and stabilize the Medicaid program in Michigan.

It is also important to recall that the Legislature has recently approved a major tax cut, totaling $1.7 billion, for the business community funded by a comparable tax shift to low-income workers and senior citizens.

The coordination of information with auto insurers has been proposed numerous times in the past, but the legislation has never been enacted to permit implementation. This year again, the Community Health budget is predicated on passage of legislation (SB 441 and SB 442) that requires auto insurers who are legally obligated to pay health care claims to provide information that would enable the Department of Community Health to avoid or recover Medicaid payments that are the responsibility of an auto insurer. The budget assumes that a total of $22 million will be recovered, saving $7.5 million in state dollars.

It’s time to complete the state budget before the summer recess – both the expenditure and the revenue side.

– Jan Hudson

Every picture tells a story, but a few charts coming from the League’s policy forum last week speak volumes about the future in Michigan. The forum, Moving Up, Not Out: Investing in Our Young Adults, looked at ways to build a future middle class in Michigan.

One chart, created by presenter Tamara Draut, vice president of policy and programs at Demos, examines wages over time of young Michigan men (more on young women in her full presentation).

Here, in the chart below, it’s clear that though all young workers in Michigan have suffered a big loss of income, those with more education are coming through the economic storm in better shape.

Draut also points out that two-thirds of jobs created by 2018 will require some postsecondary education. But here’s what’s happening with tuition:

It’s getting harder and harder in Michigan to pay for that education. And it’s only going to get worse. The new budget approved for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, 2012 cuts support to colleges and universities by 15 percent. Community colleges get 4 percent hacked away. When state aid goes down, tuition goes up.

Michigan must modernize its tax structure in order to pay for the things that we all need, starting with a well-educated workforce. The new spending plan fails miserably in preserving education as a priority and paving the way for a brighter future for our state.

Policy forum panelist Charles Ballard, an economics professor at Michigan State University, put it bluntly in his presentation: “At a time when education is so crucial to our future, Michigan has pursued a policy of systematic disinvestment in education.”

– Judy Putnam

Michigan’s business climate is improving but still lags more competitive states, according to a report released Monday by Business Leaders for Michigan during a Lansing conference attended by about 300 business leaders. June 20, 2011 — CBS MoneyWatch.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 16, 2011
CONTACT: Lauren Strayer, lstrayer@demos.org, (212) 389-1413 Judy Putnam, jputnam@milhs.org, (517) 487-5436 Anna Pycior, apycior@demos.org, (212) 389-1408 

New Report from Michigan League for Human Services and Demos Details Challenges to Economic Stability and Future of Michigan’s Middle Class; Recommends Solutions

Read the Report: Building Michigan’s Future Middle Class
Attend Today’s Policy Panel: Building Michigan’s Future Middle Class: Addressing the Economic Challenges Facing Young Adults

LANSING— Michigan’s newly adopted state budget for the next fiscal year contains deep cuts to education, social services for low-income families, and payments to local government, all of which hurt the future of Michigan’s middle class, according to a new report by the Michigan League for Human Services and the national policy center D?mos. In the newly released “Building Michigan’s Future Middle Class: Addressing the Economic Challenges Facing Young Adults,” leading MLHS and Demos researchers detail worrying trends in the state.

Unemployment rates in Michigan have been higher than the rest of the country for the past decade, and in 2010, the unemployment rate for 25- to 34-year-olds was close to 50 percent higher than the national average. Rising costs make it difficult for students to stay in school and graduate, earnings have declined for workers, especially those with lower levels of formal education, and young adults are increasingly saddled with debt. Young Michiganders are coming of age in an economy ravaged not only by the Great Recession, but also by 30 years of declining opportunity and security, reducing their chances of entering or staying in the middle class.

The report discusses how the earnings of Michigan’s young workers, which were above the national average in 1969, are now well below it, even as the median earnings for young workers nationwide declined. Michigan workers in their early to mid-20s, for example, experienced a 55 percent decline in earnings over the last four decades.

Unlike the Michigan Legislature’s budget plan, “Building Michigan’s Future Middle Class” proposes fiscal solutions that address current issues of deficits, job loss and low tax revenue, while considering long-term, sustainable reforms to revitalize the state economy. These proposals include:

–Creating a national public jobs program
–Supporting workers’ unionization efforts
–Indexing the minimum wage to inflation
–Increasing education and financial aid funding
–Investing in job training programs
–Strengthening the powers of the Federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
–Providing paid family and medical leave
–Maintaining the strong state Earned Income Tax Credit
–Providing universal child care “Michigan’s middle class is at the edge of a steep cliff.

Today’s young adults face steeper financial challenges than their parents did, placing their futures and the future of Michigan’s already struggling middle class in peril,” said Tamara Draut, Vice President of Policy and Programs at D?mos. “But it’s not just the economy— our public policies have failed to cushion the blow. A previous generation had stronger unions and access to an affordable college education, what are we doing for this generation? Education, cash assistance programs, child income taxes, these are basic social programs that are poised to be decimated.”

Karen Holcomb-Merrill, policy director at the Michigan League for Human Services and report co-author said, “The right policies can restore opportunity for Michigan’s young adults and rebuild entryways to the middle class. We need a bold state and federal policy agenda. Recent budget proposals to reduce the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit, lessen funding for higher education, and increase child care costs will only further weaken young adults’ ability to obtain the skills they need to become economically secure and meet their basic expenses. At a time when Michigan is seeing some of its first job growth in over a decade, the state Legislature and governor threaten to unravel the state’s social fabric and abandon the Michigan’s future workers.”

The paper, “Building Michigan’s Future Middle Class: Addressing the Economic Challenges Facing Young Adults,” will be released at a policy forum today from 1- 3:30 p.m. at the Lansing Radisson. Speakers are Tamara Draut, Charles Ballard, Lou Glazer and Sam Singh. For further information or to arrange interviews see the contacts above. ###

Michigan’s House and Senate seem determined to leave $139 million in federal dollars on the table rather than help more unemployed workers receive temporary benefits as they look for work.

That is the amount of money that Michigan will receive to shore up its Unemployment Insurance trust fund if it undertakes at least two modernizations that expand eligibility for benefits. Legislation introduced by Rep. Jim Ananich would make two of the changes that would enable Michigan to qualify for the money. There is plenty of support for the bill, but it is stalled in committee.

The Legislature has had more than two years to act on this, and the deadline of Aug. 22 is approaching quickly. That’s 10 weeks from now, but the Legislature will break for summer vacation at the end of June.

Here is how it works: the federal Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act  offers states the incentive payment if states undertake certain reforms that make it easier for unemployed workers to receive benefits. Michigan has already adopted one change known as the Alternative Base Period, enabling the state to receive one-third of the total available payment ($69.4 million).

To receive the other $139 million, Michigan needs to adopt at least two of the four modernizations:

1) Make benefits available to unemployed workers who worked part time and are looking for only part-time work (27 states do this).
2) Make additional weeks of benefits available to permanently laid-off workers participating in relevant occupational training (12 states do this).
3) Make benefits available to workers who voluntarily leave their jobs for a “compelling family reason,” the definition of which must include:
• Following a spouse who has moved to a job in another location (24 states do this)
• Because of domestic violence (30 states and the District of Columbia do this)
• Caring for sick or disabled family members (21 states do this)
4) Pay an additional weekly child or dependent allowance of at least $15 as part of a Unemployment Insurance check (six states do this).

The Ananich bill (HB 4166) would enact 1 and 2 above. In addition to helping more Michigan workers and their families, these changes would be good for Michigan’s businesses, since workers tend to spend a large amount of their benefits at local businesses such as supermarkets and clothing retailers.

Michigan is behind the curve on this, as 33 states have already made the changes necessary to receive full funding. It makes no sense to drag our feet on this and let the deadline pass.

Michigan legislators, it is urgent that you pass the Ananich bills or craft and pass other bills that will enable our state to receive this money. And please do this by the end of June before you break for summer, so that Michigan can make the deadline.

For more information, please see the resource page of the National Employment Law Project.

– Peter Ruark 

While Michigan families continue to suffer under double-digit unemployment and heightened attacks on key public supports, a new report details just how much it takes for Michigan workers to make ends meet and build some savings for emergencies and retirement. June 12, 2011 — The Michigan Citizen

So now comes another “tough decision” from the U.S. House Appropriations Committee. They have voted to cut funding to WIC, the Special Supplement Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children from $6.73 billion to $6.05 billion for Fiscal Year 2012. Such a cutback would have a devastating impact in Michigan where WIC provides access to nutritious foods and  health care referrals for over half of all young children under the age of 5. 

Program staff also provide counseling on healthy diet to pregnant women—a vital preventative strategy for birth defects and other threats to maternal and infant health. The state has also linked its lead screening to WIC programs to ensure early intervention for young children with lead poisoning, which can wreak profound damage on the nervous system, particularly in toddlers, ages 1 to 2 years old,  if not detected early.

Depriving young children and pregnant women of nutritional support is indeed a tough decision—nay, rather a foolhardy policy that ignores a large body of research on brain development in the early years and the program’s demonstrated effectiveness in improving birth outcomes and nutrition and health among young children. The first years of life are a critical time of remarkably rapid brain development, which can be compromised by stresses such as malnutrition and iron deficiency with lifelong consequences.

Cutting funding for such a program in a period of persistent unemployment and escalating food and fuel costs would mean that funding would be inadequate to meet the persistent need. Once funding appropriations are exhausted, eligible applicants would have to be placed on waiting lists—unfortunately children cannot wait.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that with the WIC funding cut, participation in the program in Michigan would fall by 6,000 to 10,000 in 2012 compared with March 2011 participation. (These estimates take into account the anticipated use of contingency and carryover funding.)

These cuts are particularly disturbing in light of previous Congressional decisions. During the debates on tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, these now strident concerns about the national debt were not raised—no talk of “tough” decisions then.
Why does such “toughness” get directed at children—in fact, the youngest and most vulnerable children in the country? What country is this? Evidently not a country that cares much about its young children.

– Jane Zehnder-Merrell

Though Lansing was cited by a national publication as one of 10 great cities for young adults, a new report speaks to the brain drain phenomenon of young people leaving Lansing and the state in search of career opportunities.

The League’s policy forum on June 16, Moving Up, Not Out: Investing in Our Young Adults, will address what steps Michigan needs to take to provide good opportunities to young talent.  Here’s the problem: Between 2005 and 2009, unemployment rates for 24- to 34-year-olds in Michigan was 11 percent, compared with the national average of 7 percent.

So, how do we retain young talent in Michigan?

Engaging and supporting young talent means providing vibrant and prosperous environments. We could start achieving this by supporting policies that promote:

• Entrepreneurship
• Higher education
• Workforce development
• Regional transit

Instead, the Michigan Legislature has:

• Cut higher education by 15 percent
• Cut community colleges by 4 percent
• Significantly reduced workforce development services
• Ignored public transit 

The forum will feature the release of a new report written by Demos, Building Michigan’s Future Middle Class: Addressing Challenges Facing Young Adults, and presentations by a trio of Michigan newsmakers and policy experts on helping 18- to 34-year-olds get ahead.

The forum will take place on June 16 at the Radisson Hotel, 111 N. Grand Ave, in Lansing from 1 – 3:30pm. Students can attend free and registration information can be found here.

Hope to see you there!

– Anika Fassia

MEDIA ADVISORY

Moving Up, Not Out: Investing in Our Young Adults

When: 1-3:30 p.m. June 16

What: Public policy forum featuring the release of a new paper by the Michigan League for Human Services and Demos, Building Michigan’s Future Middle Class: Addressing the Challenges Facing Young Adults, and presentations by a trio of Michigan newsmakers and policy experts on helping 18- to 34-year-olds get ahead.

Where: Radisson Hotel, 111 N. Grand Ave., Lansing

Who: Charles Ballard, professor of economics at Michigan State University, is a widely sought-after commentator on state budget and policies. He is director of MSU’s State ofthe State Survey. His books include Michigan at the Millennium and Michigan’s Economic Future. In 2007, he won the Outstanding Teacher Award in MSU’s College of Social Science. He serves on the League’s board of directors.

Lou Glazer is president and co-founder of Michigan Future, Inc., a nonpartisan, nonprofit source of new ideas on how Michigan can succeed as a world class-class community in a knowledge-driven economy. He is heading an initiative to start 35 new high schools over eight years to prepare Detroit students for college success. He is a former deputy director of the Michigan Department of Commerce during the Blanchard Administration.

Sam Singh is senior consultant for the New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan and a senior policy consultant for Public Policy Associates with expertise in workforce development. He led the Michigan Nonprofit Association for more than 10 years and served as East Lansing mayor and on the city council.

Tamara Draut, Demos vice president of policy and programs, is the author of Strapped: Why America’s 20- and 30-Somethings Can’t Get Ahead, published by Doubleday in 2006. Her research has been covered by dozens of newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal and she has appeared on the Colbert Report, The Today Show, ABC World News Tonight, CNN and Fox News.

Contact: Judy Putnam at (517) 487-5436 for more information or to secure a time to interview panelists. Note: Tamara Draut will be available for one-on-one interviews on June 16, prior to the forum. Tickets are available for the general public for purchase through the Michigan League for Human Services. Complimentary tickets available for students and press.

The Michigan League for Human Services is a nonprofit, nonpartisan statewide policy and advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring that Michigan’s low-income residents achieve economic security.

Demos is a national research and policy center that focuses on creating economic opportunity, expanding democracy, and building support for government’s role in creating the common good.