eNewsletter
July 2020
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Welcome to my monthly newsletter!
This letter serves as a legislative update about my work, new legislation and important updates from the Capitol.
An overview of the following legislation and other important happenings is included within this newsletter: • An update from the COVID-19 Select Committee • Our strategy for offsetting costs posed by COVID-19 • The status of the state budget • Our Return to Learn plan to get kids back to school safely in the fall • My opposition to the governor’s COVID-19 nursing home policy • Historic auto insurance reforms that take effect July 1 • The Legislature’s plan to raise police training standards and strengthen public safety • A new law improving access to telemedicine • A recently approved plan supporting bars and restaurants in the social distancing era
If I can be of any assistance, please contact me!
Sincerely,
Ann Bollin State Representative 42nd District
COVID-19 Select Oversight Committee seeks answers for workers
The Joint Select Oversight Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic has been meeting with officials from the state’s Unemployment Insurance Agency and Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, as well as listening to people who have not received the unemployment insurance payments that they are owed.
Over 2.3 million Michigan workers have filed unemployment claims since mid-March when the governor issued executive orders that halted people’s livelihoods. Some workers are still without income through no fault of their own, struggling to pay bills and put food on the table, while others waited more than 10 weeks for the UIA to address their claim.
The committee is investigating the governor’s decisions regarding essential business directives as well as her administration’s lack of preparedness for the onslaught of unemployment claims. The committee is crucial to ensuring accountability and transparency and most importantly that Michigander receive their outstanding benefits.
The administration has overhauled the system three times since COVID-19 hit and it is still not working. The Michigan House recently appropriated $29 million in federal funds for UIA response time improvements. The money will go to improving technology and increasing staffing, allowing the agency to hire up to 500 additional temporary employees to ensure more claims are processed and fulfilled.
Helping offset COVID-19’s extra costs
I recently joined the Legislature in approving the allocation of $880 million in federal funding to help offset the state’s extra costs associated with COVID-19 and the governor’s economic shutdown. This funding will help Michigan bounce back in a wide variety of ways.
In addition to the $29 million in federal funds to help boost staffing and improve technology within UIA, Michigan families also are supported through assistance for childcare, telehealth, food banks, utility payment assistance and other programs.
Small businesses and their workers also are supported through a $100 million ‘restart’ grant program designed to help them get back on their feet.
This is an important step toward in helping Michigan families and small businesses as they continue to be challenged by the economic impact of the pandemic.
State budget update
Federal COVID-19 relief dollars are in the pipeline and will also help address an unprecedented and challenging budget shortfall in the current fiscal year. It is one part of our strategy to ensure funding for schools and local governments will not be cut this fiscal year.
As a member of the Appropriations Committee, the budget will be one of our biggest challenges in the next two years. I thoroughly went through the budget and explored different options to protect funding for our community’s shared top priorities and had many conversations with officials, families, and small businesses throughout the district to hear what was needed and what was a priority. The agreement reached with the governor also will rely on using a portion of the state’s rainy-day fund, hiring freezes and layoffs, and other cost savings within state government to balance the budget.
We will fully offset any cuts in state aid to schools and local governments with COVID-19 relief funds as the budget process continues for the current fiscal year.
There still is a lot of difficult work to be done – including the finalization of a plan for the new budget year that begins Oct. 1.
Return to Learn
I recently joined House and Senate colleagues in unveiling a plan to help keep Michigan students healthy as learning resumes in the fall.
The Return to Learn plan would empower local school districts and health departments to work together to develop health and safety standards that are best for their unique area. If there’s one thing we learned from this pandemic, it’s that statewide mandates aren’t the right course of action. Every corner of our state was impacted differently, so the response and safety measures should also be different. Experts from local health departments can ensure schools in their area are taking the necessary steps to protect students, teachers and staff.
The Return to Learn plan would also utilize federal Coronavirus Relief Fund dollars, which Michigan has already received, to provide an $800 per pupil payment to K-12 schools to implement classroom health and safety measures and $80 million to intermediate school districts to assist schools in coordinating those measures.
The Return to Learn plan also:
• Allows school districts to start whenever is best for them without obtaining a waiver to bypass Michigan’s Labor Day start requirement.
• Redefines the word “attendance” to mean “engaged in instruction” rather than “physically present,” allowing schools to be innovative and give students the opportunity to learn outside the classroom.
• Limits the use of snow days to encourage the use of remote instruction when in-person instruction is unsafe or unsuitable. Moving forward, schools would be granted just two forgiven days of instruction per year.
• Utilizes benchmark assessments to provide detailed information to parents and teachers about where a student needs additional help, ensuring kids do not fall behind in the wake of the public health crisis.
• Requires school districts to work with local health departments to establish safety requirements for extracurricular activities and sports in addition to regular school safety measures.
The plan released last week was referred to the House and Senate Education Committees for consideration. The governor just released her plan yesterday.
Opposing the governor’s COVID-19 nursing home policy
This month, I joined the Michigan House in approving a resolution opposing the governor’s nursing home policy which has put the lives of Michigan’s most vulnerable in danger during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gov. Whitmer’s plan places COVID-19 patients into long-term care facilities, putting individuals who have tested positive and remain contagious under the same roof as healthy residents. The misguided and reckless policy remains in place even though more than one-third of all COVID-19 deaths in Michigan have been nursing home residents.
This wasn’t just a mistake, it was a fatal error in judgement that resulted in the death of grandparents, mothers, fathers and spouses. These are our loved ones and they are not expendable. We should be protecting them from COVID-19, not putting them in harm’s way.
As your representative, I’m standing up for the voiceless and calling for the governor to put an end to this dangerous policy. We should be working together to implement sensible policies that keep our loved ones safe.
Historic car insurance reforms take effect July 1
Our landmark plan to finally fix Michigan’s no-fault car insurance system took effect July 1. The reforms give drivers a choice of how much personal injury protection (PIP) medical coverage they purchase on policies. PIP medical coverage pays for health care expenses, and some funeral expenses, and makes up about half of a plan’s premium.
With more than 99 percent of rate filings completed, data shows that cost-savings required by law were surpassed. The greatest reduction was in the $50,000 PIP limit category, with a 53.3 percent drop.
The House Committee on Reducing Car Insurance Rates website, https://www.reducemiratesnow.com/, has been updated to better prepare you for the upcoming changes to the no-fault system. The online user-friendly platform features all the available PIP coverage levels and a guide for each option drivers may utilize to familiarize themselves with the forms they will be expected to fill out in the coming weeks.
I encourage you to review your coverage and needs with your personal insurance agent to ensure you are making the best choice for your family. The reforms enable individuals to decide on what coverage best suits their individual needs and family budget.
Auto no-fault was a top area of concern when I came to Lansing and many of you asked for reduced car insurance costs. It is an honor to advocate on your behalf here at the Capitol and I am proud that we were able to get this over the finish line in a bi-partisan manner.
Raising police training standards to strengthen public safety
I recently helped the House approve a plan aimed at raising the standard for police training, strengthening public safety and guaranteeing constitutional rights for all Michigan residents.
The bipartisan plan we approved would require all Michigan law enforcement officers to complete training and ensures all law enforcement officers are made aware of mental health resources and support available to officers in Michigan. Police officers are regularly put in high-stress situations, and sometimes that means they have just a split second to make life-altering decisions. That’s why it is crucial they have the proper tools to recognize and address their own mental health challenges as well as the training to help individuals in their communities who are facing a mental health crisis.
New law improves access to telemedicine
I supported a plan to improve access to telemedical care for Michigan Medicaid patients which has been signed into state law.
Currently, Michigan Medicaid doesn’t cover telemedicine visits, and state law requires telemedicine visits between patients and health care providers to be done in real time. The bipartisan plan changes the law to allow patient data in the form of video and images to be stored and forwarded to providers and allows Medicaid to cover telemedicine.
Access to health care is a hurdle for rural residents, elderly residents, and those with transportation limitations. This change makes telehealth possible in more scenarios as doctors will now have the time to thoroughly analyze data and test results and respond to patients later. The plan also permits remote patient monitoring to be covered by Medicaid. This allows doctors to analyze data gathered by patients using a monitoring device – such as blood sugar, blood pressure or their heart rate – when assessing the health of their patient during a telehealth visit.
Designated outdoor drinking areas, cocktails to-go
I co-sponsored bipartisan legislation and the Michigan Legislature recently voted to overwhelmingly approve legislation giving Michigan bars and restaurants a new source of economic support in a time when they need it most.
The measures would allow local municipalities to establish designated drinking areas where people can purchase and enjoy on-the-go alcoholic beverages. In areas where the “social districts” are in place, people of legal drinking age could walk around in public drinking alcoholic beverages if they remain within the boundaries of the district and would allow our downtowns to remain vibrant during this challenging time. Under the plan, Michigan bars and restaurants would also be given the ability to sell cocktails to-go or for delivery, similar to beer growlers. Local governments would have the sole authority to permit and revoke social districts.
If signed into law, this plan would help bars and restaurants make up for the financial losses suffered during the pandemic while continuing to support social distancing practices. This is a common-sense solution that could prove very beneficial to our downtowns and the local establishments serving our communities.
I look forward to meeting up with you in the district!
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