Marcia Meoli: Here's a list worth noting at the end of 2023
People do a lot of lists at the end of a year. Since the Democrats have been running the state for just the last year, and for the first time in some 40 years, I decided to make my list:
1. They repealed the “right to work” law and restored a prevailing wage law. Right to work allowed workers to opt out of paying union dues, often while the unions kept providing services to them. And now contractors on state projects need to pay union wages.
2. They passed gun control. We now have a few of the common sense laws on guns: A requirement for safe storage of firearms and ammunition around minors; universal background checks on the sale of all guns in the state; and implementing extreme risk protection orders, otherwise known as red flag laws.
3. Tax credits for families. We found out how helpful the Earned Income Tax Credit was to reduce poverty during Covid. This credit has been quintupled from 6% to 30% of the federal credit beginning with the 2023 tax year.
4. They passed a phase-out of the tax on pensions.
5. They passed protections against discrimination against people based upon sexual orientation and gender identity. The Elliott-Larsen Civil Right Act was expanded to protect these groups against housing and employment discrimination.
6. They passed the Reproductive Health Act. This repealed the 1931 ban on abortions, restrictions on abortion providers and a requirement for an abortion insurance rider. Young adults can now get information about reproductive health options. This is consistent with the vote last year to protect reproductive health rights in this state.
7. State environmental departments issued the Michigan Healthy Climate plan, which addresses climate change, and the legislature passed quite a number of them. These bills have energy company standards, waste reduction standards, solar energy use on farmland, integration of environmental considerations in the Michigan Public Service Commission and other initiatives for clean energy.
8. Election laws. They passed penalties for intimidating poll workers, opened up the process to register to vote and provided guidance for the issuance of the certificate of the state results in a presidential election.
9. They repealed “Read by Grade Three,” passed in 2016, which required that a student be held back in the third grade if they do not meet reading standards. The new law replaces that with the provision of extra help for the students to get their reading on track.
10. They passed laws to support crime victims. A crime victim’s image now shall be blurred in videos, photos, and sketches of court proceedings that are streamed on the internet. Police officers and prosecutors may now share victims’ contacts with domestic and sexual violence service providers. Victims may now provide an oral impact statement virtually.
11. They codified portions of the Affordable Care Act under Michigan law to ensure that we have the ACA protections in Michigan even if the US Supreme Court completely overturns that Act. This includes protection from cancellation due to pre-existing conditions and allowing children to be on their parents insurance until age 26.
12. They repealed the “No stricter than federal” law. Michigan can now decide to enact environmental regulations that are tougher than federal regulations. It is interesting that the Republicans, who usually talk about how much they like state control over the federal government, had no problem abrogating the state’s role in protecting the environment over the past number of years.
13. They repealed the immunity of drug makers from liability. Michigan was the only state in the country to shield drug manufacturers from lawsuits, no matter what they did. This was done to keep those manufacturers in the state, but they left anyway.
14. The presidential primary will take place in February, but the other primary dates remain in August, while many people are not around. Can anyone say, "Ottawa Impact?"
These changes could not happen when Republicans kept control of major parts of state government. Republicans did what they could to delay some of these laws, but eventually they will go into effect and provide solutions to problems that have been around for many years. It is amazing what can get done when people are elected who see government as a tool to help people rather than just a problem in and of itself. More needs to be done, and I see more being done as I write this, but it seems clear that this has been a productive year.
— Community Columnist Marcia Meoli is a Holland attorney and resident. Contact her at Meolimarcia@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Marcia Meoli: Here's a list worth noting at the end of 2023
