Lansing Update: MCC Urges Focus on Families in Policy and Budget Making This Year
Posted January 26, 2024
Families Should Be Focus of Policy & Budget, MCC Says After Governor’s Speech
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer delivered her sixth State of the State address to the Legislature this past Wednesday. The speech comes two weeks before the Governor announces her state spending recommendations for the next budget year.
In response, Michigan Catholic Conference (MCC) issued a press release this week reiterating the call to put the financial well-being of families front and center in the budget and in legislation this year.
MCC advocated for public policies that would pave a long-term path of stability for men and women working low- and middle-income jobs while caring for themselves and their children, and listed out several measures MCC supports that would promote the dignity of life for low-income workers and families, potential adoptive parents, seniors, and the disabled.
“A concerted and successful effort to put families first through the budget process would help grow the economy, resuscitate the state’s upside-down birth rate, and lift the standard of living for low- and middle-income families, thereby contributing to the state’s overall population and prosperity,” said Paul Long, president and CEO of MCC, in the press release.
To read more, click or tap here.
Michigan Senate Commends Catholic Schools for Ensuring ‘Stronger Future for Students’
Ahead of Catholic Schools Week next week, the Michigan Senate on Thursday adopted a resolution offering public recognition of Catholic schools in Michigan, which noted the “key role that Catholic schools play in promoting and ensuring a brighter, stronger future for students.”
The resolution, sponsored by Sen. Joe Bellino (R-Monroe) along with several co-sponsors from both parties, read that Catholic schools “instill a broad, values-based education, emphasizing the lifelong development of moral, intellectual, and social values in young people, making them responsible citizens of our state and nation.”
The adopted resolution also added that Catholic schools “educate many students who are non-Catholic, many students who are economically disadvantaged, and exemplifies that a good education remains the single best way out of poverty.”
To read the text of the full adopted resolution, click or tap here.
Lawmakers Attend Event Promoting Choice in Education
More than two dozen lawmakers or their staff — as well as parents and students — attended the National School Choice Week Celebration this week in Lansing.
MCC, along with the Michigan Association of Nonprofit Schools, serve as co-sponsors of the event, along with other organizations. The event is intended to promote the various schools and options parents have in choosing an education for their children.
One of the speakers during the program — Heritage Christian Academy Principal Jason Minor, who represented faith-based schools — noted the need of educators to recognize the unique needs and talents of each child in their care.
MCC advocates for the right for families to choose the educational settings that are best for them and will continue to advocate for empowering choice in education. As part of that, MCC wants to make Lansing Update readers aware of federal legislation that could drastically increase access to education choice. Known as the Educational Choice for Children Act, it would enact a tax credit scholarship to expand school choice and other educational choice options to families in all 50 states.
As a Catholic advocate, we encourage you to contact your Congress member to support the legislation.