The Health and Human Services budget impacts so many lives across the state of Michigan. This budget focuses on public-health centers which support access to care locally, child welfare, and the most vulnerable—our seniors and infants, and much more. The Health and Human Services budget is a nonpartisan, nonpolitical budget and I am grateful for the work of all the committee members.
This budget includes funding to increase wages for direct-care workers, it increases access to equity for Medicaid through expanding coverages of children’s special health and care programs, it establishes a Medicaid recuperative-care benefit, and it increases reimbursement rates for specific Medicaid services. It supports Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies through a new unit by removing the five-year waiting period for lawfully residing children and pregnant women, supporting perinatal quality collaboratives, providing grants to pregnancy sites, strengthening hospitals maternal-health initiatives, and re-establishes the Medicaid family-planning benefit. It also includes new programs for funding increases like an increase for Medicaid hospital reimbursement rates for level I and level II trauma centers, childcare fund reimbursement rates, and supports the state’s share of essential local public health services. It also increases child welfare family maintenance payments and increases the Food Bank Council’s MASS Program. It maintains funding for projects including multicultural integration services, first responder mental health and safety grants, sickle cell centers, as well as CCWIS modules. It includes new FY 2024 one-time projects like the new federally-qualified healthcare center payment models, a permanent supportive housing pilot, and also unpaid medical debt forgiveness for our constituents; the creation of the Caregiver Resource Center, operations psych GME program, opioid biomarker testing, and deposits into the Jail Diversion Fund. Lastly, I would just like to state that water is essential to life, and it is necessary for all of our constituents. I urge support for the DHHS budget.
The following bill was read a third time:
Senate Bill No. 199, entitled
A bill to make appropriations for the department of environment, Great Lakes, and energy for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024; and to provide for the expenditure of the appropriations.
The question being on the passage of the bill,
Senator Bumstead offered the following amendment:
1. Amend page 15, line 7, after “replacement” by striking out “5,000,000” and inserting “20,000,000”.
The question being on the adoption of the amendment,
Senator Lauwers requested the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered, 1/5 of the members present voting therefor.
The amendment was not adopted, a majority of the members serving not voting therefor, as follows: