It's tricky territory. Given the perverse behavior displayed in daily headlines, such payment must be high enough to reward altruism, yet low enough not to tempt human traffickers and their ilk.

Non-health bills are in italics.

Tuesday, May 12, 2026     12:00 noon

AGENDA

HB 4696
Rep. Meerman
Children: guardians; definition of relative under the guardianship assistance act; modify.

HB 4697
Rep. Young
Children: guardians; eligibility for guardianship assistance payments; modify.

SB 934
Sen. Cherry
Mobile homes: other; mobile home commission act; revise.

SB 935
Sen. Bellino
Mobile homes: other; mobile home commission act; revise.

SB 936
Sen. Chang
Mobile homes: other; procedure for declaring a mobile home abandoned; provide for.

SB 937
Sen. Bayer
Mobile homes: other; mobile home commission act; revise.

SB 938
Sen. Hauck
Individual income tax: credit; credit for the sale of mobile home park or seasonal mobile home to residents or resident's association or cooperative; provide for.

SB 939
Sen. Outman
Housing: manufactured, modular, or mobile homes; authority to administer the resident ownership revolving fund created in the mobile home commission act; provide.

And any other business properly before the committee.

However, successful programs begin in the community, with locally-specific resources, nuanced to suit the area's specific problems.

The 40-minute film, Beyond Homeless documents one effective, heart-warming solution.

Tuesday, April 21, 2026     2:30 p.m.

AGENDA

Presentation regarding The State of Homelessness in Michigan

In Michigan, Child Protective Services (CPS) is part of MDHHS, along with housing and dozens of other forms of aid. We consider any aspect of MDHHS to be part of state health policy.

Non-health bills are italicized.

Tuesday, March 3, 2026    12:00 noon

AGENDA

SB 272
Sen. Hauck
Housing: condominium; definition of undeveloped land; modify.

SB 735
Sen. Irwin
Children: child abuse or child neglect; definition of child neglect; modify.

SB 736
Sen. McBroom
Crimes: crimes against minors; definition of child abuse; modify.

And any other business properly before the committee.

As a "protection" from water shut-off for low-income residents, the bill package appears to be modelled after Michigan's electrical utilities Low income Assist Fund. This monthly assessment is $1.25 on my electrical bill, and probably something similar on yours.

Obviously, raising prices drives those on the line into dependence. In both programs, administrators (Consumers Energy/DTE and MDHSS) have zero incentive to actually lower costs. My question about both schemes is this: on which planet does raising everyone's price create affordability?? 

The first bill of the package is linked. From there, you can toggle "Next Bill" to view the rest. 

SFA's 8-page summary

News report(s) below.

My previous post for this committee addressed the first agenda item, SB 562, the LiHEAP bill.

Non-health policy bills are italicized.

Tuesday, November 4, 2025      12:00 noon

AGENDA

SB 562 Sen. Irwin Human services: services or financial assistance; percentage of LiHEAP funds used for weatherization assistance; increase.

SB 248 Sen. Chang Human services: services or financial assistance; water rate affordability fund; provide for.

SB 249 Sen. Damoose Human services: services or financial assistance; low-income water residential affordability program task force; create.

SB 250 Sen. Bayer Human services: services or financial assistance; water rate affordability program; create.

SB 251 Sen. Bayer Water supply: systems and utilities; water affordability and transparency act; create.

SB 252 Sen. Chang Water supply: systems and utilities; water shutoff protection act; enact.

SB 253 Sen. Cavanagh Housing: landlord and tenants; right for water and sewer bill to be in tenant's name; provide for.

SB 254 Sen. Cavanagh Public utilities: other; transfer of utility to tenant; provide for.

SB 255 Sen. Wojno Criminal procedure: other; violation of tampering with utility shut-off procedures; decriminalize under certain circumstances.

SB 256 Sen. Irwin Criminal procedure: sentencing guidelines; sentencing guidelines for tampering with utility shutoff to residence; amend to reflect decriminalization of certain acts.

SB 585 Sen. Irwin Probate: guardians and conservators; requirement to have an appraisal for the sale of real property; provide for.

SB 586 Sen. Johnson Probate: guardians and conservators; requirement to state on record reasons for moving ward from residence; provide for.

And any other business properly before the committee

The original hearing for this bill package took place in October, 2025.

Tuesday, October 28, 2025      12:00 noon

AGENDA

SB 248 Sen. Chang Human services: services or financial assistance; water rate affordability fund; provide for.

SB 249 Sen. Damoose Human services: services or financial assistance; low-income water residential affordability program task force; create.

SB 250 Sen. Bayer Human services: services or financial assistance; water rate affordability program; create.

SB 251 Sen. Bayer Water supply: systems and utilities; water affordability and transparency act; create.

SB 252 Sen. Chang Water supply: systems and utilities; water shutoff protection act; enact.

SB 253 Sen. Cavanagh Housing: landlord and tenants; right for water and sewer bill to be in tenant's name; provide for.

SB 254 Sen. Cavanagh Public utilities: other; transfer of utility to tenant; provide for.

SB 255 Sen. Wojno Criminal procedure: other; violation of tampering with utility shut-off procedures; decriminalize under certain circumstances.

SB 256 Sen. Irwin Criminal procedure: sentencing guidelines; sentencing guidelines for tampering with utility shutoff to residence; amend to reflect decriminalization of certain acts.

And any other business properly before the committee.

Tuesday, September 16, 2025     12:00 noon

AGENDA

SB 515 Sen. Chang Housing: other; requirement for certain rental units to be equipped with a carbon monoxide device; provide for.

And any other business properly before the committee.

At first blush, landlord fines appear to have no health policy connection.

However, SFA gets to the good stuff. Bold emphasis is mine.

The bill could have a positive fiscal impact on the State and local units of government. The bill would impose a civil fine of up to $500. Revenue collected from civil fines is used to support local libraries. Additionally, $10 of the civil fine would be deposited into the State Justice System Fund. This Fund supports justice-related activities across State government in the Departments of Corrections, Health and Human Services, State Police, and Treasury. The Fund also supports justice-related issues in the Legislative Retirement System and the Judiciary. The amount of revenue to the State or for local libraries is indeterminate and dependent on the actual number of violations

Social justice? Alternative courts? I'm sure someone knows these funds' final destination... and equally sure its connection to landlords and carbon monoxide detectors is tenuous, at best.

Tuesday, October 21, 2025    12:00 noon

AGENDA

SB 515 Sen. Chang Housing: other; requirement for certain rental units to be equipped with a carbon monoxide device; provide for.

SB 562 Sen. Irwin Human services: services or financial assistance; percentage of LiHEAP funds used for weatherization assistance; increase.

And any other business properly before the committee.

Weatherization is state aid administered by MDHHS. LiHEAP funds are federal.

SFA insights:

If 100% of the expenses were used for weatherization, Home Heating Credits would effectively be eliminated. In fiscal year 2024-25, the total LIHEAP award from the Federal government to Michigan was $183.3 million.

However, the net impact of the bill on Home Heating Credits is indeterminate: the Home Heating Credit is based on energy costs, which partially reflect energy usage and presumably greater weatherization would reduce energy usage.

In sum: Michigan winter is certain for all. Savings are not.

Items with no apparent health policy impact are italicized.

Tuesday, May 20, 2025     12:00 noon

AGENDA

SB 46 Sen. Irwin Water supply: systems; mobile home park water delivery systems; regulate.

SB 278 Sen. Shink Housing: other; housing and community development fund; modify.

SB 266 Sen. Hertel Human services: medical services; certain personal service agreements; allow.

And any other business properly before the committee.

SB 46 - Some pertinent snippets from Senate Fiscal Agency (SFA) analysis:

"Under the Act, if a public water supply poses an imminent hazard to the public health, EGLE may issue an emergency order immediately, without notice or hearing, requiring such action as EGLE determines necessary to protect the public health. Under the bill, if a waterworks system posed an immediate threat to the public health, EGLE could issue an emergency order immediately, without notice or requiring a hearing, that required the supplier of water or the owner of customer site piping at a mobile home or seasonal mobile home park to take any action EGLE determined necessary to protect the public health."

"The bill would have a negative fiscal impact on EGLE. The extent of this impact would include administrative and staffing costs which would depend on the number of complaints received that necessitated inspections, as well as the number of hearings that could be held in response to EGLE orders. The bill would significantly increase the number of waterworks systems overseen by EGLE. Estimates from EGLE indicate that implementation would require 3.0 Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs), and the average cost of an FTE in fiscal year 2024-25 is $138,900 annually. This means that the anticipated staffing costs would be roughly $416,700 annually. "

Tuesday, June 3, 2025     12:00 noon

AGENDA

SB 266 Sen. Hertel Human services: medical services; certain personal service agreements; allow.

SB 19 Sen. Anthony Housing: landlord and tenants; tenants rights to repair; provide for.

SB 20 Sen. Anthony Housing: landlord and tenants; cross-reference to the revised statutes of 1846; remove.

SB 21 Sen. Anthony Housing: landlord and tenants; prohibition against tenants right to repair; disallow in truth and renting act.

SB 22 Sen. Anthony Housing: landlord and tenants; return of security deposit by electronic transfer; allow.

And any other business properly before the committee.

SB 19 cites health and safety, but is actually about local economic woes popping up in Lansing's construction codes for rentals.

Expanding the Rx Kids program statewide would require something on the order of $ 1 billion.

https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Bills/Bill?ObjectName=2025-SB-0309

https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2025-2026/billanalysis/Senate/htm/2025-SFA-0309-G.htm

https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2025-2026/billanalysis/Senate/htm/2025-SFA-0309-S.htm

https://bridgemi.com/michigan-health-watch/michigan-lawmakers-push-to-expand-rx-kids-but-does-no-strings-cash-work/

Michigan lawmakers push to expand Rx Kids, but does ‘no strings’ cash work?
By Eli Newman - August 12, 2025

*    Michigan lawmakers are weighing a plan to shift Rx Kids — a cash assistance program for pregnant women and infants — under state control
*    Program officials report $100 million in commitments from public and private donors, including $20 million from the state, with more funding proposed
*    Supporters cite early health gains and stress relief for families, despite new research finding no measurable developmental benefits from similar cash gifts in early childhood

A bill that would expand cash assistance for new and expecting mothers is finding a trace of bipartisan support as lawmakers consider bringing the program under state control.

The legislation comes at a time when new research is casting doubt on the effectiveness unrestricted monetary payments have in improving child development. A working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that unconditional cash outlays have no “statistically significant impact” on certain outcomes, such as language skills, during a child’s first four years of life.

The Michigan Senate Committee on Housing and Human Services held a hearing Tuesday to discuss the expansion of Rx Kids, which offers recipients $1,500 during pregnancy and $500 a month for their children in their first year of life. Those receiving the money are free to use it however they like.

Under the proposal, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, which has allocated $20 million toward Rx Kids, would be responsible for running the child allowance program.

Currently, the Michigan State University Pediatric Public Health Initiative runs Rx Kids in collaboration with Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan. The nonprofit GiveDirectly administers the program.

The bill would have the university partnership continue under a state contract and allow for “universal” eligibility within service areas, according to its sponsor Sen. Sylvia Santana, D-Detroit.

“This cash assistance helps remove economic barriers that often prevent families from obtaining necessary items, such as baby supplies, food, rent, utility bills and clothing,” Santana told the committee, where she serves as majority vice chair. “RX Kids enables at-risk families to seek regular checkups, vaccinations and necessary treatments without the stress of unaffordable cost.”

Rx Kids launched in Flint in January 2024 before expanding to Pontiac, Kalamazoo, Clare County and the eastern Upper Peninsula, where one state lawmaker touted the pilot as “stunning.”

“It’s amazing how this program brings so many people together,” said committee member Sen. John Damoose, R-Harbor Springs. “Finally, we’re doing something we can all agree on.”

‘Crucial support’ for child care

Recipients of the stipend, like Celeste Lord-Timlin of Flint, describe the program as a “lifeline” that eased the financial burden of child care.

“Daycare costs us $1,300 a month,” Lord-Timlin told the committee Tuesday. “It was a stress that I really struggled with throughout the pregnancy until I heard about Rx Kids.”

Lord-Timlin said the program offered “crucial support.” She said the initial payment she received was split between buying essentials for her child, like a stroller and car seat, and covering her own graduate school tuition.

Nearly 9 in 10 participants in the program report feeling more secure in their finances, according to an internal survey, while about 66% say Rx Kids has improved health care access and health outcomes for them and their infants.

Dr. Mona Hanna, director of Rx Kids, told lawmakers the program has given $13 million to 3,000 families since launching, with $100 million in commitments from public and private donors.

By providing a “no strings attached” cash infusion during pregnancy and infancy, Hanna said nearly everyone eligible for the program takes advantage of it, helping to alleviate the health burdens of poverty in communities it operates in and allowing for better academic research there.

“We have health benefits that we’re already seeing,” said Hanna. “We are seeing a significant reduction in postpartum depression, a reduction in anxiety and a significant reduction in parental stress. We have a massive increase in prenatal care utilization.”

At what cost?

With RX Kids under the state’s purview, Michigan would face an “uncertain” cost to administer and operate the program, according to a Senate fiscal analysis, with potential “indirect costs for local units of government.”

Referencing the program’s current payment model, the Senate Fiscal Agency estimates the state’s maximum cost would be $750 million to cover 100,000 births. Payments could be reduced by limiting geographic areas covered by Rx Kids.

Santana, who made substitutions to the bill during the committee meeting, said the legislation now puts a 15% cap on the program’s administrative costs rather than 5%.

The Democratic-led Senate has approved a budget that would put an additional $58 million towards the program in the next fiscal year. The House, which has a Republican majority, has yet to approve a final plan.

Program officials dismissed concerns about the cost of administering the program.

“As we continue to grow, that administration gets even smaller with more opportunities of scale,” said Hanna.

Ahead of the meeting, the director of research for the conservative Mackinac Center for Public Policy touted the cash allowance program as a model worth replicating to “reduce waste, increase efficiency, boost effectiveness and decrease costs” in government.

Officials with the Michigan League for Public Policy, the Michigan Council for Maternal and Child Health, the Michigan chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and Council of Michigan Foundations also voiced their support for the legislation.

While Rx Kids finds local support, the study released by the National Bureau of Economic Research is giving fodder to critics of cash assistance plans.

The “Baby’s First Years” study is purported to be the first in the US to trace the effects of unconditional cash gifts to low-income new mothers.

Greg J. Duncan, an economist at the University of California, Irvine and one of six researchers who led the study, told the New York Times he and his team were “surprised” by the outcome.

The study points to the COVID-19 pandemic and periods of high inflation as conditions that may have affected results, and that cash alone may not be enough to affect change in young children.

“Additional research is needed to shed light on these various possibilities and to replicate these findings,” the study concludes. “Data from future study waves – which will include direct assessments of child development after a full six years of monthly unconditional cash support – will provide the opportunity to test for emergent impacts later in life.”

Related:

Michigan’s $55M experiment with guaranteed income begins with Flint moms

https://mihealthfreedom.org/community/mshhs/michigans-55m-experiment-with-guaranteed-income-begins-with-flint-moms/#post-752

Flint Offers New Mothers $ 7,500 During The First Year

https://mihealthfreedom.org/community/county-health-departments/flint-offers-new-mothers-7500-during-the-first-year/#post-891

Tuesday, March 18, 2025        3:00 p.m.

AGENDA

SB 18 Sen. Irwin     
Children: foster care; conditions on the use of certain benefits for a child in foster care; provide.

SB 29 Sen. Geiss     
Records: death; commission to investigate racial disparities related to maternal health; create.

SB 30 Sen. Geiss     
Civil rights: general discrimination; reporting procedures for mistreatment during perinatal period; provide for.

SB 31 Sen. Cavanagh     
Health facilities: hospitals; certain policies on patients who are giving birth; require a hospital to adopt.

SB 32 Sen. Cavanagh     
Insurance: health insurers; provision of information on medical malpractice insurance relating to perinatal care services to the department of health and human services; require on request.

SB 33 Sen. Anthony     
Probate: patient advocates; withholding life-sustaining treatment for a patient who is pregnant; allow.

SB 34 Sen. Chang
Civil rights: sex discrimination and harassment; definition of sex; modify to include lactating status for employment situations and include pregnancy and lactating status for places of public accommodation or public service.

SB 36 Sen. Anthony
Health: occupations; Michigan essential health provider recruitment strategy; expand to include midwives.

SB 37 Sen. Santana
Insurance: health insurers; coverage for gynecological and perinatal services; require.

SB 38 Sen. Santana
Human services: medical services; guidelines for coverage for perinatal and gynecological services; provide for.

SB 39 Sen. Anthony
Human services: medical services; medical assistance coverage for ultrasound procedures and fetal nonstress tests performed in certain locations; provide for.

And any other business properly before the committee.

Tuesday, December 10, 2024          1:00 p.m.

AGENDA

SB 836 Sen. McDonald Rivet Children; child care; adjustments of reimbursements under the child development care program for inflation; require.

SB 837 Sen. Hertel Children; child care; review and appeal process for certain violations of child care organization rules; require the department to establish.

SB 838 Sen. McDonald Rivet Individual income tax; credit; working parent credit; provide for.

SB 839 Sen. Anthony Fire; other; requirements for certain child care organizations and procedures for certain investigations; modify and make other revisions to 1973 PA 116.

SB 332 Sen. Geiss Labor; leave; family leave optimal coverage benefits; provide for.

SB 333 Sen. Geiss Individual income tax; deductions; deduction for family leave optimal coverage benefits; provide for.

HB 4224 Rep. Rogers Human services; medical services; workforce engagement requirements for Healthy Michigan plan; repeal.

And any other business properly before the committee.

Tuesday, November 12, 2024          12:00 noon

AGENDA

SB 999 Sen. Irwin Children; services; acknowledgement of child protective services cases to certain media sources; provide for.

And any other business properly before the committee.

Revised the 8th to include one more bill:

SB 1082 Sen. McMorrow Consumer protection; privacy; reproductive health data privacy act; create.