I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
A report released Tuesday by the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation finds that Michigan’s cuts to public health budgets in the last two years could negatively impact emergency responses to emerging disease, bioterrorism and natural disasters.
While the state ranks well in eight of the ten indicators, the state’s budget issues are a serious concern, and the depth of the funding crisis may not have been fully realized yet.
Michigan decreased its public health budget from FY 2008-09 to 2009-10. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has found that states have experienced overall budgetary shortfalls of $425 billion since FY 2009.
In addition to state cuts, federal support for public health preparedness has been cut by 27 percent since FY 2005 (adjusted for inflation). Local public health departments report losing 23,000 jobs – totaling 15 percent of the local public health workforce – since January 2008. The impact of the recession were not as drastically felt by public health until more recently because of supplemental funds received to support the H1N1 pandemic flu response and from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Michigan Messenger has reported on the impact of cuts to public health on syphilis monitoring as well as the potential impacts to disease identification in the upper peninsula.
With the state facing an expected $1.6 billion deficit next year, more cuts could well be on the way unless new revenue is raised.
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter