Full House Gets HICA Bills
The House Appropriations Committee passed
legislation to the full House Wednesday to end the deficit in the health
insurance claims assessment (HICA). Senate
Bills 893 and 913
were passed without changes. The bills, which the Senate passed last week, were
passed unanimously with only Representative Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake) passing
on one of the measures. The current HICA fund deficit is expected to have a
shortfall of $114 million. This legislation is expected to solve one of the
most significant fiscal dilemmas currently facing the State.
April Unemployment Down
April numbers continued Michigan’s trend of
falling unemployment rates, moving downward another 0.1 percent to 7.4 percent.
Further, the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget reported
that employment grew by 14,000 for the month and the labor force also increased
by 11,000. Since August of 2013, Michigan’s unemployment rate has fallen 1.6
percentage points while the national rate has dropped 0.9 percent.
House Approves Auditor General Appointee
Wednesday, the
House unanimously approved House
Concurrent Resolution 28 to appoint Doug Ringler, CPA, CIA, as the state’s
new Auditor General. The measure now goes to the Senate for a concurrence vote.
Mr. Ringler, who will be appointed to an 8-year term upon Senate approval,
succeeds Tom McTavish, CPA. Mr. Ringler currently serves as Governor Snyder’s
Chief Audit Executive, is a certified public account (CPA) and certified
internal auditor (CIA), and was recommended following a national, bipartisan
and bicameral search.
More than 237,000 Enroll in Healthy Michigan
Officials have
announced that more than 237,000 Michigan citizens have signed up for
healthcare coverage under the state’s expanded Medicaid program eligibility in
only the first six weeks of the program. The state expects 470,000 total people
to sign up for the program, with 320,000 coming this year. Notably, the 237,000
total is already more than the 225,000 people that critics of the Affordable
Care Act have claimed lost their coverage due to required changes.