Catholic Conference Outlines Advocacy Priorities for 96th Michigan Legislature

LANSING – Recognizing the significant challenges that accompany a $1.8 billion state budget deficit, Michigan Catholic Conference today announced that protecting the Michigan Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and maintaining adequate funding levels for state programs that benefit Michigan’s destitute population will top its advocacy agenda for the 2011-2012 legislative session.

“The Conference offers its agenda as an opportunity for dialogue and legislative action on a wide spectrum of issues that will advance the common good,” said MCC President and CEO Paul A. Long. “We look forward to working with state leaders and to participate in a constructive debate that will shape policy in Michigan for years to come.”

The Michigan Earned Income Tax Credit has been a major policy priority for the Conference due to its ability to lift low-income workers out of the stranglehold of poverty. According to the economically conservative Anderson Economic Group, the goals of the EITC are to “provide income support and reduce poverty” and to “remove barriers to work and encourage self-sufficiency.”

Those who receive the EITC use the credit in ways that economically benefit local communities. In tax year 2009, for example, according to IRS estimates, the fully implemented Michigan EITC will have added $7.2 million to the local Saginaw County economy; $3.2 million in Monroe County; and $4.7 million in Calhoun County. Statewide, an estimated $280 million will have been added to local communities through a fully implemented Michigan EITC.

“The expense of the Michigan EITC is mitigated by the amount that is spent in the local economy by those who receive the credit; therefore, the EITC has a dual purpose: to act as a barrier to poverty and an incentive to work, and as an economic boost for local communities,” said Long.
Just as protecting the EITC and maintaining funding levels for necessary state programs are critical, the Conference will also pursue policies that uphold the dignity of the human person, promote educational choice, grant preferential options to the poor and vulnerable, guarantee religious freedom, support the traditional family structure, and encourage restorative justice.

“It is our hope that this Legislature will work to defend the life and dignity of all peoples of our state, especially those living on the margins of society,” said Long. “At a time when Michigan’s unemployment rate continues to hover above 11 percent, we are urging those who craft state policy to seriously evaluate how any reform of state government will impact the elderly and frail, the poor and disadvantaged.”

Michigan Catholic Conference’s advocacy agenda was approved in December by its Board of Directors and released this week through FOCUS, a periodic essay distributed to all Catholic parishes, schools, institutions and other locations and individuals across the state. Below is a detailed listing of public policy issues that are of interest to the Conference in the categories of Religious Freedom, Human Life, Children and Families, Health Care, Education, Economic Justice and Regulatory Policies, and Restorative Justice:

Religious Freedom

• The rights of faith-based providers and all individuals to conscience protections in the delivery of services,


• The equal application of the law to all persons and institutions regardless of their faith, and


• Opposition to insurance regulations mandating coverage for abortion or contraception.

Human Life

• State initiatives that provide alternatives to abortion and assistance to pregnant women,


• Legislation that seeks to ban partial-birth abortion in state law,


• Regulations on human embryo research, and


• Upholding the constitutional ban on the death penalty.

Children and Families

• Upholding the constitutional definition of marriage,


• Policies that protect the stability of the marriage bond and the institution of the family,


• Amending Michigan’s no-fault divorce laws.

Health Care

• Protection of health coverage for low and moderate income individuals and families,


• Appropriate Medicaid funding to ensure adequate coverage for recipients and payments to providers,


• Legislation that prohibits abortion funding in all health plans, and


• Opposition to legislation that threatens the institutional integrity of faith-based providers.

Education

• An end to the state constitutional ban on aid to non-public schools,


• Protection of non-public schools from excessive regulation,


• Mandatory consultation between public school districts and the non-public school districts located within their jurisdiction regarding the appropriate distribution of federal program dollars,


• Protection of virtual learning experiences and course content that includes dimensions of faith,


• Providing for expanded science and technology learning opportunities,


• Policies that seek to improve the quality of public education, and


• Preservation of the Michigan Tuition Grant Program.

Economic Justice and Regulatory Policies

• The allocation of scarce budget resources to preserve essential services for vulnerable persons,


• Affirmation of the recognized right to exercise religious conscience in the provision of publicly-funded services,


• Policies that seek to promote the dignity of all human persons, regardless of citizenship,


• Providing limited immunity for private human service providers for the provision of services otherwise provided by the state,


• Maintenance of the tax-exempt status for not-for-profit organizations,


• Affordable housing for low and moderate income families and individuals, and


• Affordable and accessible transportation options for low and moderate income workers.

Restorative Justice

• Adequate and professional legal representation to all accused individuals regardless of economic status,


• The right of faith-based providers in the delivery of services to incarcerated individuals, regardless of citizenship,


• Reforming and enhancing the provision of health care services provided in Michigan prisons, including end of life care,


• A comprehensive approach to prisoner rehabilitation and re-entry programs that includes continuing education, adequate personal identification, transportation, housing, and employment assistance,


• Sentencing guidelines and parole practices that reflect an individual’s potential threat to society, including amending Michigan’s mandatory minimum sentencing statutes impacting juveniles and certain drug offenses, and


• Elimination of life without parole for juveniles convicted as adults.

Bishop Cistone to celebrate Mass with nearly 3,500 students during Catholic Schools Week

2.1 million Catholic school students prepare to celebrate
Catholic Schools Week across the United States, including
those in the Diocese of Saginaw.

SAGINAW — Catholic school students in all 22 schools across the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw will be part of the nationwide Catholic Schools Week celebration, January 30-February 5. The theme this year is “Catholic Schools: A+ for America,” which highlights the added value of Catholic schools for the nation.

As a group, Catholic school students perform among the top in the country. They have a 99-percent graduation rate and 94 percent go to college. Additionally, Catholic school students are known for the countless hours of service they provide in their local communities. In the Diocese of Saginaw, students help feed the poor, visit the elderly, and raise awareness of important social issues such as abortion and euthanasia.

“It is with great enthusiasm and gratitude that I am celebrating Catholic Schools Week,” said the Most Rev. Joseph R. Cistone, Bishop of Saginaw. “I am so proud of our wonderful students and the many contributions of all those who make Catholic education possible: the dedicated principals, teachers, school staffs and volunteers, committed parents, pastors and pastoral administrators who provide excellent leadership, and, in a special way, generous parishioners and benefactors.”

In thanksgiving, Bishop Cistone will celebrate the following regional Masses during Catholic Schools Week:

•January 31, 9:00 a.m., St. Thomas Aquinas
5376 State St., Saginaw
Students from St. Elizabeth and St. Thomas Aquinas schools

•January 31, 1:00 p.m., St. Stephen
2711 Mackinaw St., Saginaw
Students from Nouvel Catholic Central High School and St. Stephen School

•February 1, 12:00 p.m., Sacred Heart
302 S. Kinney Ave., Mt. Pleasant
Students from Sacred Heart Academy, St. Cecilia, St. Joseph and St Mary schools

•February 2, 9:30 a.m., St. Michael
310 E. 2nd St., Pinconning
Students from Auburn Area Catholic, St. Anne, St. Michael and St. Valentine schools

•February 3, 10:00 a.m.
St. Stanislaus Kostka
900 S. Grant St., Bay City
Students from All Saints Middle and High School, Our Lady of Lake Huron,
Holy Trinity, St. James, St. John the Evangelist and St. Slanislaus Kostka schools

•February 4, 8:30 a.m.
Blessed Sacrament
3109 Swede Ave., Midland
Students from Blessed Sacrament and St. Brigid schools

$2.8 million expansion complete at St. Brigid School—dedication this weekend marks start of Catholic Schools Week

WHAT: Bishop Cistone to dedicate newly expanded St. Brigid of Kildare School and Parish Center. Members of the media are invited to tour the expanded school.

WHEN: Sunday morning, January 30, 2011
Bishop Cistone will celebrate Mass at St. Brigid of Kildare Church, 207 Ashman St., in Midland, at 11:30 a.m. Following the Mass, members of the St. Brigid church and school community will gather at the site of the newly expanded school and Cardinal Hickey Parish Hall, 130 West Larkin St., at approximately 12:30 p.m., for the dedication.

MIDLAND — The Most Rev. Joseph R. Cistone, Bishop of Saginaw, will help mark the beginning of Catholic Schools Week, Jan. 30-Feb. 5, with the dedication of a $2.8 million school and parish center expansion.

The 12,700-square-foot addition to the St. Brigid campus includes a gymnasium and locker rooms, kitchen, classrooms and offices.

“What a wonderful way to begin Catholic Schools Week,” Bishop Cistone said. “The expansion project at St. Brigid School is an exciting achievement for the local community and the church. Our schools have a tradition of excellence in educating disciples of Christ, and the school expansion is an affirmation that parents continue to desire a Catholic school education for their children.”

Enrollment at St. Brigid School has grown from 67 students in 2004 to 164 this year. That number has increased, in large part, because of the school’s addition of sixth grade in 2006, seventh grade in 2007 and eighth grade 2008.

Bishops Support Three Bills to Strengthen Protections for Life and Conscience

WASHINGTON — Three bills currently in the U.S. House of Representatives would help ensure that adequate protections are in place for the consciences of taxpayers and health care providers and against federal funding of abortion. In three letters, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), urged House members to support the bills.

The Protect Life Act, H.R. 358, Cardinal DiNardo wrote in a January 20 letter, would address flaws in the new health care reform law and bring it “into line with policies on abortion and conscience rights that have long prevailed in other federal health programs.” It would do so by preventing funds under the new law from subsidizing abortion or health care plans that cover abortion, protecting the consciences of health care providers who decline to participate in an abortion, and ensuring that the law doesn’t override state laws on abortion and conscience.

The full text of Cardinal DiNardo’s letter on the Protect Life Act is at: www.usccb.org/healthcare/DiNardo-HR358-ltr.pdf

In a second letter January 20, Cardinal DiNardo urged support for the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act (ANDA), H.R. 361, which will codify into law the longstanding policy of the Hyde/Weldon amendment and give health care entities that do not provide abortions legal recourse when faced with government-sponsored discrimination. The Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services would be designated to investigate complaints.

“Passage of ANDA is urgently needed to protect the civil rights of health professionals and other health care entities,” the cardinal wrote. “This bill reaffirms a basic principle: No health care entity should be forced by government to perform or participate in abortions.”

Full text of the ANDA letter is at: www.usccb.org/conscienceprotection/cardinal-dinardo-HR361-ltr.pdf

In a January 21 letter, Cardinal DiNardo also voiced his support for the bipartisan No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, H.R. 3, which would “write into permanent law a policy on which there has been strong popular and congressional agreement for over 35 years: The federal government should not use taxpayers’ money to support and promote elective abortion.” The cardinal wrote, “Even public officials who take a ‘pro-choice’ stand on abortion, and courts that have insisted on the validity of a constitutional ‘right’ to abortion, have agreed that the government can validly use its funding power to encourage childbirth over abortion.”

Cardinal DiNardo noted that this agreement is so longstanding that, during the recent health care debate, many assumed it was already in place at all levels of the federal government, when in fact the Hyde amendment is only a rider to the annual Labor/HHS appropriations bill and only governs funds under that act.

The cardinal noted, “The benefit of H.R. 3 is that it would prevent problems and confusions on abortion funding in future legislation. Federal health bills could be debated in terms of their ability to promote the goal of universal health care, instead of being mired in debates about one lethal procedure that most Americans know is not truly ‘health care’ at all.”

The letter on H.R. 3 is available online at: www.usccb.org/prolife/DiNardo-HR3.pdf

March for Life 2011: Evening of Prayer and Formation

WASHINGTON – The Diocese of Saginaw’s 400 pro-life pilgrims gathered for a time of prayer and formation on the eve of the March for Life. Below are some video highlights from the programs, including a prayerful skit led by students from Nouvel Catholic Central High School in Saginaw and two clips keynote speaker Nathan Bolton on “Marching WITH Life (Jesus)” and his closing prayer.

As a product of a pro-life decision, Nathan Bolton was adopted at birth. At the age of 13 months, he became paralyzed from the shoulders down due to a virus that infected the spinal cord. Learn more about his story at nathanbolton.com.

Sunday Mass with Bishop Cistone at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

WASHINGTON – It was standing room only in the main body of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception as the Most Rev. Joseph R. Cistone, Bishop of Saginaw, celebrated the 9 a.m. Sunday Mass.

An estimated 5,000 March for Life pilgrims from across the country filled the building, prompting the Basilica’s Rector to note that “Easter is not even this full” before the Mass began.

See photos from this morning’s Mass on our Facebook page.

2011 March for Life Pilgrimage Begins

SAGINAW – Four hundred pilgrims gathered at the Center for Ministry this morning begin their journey to the 2011 March for Life in Washington, D.C. The group celebrated Mass with Bishop Cistone before he joined them in a caravan of eight charter buses en route to the nation’s capital to protest the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

See more photos on Facebook.