Latest news with #HouseJointResolution
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Task force proposes new strategies to expand Alzheimer's care and research in Alabama
Rep. Ginny Shaver, R-Leesburg, speaks to a colleague on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on Feb. 6, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) A state committee looking into research and innovation for Alzheimer's disease treatments Monday discussed the need to assess current funding and enhancing investment in Alzheimer's research, as well as ideas to better connect researchers with colleagues and patients. 'The numbers are increasing all the time in the state of people who are suffering from this disease. So, it's all about prevention, early detection (and) getting people care,' Rep. Ginny Shaver, R-Leesburg, said after the meeting. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The task force, established in 2023 by a House Joint Resolution, is tasked with establishing recommendations on how to improve the state's care system for Alzheimer's and other dementia-related diseases. The task force is expected to present a plan before the end of the current session, likely in May, at which time the task force will be dissolved. Shaver indicated that a permanent committee may be needed to carry out the recommendations. Alabama task force charts five-year plan to tackle Alzheimer's disease Members of the task force also discussed establishing a grant program for Alzheimer's and dementia-related diseases. Other states have implemented some funding mechanisms. Shaver cited a Georgia's tax check-off program as an idea, which directs state income tax donations toward Alzheimer's research and care initiatives. 'It took $4.12 million to establish five memory assessment clinics in Georgia, and they've since expanded to eight clinics with an annual budget of $7.12 million,' Shaver said, adding that it came out to about $15,000 to treat one patient. Another concern was improving access to care, particularly for rural and underserved populations. 'Not everybody can travel up to Birmingham for an assessment,' Shaver said. 'I can tell you my personal story with my sister. When she came to Alabama because of her health condition two and a half years ago and then trying to get her diagnosed. We were going to every different kind of doctor.' The subcommittee looked at potential solutions, including creating an Alzheimer's research work group to connect researchers across the state and launching a centralized website for clinical trial opportunities. The subcommittee also proposed forming a data work group to gather and analyze statewide Alzheimer's-related information aimed at increasing data availability. The full task force is expected to convene by the end of March to review and decide on recommendations for Alabama's statewide Alzheimer's plan to present to Gov. Kay Ivey and the Legislature. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democrats condemn proof of citizenship voting resolution advancing in Michigan House as ‘poll tax'
Michigan state Rep. Mai Xiong (D-Warren) speaks at a news conference in opposition of a Republican-led House Joint Resolution to institute new requirements to prove citizenship in order to vote on March 11, 2025. | Photo: Anna Liz Nichols A resolution to require proof of citizenship to vote in Michigan cleared the Republican-led House Election Integrity Committee Tuesday while Democrats on the committee condemned the measure as a veiled attempt to install a poll tax. The partisan divide on the proposed policy, House Joint Resolution B, was made abundantly clear last week as the committee took testimony. Republican supporters of the resolution implored the need for guardrails on non-citizen voting, while Democrats in opposition remarked the resolution is vague about what documentation voters would need to produce, jeopardizing qualified voters' ability to vote if they fail to produce certain forms of ID. Under the resolution, every Michigan voter would have to identify themselves as a citizen either when they register to vote or at a later date to the Secretary of State or their local clerk. The resolution outlines that the Secretary of State 'must use all reasonable efforts to obtain information regarding the citizenship status of those individuals listed in the statewide qualified voter file'. Amid Democratic opposition asserting that the resolution, which would likely not pass the partisanly split state Legislature, Former Brighton Township Clerk and current state Rep. Ann Bollin (R- Brighton Twp.) testified in the House Election Integrity Committee that the resolution wouldn't make it harder to vote, but it would make it harder to cheat. 'Let's not make more out of this resolution than need be. 83% of Americans support proof of citizenship to register to vote in elections,' Bollin said. 'Let's join them and vote yes.' The resolution would impose hurdles that would decrease voter participation in the interest of addressing the non-existent problem of non-citizen voting, Rep. Matt Koleszar (D-Plymouth) said Tuesday at a news conference following the committee's 6-3 partisan split vote to clear the resolution out of committee. Whether it be paying for a copy of a birth certificate or a passport, there is a real cost to 'purchase proof of citizenship' Koleszar said, and putting a price tag on voter registration creates a 'poll tax' where families will have to pull $30 to $165 out to participate in elections. President Donald Trump has led the charge that American elections are not secure since losing the 2020 election to former President Joe Biden, which he falsely asserted was stolen. Trump rehashed those disproven claims during his successful 2024 campaign, saying Republicans had to make turnout 'too big to rig'. Despite a lack of verifiable evidence of mass election fraud, Trump's supporters in Michigan have reiterated interest in securing elections in the state and eliminating fraud. And when Michigan saw headlines for a 19-year-old Chinese student at University of Michigan being accused of illegally voting in the 2024 election it raised questions on how to prevent non-citizen voting while election experts continue to assert such incidents are extremely rare. One individual's actions should not qualify instituting rules that would make it harder for senior citizens and members of the military overseas who face barriers in submitting timely evidence of citizenship from voting, Rep. Mai Xiong (D-Warren) said. In fact for the majority of women who take their husband's last name, their birth certificate with their maiden name would likely not be sufficient to establish citizenship, Xiong pointed out. And without outlined documents in the resolution, if a birth certificate was the form of identification demanded, it would effectively preclude married women in Michigan from voting. 'Make no mistake, this smells like a pink poll tax that burdens women to pay for and produce multiple forms of documents before being able to vote,' Xiong said. 'This is not how democracy works. This is blatant voter suppression happening right before our eyes. It's going to make it harder for every single citizen to vote in our state. These are unnecessary barriers being put between Michiganders and the ballot box.' A resolution to require proof of citizenship to vote in Michigan cleared the Republican-led House Election Integrity Committee Tuesday while Democrats on the committee condemned the measure as a veiled attempt to install a poll tax. The partisan divide on the proposed policy, House Joint Resolution B, was made abundantly clear last week as the committee took testimony. Republican supporters of the resolution implored the need for guardrails on non-citizen voting, while Democrats in opposition remarked the resolution is vague about what documentation voters would need to produce, jeopardizing qualified voters' ability to vote if they fail to produce certain forms of ID. Under the resolution, every Michigan voter would have to identify themselves as a citizen either when they register to vote or at a later date to the Secretary of State or their local clerk. The resolution outlines that the Secretary of State 'must use all reasonable efforts to obtain information regarding the citizenship status of those individuals listed in the statewide qualified voter file'. Amid Democratic opposition asserting that the resolution, which would likely not pass the partisanly split state Legislature, Former Brighton Township Clerk and current state Rep. Ann Bollin (R- Brighton Twp.) testified in the House Election Integrity Committee that the resolution wouldn't make it harder to vote, but it would make it harder to cheat. 'Let's not make more out of this resolution than need be. 83% of Americans support proof of citizenship to register to vote in elections,' Bollin said. 'Let's join them and vote yes.' The resolution would impose hurdles that would decrease voter participation in the interest of addressing the non-existent problem of non-citizen voting, Rep. Matt Koleszar (D-Plymouth) said Tuesday at a news conference following the committee's 6-3 partisan split vote to clear the resolution out of committee. Whether it be paying for a copy of a birth certificate or a passport, there is a real cost to 'purchase proof of citizenship' Koleszar said, and putting a price tag on voter registration creates a 'poll tax' where families will have to pull $30 to $165 out to participate in elections. President Donald Trump has led the charge that American elections are not secure since losing the 2020 election to former President Joe Biden, which he falsely asserted was stolen. Trump rehashed those disproven claims during his successful 2024 campaign, saying Republicans had to make turnout 'too big to rig'. Despite a lack of verifiable evidence of mass election fraud, Trump's supporters in Michigan have reiterated interest in securing elections in the state and eliminating fraud. And when Michigan saw headlines for a 19-year-old Chinese student at University of Michigan being accused of illegally voting in the 2024 election it raised questions on how to prevent non-citizen voting while election experts continue to assert such incidents are extremely rare. One individual's actions should not qualify instituting rules that would make it harder for senior citizens and members of the military overseas who face barriers in submitting timely evidence of citizenship from voting, Rep. Mai Xiong (D-Warren) said. In fact for the majority of women who take their husband's last name, their birth certificate with their maiden name would likely not be sufficient to establish citizenship, Xiong pointed out. And without outlined documents in the resolution, if a birth certificate was the form of identification demanded, it would effectively preclude married women in Michigan from voting. 'Make no mistake, this smells like a pink poll tax that burdens women to pay for and produce multiple forms of documents before being able to vote,' Xiong said. 'This is not how democracy works. This is blatant voter suppression happening right before our eyes. It's going to make it harder for every single citizen to vote in our state. These are unnecessary barriers being put between Michiganders and the ballot box.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
