(Source: MIRS.news, Published 04/24/23) Several civil rights organizations delivered a letter on Monday asking the House and Senate Appropriations committees to honor Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's recommendation for increased funding to the Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR), which is newly responsible for investigating cases of LGBTQ+ discrimination.
The department, which is constitutionally mandated to investigate civil rights violations through the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, will now be charged with investigating cases of discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals after amendments to the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA).
However, information received via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the letter's signatories found that the MDCR had a complaint log of 2,389 cases as of Nov. 30, 2022, a backlog that has resulted in a nearly four-year wait time for some Michiganders who file complaints to receive a ruling on their case.
"While their cases are on hold, complainants may be left without affordable housing, disability accommodations, gainful employment or even life-saving medical treatment," the letter reads.
With approximately 500 additional complaints coming in each month, and the MDCR reporting that the department closed 40% fewer cases in FY '22 than in FY '15, Jay Kaplan, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan's LGBTQ+ project, said the burden is too great on the department as is.
"Expanded ELCRA protections mean little if there is no one there to enforce them," Kaplan said. "Michiganders deserve an MDCR that is ready and able to step in to protect their civil rights and human dignity. The Department's funding must be increased if it is to have any chance to effectively investigate these new complaints on top of its current backlog."
The letter, addressed to House and Senate Appropriations chairs and vice chairs, requested the Legislature approve Whitmer's $12 million budget increase for the MDCR, citing a constitutional obligation to adequately fund the department.
Signatories wrote that the Legislature has not been properly funding the department for years, effectively violating a section of the Michigan Constitution that requires it to fund the MDCR at a level that allows for its "effective operation."
Since 2015, there has been an 18% reduction in funding when adjusted for inflation, "despite a 22% increase in annual complaints through Fiscal Year 2022," the letter reads.
"To be sure, these deficiencies do not reflect a failure of the MDCR, its leadership, or its hard-working staff," the letter reads, "but a failure of the Michigan Legislature to fulfill its constitutional obligations."
Signatories included the Civil Rights Litigation Initiative at the University of Michigan Law School, the NAACP Michigan State Conference, the ACLU of Michigan, the Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan and the Fair Housing Center of West Michigan.
The groups urged the Legislature to approve Whitmer's budget proposal for the department that would allow for the backlog of cases to be resolved, and added that "we hope to avoid a lawsuit against the Legislature for failing to satisfy its simple constitutional duty."
