By Liz Nass
Gongwer News Service
A Senate panel on Thursday heard testimony on two bills from Sen. Mallory McMorrow to create a “silver alert” for missing vulnerable seniors and expanding jury duty exemptions.
McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, testified on both of her bills in front of the Senate Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety Committee. Her first bill, SB 330 , would extend exemption for jury duty to family caretakers of a hospice patient or parental caretaker of a child with serious health conditions for the period of the care.
The bill would also include a bereavement period for the caretakers in event of a death.
McMorrow said asking these caretakers to show up to court is asking the “impossible” — to have them both work around the clock to take care of a family member and then worry about jury service on top of that.
“We’re asking for predictability and mercy during life’s most unpredictable and devastating moments,” McMorrow said. “This legislation doesn’t diminish the importance of jury service. It recognizes that some citizens are already serving in ways that demand everything they have to give.”
One of McMorrow’s constituents, Jane O’Shea, testified to her experience caring for her husband when he was in hospice. She said the court made her get a doctor’s note for any sort of exemption.
She said after turning in one note, the court gave her another time to go back a few months later. She realized that the court was putting “a clock” on her husband’s passing and her grief to be back in court.
“I feel like they would not want somebody in my position to try to concentrate on that. All I could think about was his oxygen machines,” O’Shea said.
The other bill from McMorrow, SB 456 , would create a “silver alert” to notify the public of a missing senior with dementia or Alzheimer’s.
This is a reintroduction of a House bill from last session.
Michigan’s current Mozelle Senior or Vulnerable Adult Medical Alert Act only provides information on missing seniors to law enforcement agencies. McMorrow compared this to an amber alert going out to only police officers when most of the time citizens are the ones that find missing people.
In the states that have a system like this, McMorrow said there is a 90% success rate in locating missing seniors.
The Department of State Police would activate the alerts through the existing emergency alert system, McMorrow said, so it would not cost the state much to create the new alert systems. The change would cost $20,000 annually, the House Fiscal Agency indicated in its bill analysis.
Greg Bird, director of public policy for the Alzheimer’s Association of Michigan, said wandering is one of the most dangerous symptoms of dementia, and six out of 10 living with dementia will wander at least once. If that person is not found within 24 hours, then up to half of those cases result in serious injury or death.
He shared a few stories from some of his volunteers, including a wife who found her husband after he went missing for six hours during their bike ride together all the way in Detroit.
Their bike ride started in St. Clair Shores.
Another story he shared featured a daughter who found her mother her two miles away, not knowing where she was after going on to walk the dog.
“The legislation will save lives, ease the burden on caregivers, and bring Michigan in line with national best practices for protecting older adults living with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia,” Bird said.
The committee also reported two bills sponsored by Sen. Dayna Polehanki, D-Livonia, on the forfeiture of animals during animal cruelty cases.
Under the bills, SB 293 and SB 294 , the defendant in a case would be required to either post bond for their animal or forfeit their rights to the animal to a state animal control agency. The bills would also make sure that repeat offenders of animal abuse or neglect would not be able to reclaim their animals.
This is due to overcrowding of humane societies during long court processes.
The bills were reported out by all the Democrats in attendance, with Sen. Paul Wojno, D-Warren, absent. Both Republicans on the committee, Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, and Sen. Ruth Johnson, R-Groveland Township, were absent as well.
Gongwer News Service
A Senate panel on Thursday heard testimony on two bills from Sen. Mallory McMorrow to create a “silver alert” for missing vulnerable seniors and expanding jury duty exemptions.
McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, testified on both of her bills in front of the Senate Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety Committee. Her first bill, SB 330 , would extend exemption for jury duty to family caretakers of a hospice patient or parental caretaker of a child with serious health conditions for the period of the care.
The bill would also include a bereavement period for the caretakers in event of a death.
McMorrow said asking these caretakers to show up to court is asking the “impossible” — to have them both work around the clock to take care of a family member and then worry about jury service on top of that.
“We’re asking for predictability and mercy during life’s most unpredictable and devastating moments,” McMorrow said. “This legislation doesn’t diminish the importance of jury service. It recognizes that some citizens are already serving in ways that demand everything they have to give.”
One of McMorrow’s constituents, Jane O’Shea, testified to her experience caring for her husband when he was in hospice. She said the court made her get a doctor’s note for any sort of exemption.
She said after turning in one note, the court gave her another time to go back a few months later. She realized that the court was putting “a clock” on her husband’s passing and her grief to be back in court.
“I feel like they would not want somebody in my position to try to concentrate on that. All I could think about was his oxygen machines,” O’Shea said.
The other bill from McMorrow, SB 456 , would create a “silver alert” to notify the public of a missing senior with dementia or Alzheimer’s.
This is a reintroduction of a House bill from last session.
Michigan’s current Mozelle Senior or Vulnerable Adult Medical Alert Act only provides information on missing seniors to law enforcement agencies. McMorrow compared this to an amber alert going out to only police officers when most of the time citizens are the ones that find missing people.
In the states that have a system like this, McMorrow said there is a 90% success rate in locating missing seniors.
The Department of State Police would activate the alerts through the existing emergency alert system, McMorrow said, so it would not cost the state much to create the new alert systems. The change would cost $20,000 annually, the House Fiscal Agency indicated in its bill analysis.
Greg Bird, director of public policy for the Alzheimer’s Association of Michigan, said wandering is one of the most dangerous symptoms of dementia, and six out of 10 living with dementia will wander at least once. If that person is not found within 24 hours, then up to half of those cases result in serious injury or death.
He shared a few stories from some of his volunteers, including a wife who found her husband after he went missing for six hours during their bike ride together all the way in Detroit.
Their bike ride started in St. Clair Shores.
Another story he shared featured a daughter who found her mother her two miles away, not knowing where she was after going on to walk the dog.
“The legislation will save lives, ease the burden on caregivers, and bring Michigan in line with national best practices for protecting older adults living with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia,” Bird said.
The committee also reported two bills sponsored by Sen. Dayna Polehanki, D-Livonia, on the forfeiture of animals during animal cruelty cases.
Under the bills, SB 293 and SB 294 , the defendant in a case would be required to either post bond for their animal or forfeit their rights to the animal to a state animal control agency. The bills would also make sure that repeat offenders of animal abuse or neglect would not be able to reclaim their animals.
This is due to overcrowding of humane societies during long court processes.
The bills were reported out by all the Democrats in attendance, with Sen. Paul Wojno, D-Warren, absent. Both Republicans on the committee, Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, and Sen. Ruth Johnson, R-Groveland Township, were absent as well.
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