Detroit — As state legislators work to resolve a $1.85 billion deficit in the budget for the next fiscal year, the Michigan Catholic Conference will try to prevent cuts in programs that assist the poor.

The conference is also eager to work with the new governor and legislative leaders on behalf of faith-based service providers as the process of reforming the operation of state government takes place.

GoalsIn 2011, the Catholic Church in Michigan, through its public policy arm, will encourage lawmakers to do the following: Avoid cuts to programs that help the poor. Preserve the state’s Tuition Grant Program. Retain the Earned Income Tax Credit for those who are working but below the poverty line Prevent state dollars from going to insurance policies that cover abortions. Reform research that destroys human embryos. Uphold Michigan’s ban on the death penalty.

The MCC, which serves as public policy voice for all seven Michigan dioceses, will seek to persuade lawmakers to preserve funding for Department of Human Services and Department of Community Health budgets, “so that we can assure that vulnerable and needy citizens, especially children, will continue to receive essential services,” said Dave Maluchnik, MCC director of communications.

As the budget process proceeds during the first five or six months of 2011, the MCC’s advocacy priorities will focus on stressing the moral importance of such issues, in particular on assuring adequate dollars for Medicaid and that Family Independence Program grants and foster care payments and reimbursement rates not be cut, he said.

Also in the state budget, the MCC will seek to preserve the state’s Tuition Grant Program, which helps low-income families and students pay for tuition to private colleges and universities.

“Many of these students would be unable to attend without these grants, and our goal is to make sure the funding remains,” Maluchnik said.

Another concern is retention of the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit, which “helps to offset the disproportionate payroll taxes for low-income workers,” he continued.

In the area of pro-life advocacy, the MCC wants to ensure that no state dollars will be used to support abortion as the specifics of the operation of the state’s insurance exchange — as mandated by the federal health care reform act — are worked out, Maluchnik said.

And he added that the MCC will advocate for regulatory reform in the area of research on human embryos.

The conference also stands ready to oppose any attempt to remove Michigan’s historic ban on the death penalty, he said.

The MCC wants to see solid freedom-of-conscience protection for all healthcare workers, so that they are not threatened with loss of employment if they refuse to take part in abortions or other actions that violate pro-life principles. “We do not have adequate conscience protection in state law,” Maluchnik said.

Working for justice for students in non-public schools and for all students in the public school system, when it comes to state education funding, is yet another item on the MCC’s advocacy agenda, he added.