Michigan civil rights department would expand under Whitmer budget

LANSING − The Michigan Department of Civil Rights, often overlooked in state budget discussions, would get more money and 35% more staffing in Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's 2024 recommended budget, as it works to clear a lengthy backlog of discrimination complaints.

Whitmer's budget recommends $5.7 million from the general fund to create three new enforcement teams within the department charged with investigating racism and other acts of discrimination and ensuring equal protection of civil rights.

The existence of the Civil Rights Commission the department supports is guaranteed in the 1963 constitution, unlike most state agencies.

Under the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, the commission is charged with investigating alleged discrimination based on religion, race, color or national origin, genetic information, sex, age, marital status, height, weight, arrest record, and physical and mental disability. Since 2018, it has also sought to ensure that members of the LGBTQ community are not discriminated against.

But the agency saw little or no growth in its budget or staffing during the lengthy recession under former Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm, or under her successor, former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder. The department had $11.7 million in general fund support and 125 full-time employees in 2010, at the end of Granholm's second term, compared with $14.98 million in ongoing general fund support and 115 employees this year. The overall increase was below the rate of inflation.

But now, Whitmer wants to boost ongoing general fund support to $23.7 million and add 40 employees, for a total budget of $29.5 million. That's up 36% from this year's total funding, which included nearly $3.7 million in one-time funding aimed at clearing the complaint backlog.

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"For too long, the Department of Civil Rights has been a department without any rights," the Rev. Wendell Anthony, president of the Detroit branch of the NAACP, said Friday.

"This is great news," and with activity by hate groups and white supremacists on the rise, it is "a key time for the department to assert itself and get back into the game of civil rights," Anthony said.

Whitmer's recommendation, made amid a record budget surplus composed largely of one-time money, is subject to approval by the Legislature, where Democrats hold slim majorities in each chamber.

Backlogged complaints, which the department defines as ones on file for a year or longer, now total 1,423, said department spokeswoman Vicki Levengood. That's a significant improvement from March 2020, when there were 2,300 such cases, she said.

Included in the extra staff recommended by Whitmer are four full-time employees to enhance disability compliance and training efforts and reduce complaints in that area and educate people about the Americans with Disabilities Act.

She also budgeted $1 million for a system to fully automate intake and case management and eliminate time-consuming interactions by mail, phone and email.

The department's 2024 budget also includes $161,000 for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Summit focusing on health, well-being and equity for people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds in Michigan. A particular focus of the summit will be racial health disparities, especially maternal and infant health, according to budget documents.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Civil rights department would grow by one third under Whitmer budget