Rep. Cam Cavitt on Tuesday blasted Democrats’ new laws that let unions skim dues from Michiganders who provide in-home care for their loved ones.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer this afternoon signed Senate Bills 790 and 791 to falsely reclassify direct care workers as public employees so the Service Employees International Union can pressure them onto the union’s membership rolls and enrich itself off caregivers’ paychecks. Cavitt lambasted Democrats’ move to reward their political allies, noting that a bipartisan majority of Michigan voters rejected the scheme back in 2012.

“Democrats continue to use their total control of state government to hand out favors to their political allies — robbing the people of Michigan to reward their own friends,” said Cavitt, R-Cheboygan. “In their latest self-dealing move, Democrats are giving union bosses the green light to cut the paychecks of the hard-working Michiganders caring for their loved ones’ essential daily needs. Seniors and people with disabilities are grateful their family members can support them, and caregivers should keep the income they earn for their work. The people of our state stood up for family caregivers and rejected this corrupt scheme in 2012, but Democrat politicians are violating the will of the voters and disregarding the needs of Michigan families.”

SBs 790 and 791 apply to caregivers reimbursed through Michigan’s Home Help program. Under the program, Medicaid pays for in-home care for certain individuals with disabilities and seniors who need assistance with activities of daily living, such as eating, dressing, moving, and medical care. Most of these caregivers are family members or close friends of recipients. The AARP raised concerns about the bills, urging the Legislature to exempt the state’s 30,000 individual, family caregivers, but the Democrats blocked a House Republican amendment to that effect.

In the 2000s and early 2010s, the SEIU confiscated more than $34 million from direct care workers under a similar scheme before Gov. Rick Snyder and the Republican Legislature dismantled it. The SEIU attempted to reinstate the dues skim with a 2012 ballot initiative, but 56% of voters rejected the ploy. The SEIU paid $200,000 to settle an alleged campaign finance violation for its secretive campaign tactics.

The new laws, which passed the Democrat-majority Legislature along party lines, would let SEIU representatives give a presentation at mandatory orientation sessions for all caregivers. The unions would be given free rein to pressure caregivers to join the union and give up part of their paychecks, but they will not have to inform caregivers of their First Amendment right as public employees to decline union membership.