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SB 790

An Act amending the act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known as the Right-to-Know Law, in agency response, providing for vexatious requesters.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Michele Brooks and 5 co-sponsors

Creates the Home Help Caregiver Council in DHHS to enable collective bargaining for individual home help caregivers, while preserving participant choice and excluding agency staff.

Laid on the table (Pursuant to Senate Rule 9)
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Bill Summary · SB 790

SB 790 — Home Help Caregiver Council Act (Public Act 144 of 2024) — Summary

Status: Enacted (Public Act No. 144, approved Oct 8, 2024)
Subject: Health — home help program; labor/collective bargaining

Purpose / Intent

SB 790 creates a new, statutory Home Help Caregiver Council inside the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and establishes a narrowly defined collective-bargaining framework for "individual home help caregivers." The law aims to provide governance, supports, and a bargaining vehicle for caregivers who deliver home- and community‑based personal care services so that workforce and programmatic issues (pay, training, dispute resolution, etc.) can be bargained and administered consistently while preserving program oversight and participant choice.

Key provisions

  • Creates the Home Help Caregiver Council (the Council) within DHHS with full powers and duties as stated in the act.
  • Definitions:
    • "Individual home help caregiver" — a caregiver selected by a participant (or participant’s representative) who provides individual home help services (activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living) in a home/community setting. Excludes caregivers employed by agency providers, integrated care organizations, or similar entities.
    • Clarifies scope of covered services (ADLs and IADLs such as bathing, dressing, meal prep, laundry, medication administration, etc.).
  • Council governance:
    • Board of directors (7 members): DHHS director (or designee); director of Labor & Economic Opportunity (or designee); director of Treasury (or designee); two members appointed to represent participants/representatives; two members appointed to represent nonprofit advocacy organizations for older adults/people with disabilities.
    • Appointment terms, staggered initial terms, quorum and public‑meeting requirements (Open Meetings Act), adoption of bylaws, public records obligations (compliance with FOIA).
    • Financial/accounting requirements and ability to contract/appoint a fiscal intermediary for payroll and related functions (in various bill versions).
  • Collective bargaining designation:
    • Individual home help caregivers are designated (by this act) as public employees solely for the limited purpose of collective bargaining under Michigan’s public employment relations framework. The designation expressly does not make caregivers state employees for other purposes (civil service, broader employment law, etc.).
    • The Council (or its board/representative) functions as the employer entity for bargaining with a recognized bargaining representative for caregivers; caregivers may be represented by labor organizations.
    • The Council must maintain a list of caregiver contact information and provide it to organizations seeking to represent caregivers.
    • The act provides for a collective bargaining process for terms and conditions of employment (and related dispute resolution mechanisms such as mediation/arbitration are addressed in companion or implementing provisions).
  • Participant protections and exclusions:
    • The structure is intended not to interfere with participant choice — participants still select caregivers; caregivers providing services through agencies or integrated care organizations are not covered by the caregiver designation.
  • Relationship to PERA / companion legislation:
    • SB 790 works in tandem with companion changes to the Public Employment Relations Act (PERA) (e.g., SB 791 in related analyses) to allow legislative designation of groups as public employees solely for collective bargaining.

Who is affected

  • Primary: individual home help caregivers who provide self-directed/home help services (now eligible for collective bargaining through the Council structure).
  • Secondary: DHHS (administration and appointments), participants and their representatives (retain selection rights), advocacy nonprofits, labor organizations, and third‑party fiscal/payroll intermediaries.
  • Agency providers and caregivers employed through agencies or integrated care organizations are explicitly excluded.

Implementation / timeline

  • Enacted as Public Act No. 144 (approved Oct 8, 2024). The act’s effective date follows implementation language in the enrolled bill (see PA for specific effective-date clause). DHHS is required to staff/stand up the Council, adopt bylaws, hold public meetings, and proceed with bargaining-related responsibilities consistent with timelines and rules set by the act and by related PERA changes.

Potential impacts / considerations

  • Enables collective bargaining for a large class of home‑based caregivers while attempting to preserve participant control and program integrity.
  • Shifts certain employer‑role functions (for bargaining) to a state-created Council and may create administrative responsibilities (list maintenance, bargaining coordination, possible payroll/fiscal arrangements).
  • Fiscal effects depend on negotiated agreements (wages, benefits) and administrative costs; implementing legislation or budget actions may be required for funding.

For more detail, consult the enacted text of Public Act 144 of 2024 and related PERA amendments and implementing guidance from DHHS.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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