Summary — HB 4340 (2025): Eligibility for Social Welfare Act services limited to U.S. citizens and “qualified aliens”
Status and key dates
- Bill number: HB 4340
- Sponsor: Rep. Rylee Linting (with multiple co-sponsors)
- Filed: March 11, 2025; introduced April 17, 2025
- House action: Passed House (given immediate effect) — third reading/passage on May 1, 2025 (Roll Call #77 Yeas 63 / Nays 43).
- Current: Transmitted to the other chamber and referred to the Committee on Government Operations (as of May 6, 2025).
- Statutory change: Adds section 1d to the Social Welfare Act (1939 PA 280; MCL 400.1 et seq.).
Main purpose
- To restrict who may receive services, grants, or participate in programs established under Michigan’s Social Welfare Act by limiting eligibility to U.S. citizens and “qualified aliens,” except where federal law provides otherwise.
Key provisions
- New statutory text (proposed MCL 400.1d):
- Subsection (1): “Except as otherwise provided under federal law, an individual shall not receive services or grants or participate in any program under this act unless the individual is a United States citizen or a qualified alien.”
- Subsection (2): Defines “qualified alien” by reference to federal law — 8 U.S.C. §1641 (the federal definition used for many benefit-eligibility determinations).
- No additional implementation or enforcement details are included in the bill text.
Who would be affected
- Primary: Non‑U.S. citizens who are not “qualified aliens” as defined in 8 U.S.C. §1641 — they would be barred from receiving services, grants, or program participation under the Social Welfare Act except where federal law provides exceptions.
- Secondary: State agencies and local entities that administer programs under the Social Welfare Act (e.g., MDHHS), providers of services, households with mixed immigration-status members, and children in the child welfare system.
- Note: Companion legislation (HB 4341) would impose a similar restriction for programs under the State Housing Development Authority Act.
Fiscal and programmatic impacts (from House Fiscal Agency analysis)
- Fiscal impact is described as indeterminate overall.
- For many major federally governed programs (Medicaid, TANF, SNAP, SSI), federal law already limits eligibility for non‑legal residents; the bill likely would have no additional fiscal impact for those programs.
- Medicaid: Non‑legal residents may receive emergency Medicaid only in limited circumstances (EMTALA/emergency services).
- Child welfare: Title IV‑E federal funding is available only for U.S. citizens or qualified non‑citizens; state practice already includes protocols for non‑citizen children removed from homes. The bill’s net fiscal effect on child welfare is unclear.
- Housing (HB 4341): Not expected to have fiscal impact on the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.
Stakeholder positions (committee hearing)
- Neutral: Michigan Catholic Conference.
- Opposed: ACLU of Michigan; Michigan Immigrant Rights Center; Michigan League for Public Policy; Rural Caucus; We the People; Rising Voices.
Points to note
- The bill explicitly defers to federal law where federal statutes or regulations authorize benefits to non‑citizens; federal preemption and existing federal eligibility rules will strongly influence which services remain available to non‑citizens.
- The statutory change is narrow in language but may affect administrative practice and access to state‑administered programs to the extent those programs are funded or structured outside strict federal eligibility rules.
