Advocacy Day 2025 is March 12, and this year’s topic is the crisis in care resulting from the 2019 auto no-fault insurance changes in Michigan. Register by February 23 to reserve a spot to meet with your state legislators.
JAMES DEATON
Content Editor
The Michigan Conference announces Advocacy Day 2025, to be held Wednesday, March 12, in Lansing. Once again, Central United Methodist Church will be our home base across the street from the State Capitol. This year’s topic focuses on modifications to state auto insurance laws enacted in 2019 that have created a crisis in access to care.
Registration is now open. Click the button below to access the registration page. Register by Sunday, February 23, to reserve a time to meet with your senator and representative. This will also ensure that you have lunch. The Zoom link, provided upon registration, will be used for two upcoming trainings on February 24 and March 3.
This year’s Advocacy Day is being offered on a sliding scale. A fee of $30 per person is recommended, and includes refreshments, lunch, and materials. Additional funds will be used for future Advocacy Days.
Following the success of the Michigan Conference’s 2023 and 2024 Advocacy Days, which dealt with gun violence prevention and improving mental health access, respectively, conference leadership hopes that Michigan United Methodists are growing in their faith-filled confidence in speaking up for justice advocacy matters affecting the people they love here in Michigan.
On average, six people suffer serious injuries in crashes on Michigan roads every single day. Driving or riding in a car is likely the riskiest activity people engage in on a daily basis.
Lawmakers passed legislation in 2019 that changed Michigan’s longstanding laws that protected people seriously injured in a vehicle crash by providing coverage regardless of who was at fault. Unfortunately, because of these changes in law, Michigan drivers must select from Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage options that can be confusing and have terrible consequences when a vehicular crash causes serious injury requiring long-term care.
Available care for survivors has become drastically reduced and is often unavailable. As a result, seriously injured Michiganders are being stripped of their inherent worth and dignity and even dying. Faith leaders have been asking state policymakers to resolve this humanitarian crisis, amplifying the concerns of medical professionals.
Our Advocacy Day will focus on two pieces of legislation that would (1) provide sustainable reimbursement rates for medical providers and (2) increase the number of hours that family caregivers can be reimbursed. This is a bipartisan and moral issue. The facts are clear, but legislation to correct the 2019 laws has yet to pass. We believe bringing people of faith together will help raise awareness and get this done.
What Can You Do Now?
- Ask friends to join you for Advocacy Day and get prepared by reviewing all the materials on the Advocacy Day home page. Click to go to the home page. On Advocacy Day, there will be worship at Central UMC, opportunities to volunteer in various supporting roles, pray silently in the Rotunda, tour the Capitol, and more. A new afternoon session led by the Michigan Conference Board of Justice has been created for those wanting to meet with other justice seekers on critical issues at the national level, such as immigration and LGBTQ matters. Click to learn more.
- Research the topic and think about people with a story to tell. Review the materials on the Advocacy Day home page. Watch the 30-minute lunch and learn. Watch this 4-minute video, which explores the auto no-fault crisis and those behind the legislative changes impacting Michiganders. Examine this chart comparing the various types of insurance coverage alongside Michigan’s auto no-fault unlimited/lifetime PIP coverage. This resource was created to help drivers and families make crucial decisions when purchasing insurance. Do you know anyone impacted by current Michigan laws who has a valuable story to tell? If so, email the Advocacy Day team at Advocacy-Day@michiganumc.org.
- Make cars out of paper plates for an art display on the lawn of the State Capitol. Click to download simple instructions. The cars will represent all of us who take this risk each day, as well as those impacted by car crashes. Be as creative as you like with your car (but please refrain from using glitter). We encourage you to add one or more of the following elements: (1) Band-Aids representing healing and hope following car crashes, (2) hearts symbolizing love and care, (3) names of the people you transport in your car each day, whom you want to be able to receive care after a catastrophic crash, and (4) names of loved ones who were either injured or killed in a car crash (first names only, please). Mail them to the church beforehand or bring them with you on Advocacy Day. Here is the church’s mailing address: Central UMC, 215 N. Capitol Ave., Lansing, MI 48933.
- Find out who your state senators and representatives are so you can be prepared to write personal letters to them and possibly meet them on Advocacy Day. Find your state representative on this web page. Find your state senator on this web page. You’ll obtain their contact information, including addresses and phone numbers. Visit their website and learn about their background and what they are passionate about. Pay attention to how they’ve voted on previous legislation.
- Think about ways your congregation can join in support of Advocacy Day. Consider planning a worship service in advance where you bless letters to legislators and paper cars being sent and commission those attending Advocacy Day.
Last Updated on February 19, 2025