Michigan Proposal No. 4, State Department of Public Assistance Referendum (1938)

Michigan Proposal No. 4
Election date November 8, 1938
Topic Administrative organization and Public assistance programs
Status Defeated
Type Veto referendum	Origin Citizens

Michigan Proposal No. 4 was on the ballot as a veto referendum in Michigan on November 8, 1938. It was defeated.

A “yes” vote supported creating the State Department of Public Assistance to manage welfare and relief matters.

A “no” vote opposed creating the State Department of Public Assistance to manage welfare and relief matters.

Election results

Michigan Proposal No. 4
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		497,569	46.49%
No		572,756	53.51%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for Proposal No. 4 was as follows:

“

(Proposal No. 4) REFERENDUM ON ACT NO. 257 OF THE PUBLIC ACTS OF 1937, BEING AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE TRANSFER OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF CERTAIN EXISTING STATE PUBLIC WELFARE AND RELIEF MATTERS, SERVICES AND DUTIES TO THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ASSISTANCE CREATED BY SAID ACT, AND TO ABOLISH THE VARIOUS STATE DEPARTMENTS, BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, AND OFFICES SO TRANSFERRED. AN ACT to protect the welfare of the people of this state; to create a state department of public assistance, and to prescribe its powers and duties; to provide for the transfer to said department of the powers and duties affecting welfare matters now vested in certain other state boards, commissions, departments and officers, and to abolish the state boards, commissions, departments and offices the powers and duties of which are hereby transferred; to provide for the interstate transfer of dependents; to prescribe penalties for the violation of the provisions of this act; and to repeal all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act. The People of the State of Michigan enact: No. 4    Section 1. There is hereby created s state department of public assistance, hereinafter called the department, which shall possess the powers and perform the duties granted and conferred. Such department shall consist of a state public assistance commission hereinafter created, and of a director as its executive head, and of such assistants and employes as may be appointed or employed in such department. Such department shall have its executive office at Lansing and it shall be the duty of the board of state auditors to provide suitable office accommodation therefor.     Sec. 2. The administration of the powers and duties of the department shall be vested in a commission of five members to be known and designated as the "Michigan public assistance commission," hereinafter called the commission: Provided, That no member of the aforesaid commission shall be a member of any other commission or board, appointive or elective, state or federal. No person holding a position with any state institution or department shall be eligible to appointment to this commission. Members of the commission shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, for a term of four years each: Provided, That of the members first appointed, one shall be appointed for a term of one year, one for a term of two years, one for a term of three years, one for a term of four years, and one for a period (term) of five years. Members of the commission shall be appointed from citizen who possess and have demonstrated sincere interest, knowledge, and ability consistent with the responsibilities of the office, and not more than three of who shall be members of the same political party. Each member of the commission shall qualify by taking and filing with the secretary of state the constitutional oath of office and shall hold office until the appointment and qualification of his successor. Members of the commission may be removed by the governor for misfeasance, malfeasance or non-feasance in office, after hearing. Vacancies in the membership of the commission shall be filled for the expiration of the unexpired term, in the same manner as the original appointment. A majority of the members of the commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The commission shall meet on the call of the chairman, or on a written request to the chairman signed by three members of the commission, or at such times and places as shall be prescribed by the rules and regulations of the commission: Provided, That the commission shall hold not less than ten meetings each fiscal year, with an interval of not more than sixty days between any two meetings. The failure on the part of any member to attend three consecutive meetings of the commission, unless excused by a formal vote of the commission, may be treated by the governor as a resignation by such non-attending member, and the governor may appoint his successor. The commission shall annually designate one of its members to act as chairman and one of its members to act as vice chairman of the commission. Members of the commission shall be reimbursed for necessary travel and other expense, and shall be paid fifteen dollars per day when in actual session, to be paid in the same manner as expenses of other state officers are paid.     Sec. 3. The commission shall appoint and employ a directory of the department, hereinafter called the director, who shall be the executive officer of the department, and shall be responsible to the commission for the performance of his duties. The director shall act as secretary of the commission, and shall devote his entire time to the performance of the duties of his office. The director shall hold office during the pleasure of the commission. The director shall receive such annual salary as shall be appropriated by the legislature, together with his actual and necessary traveling and other expenses incurred in the discharge of his official duties, to be paid in the same manner as the salaries and expense of other state employes are paid.     Sec. 4. The commission shall appoint a deputy director, an executive head of each bureau or division of the department, and an executive head of each institution (including the Michigan children's institute) under the supervision and jurisdiction of the department. The director shall employ, having first obtained the approval of the commission, such assistants and employes for the department and, subject to the rules and regulations of the commission, incur such other expenses as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this act. The executive head of each institution (including the Michigan children's institute) shall be responsible for the employment of all assistants and employes thereof. The compensation of all such assistants and employes, and the number thereof, shall be within the appropriation made therefor by the legislature. Such assistants and employes shall receive their actual and necessary traveling and other expenses incurred in the discharge of their official duties. All salaries and expense shall be paid in the same manner as the salaries and expense of other state employes are paid.     Sec. 5. The commission shall adopt all rules and regulations governing the policies of the department, and the director, subject to such rules and regulations, shall be responsible for such executive duties as shall be assigned to him by the commission.     Sec. 6. The commission shall devise a seal, and the rules and regulations of the commission shall be published over the seal of the commission. Copies of all records and papers in the office of the department, certified by a duly authorized agent of the commission and authenticated by the seal of the commission, shall be evidence in all cases equally, and with the like effect, as the originals. A description of the seal, with an impression thereof, shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state. The commission shall be a body corporate, and is hereby authorized to lease any lands under its jurisdiction and to do any other act or thing necessary in carrying out the provisions of this act.     Sec. 7. Any member of the commission, or the director, may issue a subpoena requiring any person to appear before the commission or director, as the case may be, and be examined with reference to any matter within its jurisdiction and within the scope of the inquire or investigation being conducted by the said commission or director, and to produce any books, records or papers, pertinent to such inquiry. Any member of the commission, the director, or any duly authorized agent of the commission or director, may administer an oath to a witness in any matter before the commission or director, as the case may be. In case of disobedience of a subpoena, the commission or director may invoke the aid of the circuit court of the county in which the witness resides, or the circuit court of the county in which the inquiry is being held, in requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of books, papers and documents. Any circuit court of the state, within the jurisdiction of which any such inquiry is carried on, may, in case of contumacy or refusal to obey a subpoena, issue an order requiring such person to appear before said commission or director, as the case may be, and to produce books, records and papers if so order and give evidence touching the matter in question. Any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by such court as a contempt thereof.     Sec. 8. The commission is hereby authorized and empowered to create or abolish bureaus or divisions within the department for the economic and efficient administration of the work of the department, and to allocate and re-allocate their several functions and duties. The commission may create within the department a bureau or division of medical care; and if such bureau or division of medical care is created, the director, having first obtained the approval of the commission, shall appoint a properly qualified licensed doctor of medicine as the head thereof, which doctor shall at all times be subject to the control of the commission and director.     Sec. 9. The commission shall prescribe rules and regulations for the conduct of hearings within the department, and provide adequate procedure for a fair hearing of appeals and complaints, by any applicant for or recipient of assistance or service. Such hearings may be conducted by the director, or by any agent designated by the director, but shall be subject to a review by the commission, in case such review is requested in writing. All decisions of the commission shall be binding upon the county, city or district department of public welfare involved and shall be complied with by said department: Provided, That as to those forms of relief which are in no part financed by federal funds, the decision of such county, district or city department of public welfare as to the denial, granting, form and amount of such relief shall be final in the absence of abuse of discretion or bad faith, and that in respect to any dispute or disagreement between an applicant for or recipient of any such form of relief and the county, city or district department of public welfare relating to the denial, granting, form and amount of such relief the jurisdiction of the Michigan public assistance commission shall be limited to the fixing of reasonable minimum standards.      The commission may also, upon its own motion, review any decision of a county department of public welfare with respect to the granting of old age assistance, aid to dependent children, aid to the blind, as defined, in each case, in the laws of this state, or any other form of public aid or relief administered by said county department of public welfare, and may consider any application upon which a decision has not been made by the said county department within a reasonable time.     The commission may make such additional investigation as it may deem necessary, and shall make such decision as to the granting of assistance and the amount of assistance to be granted the applicant as in its opinion is justified and in conformity with the laws of this state.     Sec. 10. The department is hereby designated as the state agency to cooperate with the federal government in the administration of the provisions of title one, title four, part three of title five, and title ten of the social security act passed by the congress of the United States of America, approved August fourteen, nineteen hundred thirty-five, herein referred to as the "social security act," and any amendments thereto or supplemental thereof. The department is hereby authorized and directed to cooperate with the proper departments or agencies of the general government and with all other departments or agencies of the state and local governments, and to supervise the administration by local governmental departments or agencies of any plan or plans established by the state in cooperation with the federal government under the provisions of title one, title four, part three of title five, and title ten of the social security act, and any amendments thereto or supplemental thereof, and the rules and regulations issued thereunder and in compliance therewith. The department shall make such reports, in such form and containing such information, as may be required from time to tine under the provisions of the social security act, and shall comply with such requirements as may be made from time to time to assure the correctness and verification of such reports.     The department, with the approval of the governor, shall have power to cooperate with the federal government, or any of its agencies or instrumentalities, in handling the welfare and relief problems and needs of the people of this state, to the extent authorized by the laws of this state.     To such end, the commission shall have power to adopt any plan or plans required or desirable to participate in the distribution of federal moneys or the assistance of the federal government, and the commission shall have power to accept on behalf of the state of Michigan any allotment of federal moneys. The commission shall be authorized and empowered to adopt any rules and regulations and enter into any agreement or agreements with local units of government as may be necessary to enable the state of Michigan, or such local units, or both, to participate in any such plan or plans as said department may deem desirable for the welfare of the people of this state.     For the purpose of assuring full federal approval of the activities of the department and local units with respect to the operation of any such plan or plans, the commission and director shall comply with all federal requirements pertaining to methods and standards of administration. In the making of any rules and regulations with respect thereto, there shall be included such methods and standards of administration for the conduct of the work or local units, including the necessary supervision thereof, as may be required for the receipt of aid from the federal government.     Sec. 11. The state treasurer is hereby designated as the custodian of any and all moneys received from the federal government, as authorized in section ten of this act, and of any other moneys received from any other source, and such moneys shall be held and disbursed in accordance with the provisions of the plan or plans adopted, in conformity with the general accounting laws of this state; and such moneys are hereby appropriated for said purposes.     Sec. 12. The department is hereby authorized, subject to the approval of the attorney general, to enter into reciprocal agreements with corresponding state agencies of other states, regarding the interstate transportation of indigent persons, and to arrange with proper officials in this state for the acceptance, transfer and support of persons receiving any form of public aid or relief in other states in accordance with the terms of such reciprocal agreement; Provided, That this state shall not, nor shall any county or any county department of public welfare, in this state, be committed to the support of persons who the state department determines are not entitled to public support under the laws of this state. This section shall be so interpreted and construed as to effectuate its general purposes to make uniform the laws of such states as enact similar legislation.     Sec. 13. The department shall have and be vested with the following additional powers and duties:     (a) To allocate and distribute to the several county, city, and district departments of public welfare, as herein provided, subject to federal rules and regulations, if any, and in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the commission, moneys appropriated by the legislature or received from the federal government for the relief of destitution or unemployment within the state of Michigan, or any political subdivision thereof; for the granting of old age assistance, aid to dependent children, and aid to the blind and otherwise handicapped; for medical, dental, nursing, pharmaceutical, and burial relief; and for such other relief or welfare services as may be provided by law;     (b) To assist in the development of sound programs and standards of child welfare by public and private organization throughout the state; and provide a service of consultation and assistance to the juvenile division of the several probate courts, and with respect to the juvenile probation service of such courts; Provided, That this subsection will not interfere with the juvenile division of the several probate courts who maintain a probation service;     (c) To supervise and be responsible for the operation of the boys' vocation school at Lansing, and the girls' training school at Adrian, and supervise parolees therefrom;     (d) To supervise and be responsible for the operation of the Michigan children's institute at Ann Arbor and the Michigan employment institution for the blind, at Saginaw;     (e) To visit, inspect and license persons, societies, organizations, associations or corporations engaged in the business of receiving, maintaining or placing out children; boarding homes for children; and maternity and lying-in hospitals, in accordance with the laws of this state;     (f) To cooperate with and direct all persons, societies, organizations, associations or corporations concerned with programs relating to dependent, neglected, delinquent or handicapped children, children born out of wedlock, and other children in need of special care; Provided, That this subsection shall be so construed as not to interfere with the cooperation, supervision and programs of the juvenile division of the several probate courts, which have under their control a department for the supervision of persons, societies, organizations, associations, or corporations relating to dependent, neglected, delinquent or handicapped children;     (g) To inspect all privately owned and operated homes for aged people, including recipients of old age assistance, and report to the respective county departments of public welfare the findings in respect thereto and recommendations for the improvement of such homes for the safe-guarding of the interests of inmates in such homes; and wherever fraud or misrepresentation to secure money from inmates in such homes, or applicants for admission thereto, is discovered, to report such facts to the prosecuting attorney of the county where any such home is located, or to the attorney general of the state, for further investigation and prosecution;     (h) To inspect county infirmaries and places of detention for juveniles for the purpose of obtaining facts in any manner pertaining to the usefulness and proper management of the said institutions and of promoting proper, efficient, and humane administration thereof. Any reasonable order of the commission fixing minimum standards of sanitation, fire protection, food and comfortable lodging, may be enforced through mandamus or injunction in the circuit court of the county where the county infirmary or place of detention for the juveniles, as the case may be, is located, through proper proceedings institutes by the attorney general on behalf of the commission;     (i) To assist other departments, agencies and institutions of the federal and state governments, when so requested, in performing services in conformity with the purposes of this act;     (j) To collect and compile statistics, make special fact-finding studies and public reports in reference to the field of welfare, including a biennial report as provided in section sixteen;     (k) To arbitrate and decide disputed and contested claims between two or more counties on account of settlement of a person or family given or in need of any form of public aid or relief; determine and declare the county of settlement in any instance when so requested or on the department's own volition; Provided, That all decisions and determinations made under this subsection shall be bind upon the several county departments of public welfare;     (l) To administer or supervise such relief or welfare functions as are hereby or may be vested in the department by law, and provide for the progressive codification of the laws governing relief and welfare problems.     Sec. 14. The commission may receive on behalf of the state of Michigan any grant, devise, bequest, donation, gift or assignment of money, bonds or choses in action, or any property, real or personal, and accept the same, so that the right and title to the same shall pass to the state of Michigan. All such bonds, notes or choses in action, or the proceeds thereof when collected, and all other property or things of value so received by the commission shall be used for the purposes set forth in the grant, devise, bequest, donation, gift or assignment; Provided, That such purposes shall be within the powers conferred on said commission. Whenever it shall be necessary to protect or assert the right or title to any property so received or derived as aforesaid, or to collect or reduce into possession any bond, note, bill or chose in action, the attorney general is directed to take the necessary and proper proceedings and to bring suit in the name of the commission on behalf of the state of Michigan in any court of competent jurisdiction, state or federal, and to prosecute all such suits.     Sec. 15. The commission shall prepare for submission to the budget director the estimated needs and costs to operate the department, including the Michigan children's institute and the several institutions under the jurisdiction of the department, in accordance with the requirements of the laws of this state.     Sec. 16. The commission shall prepare and on or before the fifteenth day of December preceding each regular session of the legislature make a report to the governor of the state, setting for the c=operation of the department during the period covered by said report, and containing any findings and recommendation of said commission. Such report shall also be submitted to the legislature.     Sec. 17. The commission shall provide for the distribution of such moneys as shall be appropriated by the legislature for general public relief hitherto known as unemployment relief and poor relief, including medical care other than hospitalization, to the several county departments of public welfare, taking into consideration the need for relief and the financial resources of the respective counties on the basis of showings made to the commission, which distribution to each county, city or district department of public welfare shall be in an amount not less than that expended by such department for general public relief, exclusive of state and federal funds, during the previous month. Such moneys may be used to defray administrative expenses. Medical care as used in this section shall be deemed to include home and office attendance by physicians, dental service, bed-side nursing service in the home, pharmaceutical service, and the burial of the bodies of deceased indigent persons. Insofar as practicable the physician-patient relationships shall be maintained; and normal relationships between the recipients of dental, nursing, pharmaceutical, and burial service and the personas furnishing these services shall be maintained; Provided, That nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting any city physician's or city pharmacist's office established under any city charter.     The commission shall provide for the allocation and distribution of such moneys as shall be appropriated by the legislature or received from the federal government, for old age assistance, aid to dependent children, and aid to the blind to the several county departments of public welfare, to be disbursed by said departments in accordance with the laws of this state.     The state treasurer shall have the power, subject to the approval of the state administrative board, to transfer available money from the state appropriations made for any of the several forms of public aid and relief administered under the jurisdiction of the state department of public assistance, to any other of the funds so administered.     Sec. 18. The powers and duties vested by law in the board of corrections and charities and transferred to the state welfare commission, in the state welfare department, in the director of the state welfare department, in the state welfare commission, in the state corrections commission created by act number one hundred sixty-three of the public acts of nineteen hundred twenty-one, and in the state emergency welfare relief commission, are hereby transferred to and vested in the state department of public assistance herein created. Immediately on the taking effect of this act, the departments, boards, commission and officers whose powers and duties are hereby transferred shall be abolished, and, whenever reference thereto is made in any law of the state, reference shall be deemed to be intended to be made to the state department of public assistance. Any hearing or other proceedings pending before any such department, board, commission or officer shall not be abated but shall be deemed to be transferred to the department provided for in section one of this act, and shall be conducted and determined thereby in accordance with the provisions of the law governing such hearing or proceeding,     All records, files, and other papers belonging to any of the departments, boards, commissions and offices, the duties of which are hereby transferred to the state department of public assistance, shall be turned over to said department and shall be continued as a part of the records and files thereof.     All orders and rules and regulations made by any such department, board, commission or officer, the duties of which are hereby transferred to the state department of public assistance, shall continue in effect at the pleasure of the state department of public assistance, acting within its lawful authority.     Sec. 19. All of the powers and duties prescribed in any law of this state with respect to any subject matter vested in the state department of public assistance shall be transferred to and be vested in said department.     Sec. 20. Any officer, superintendent or employe of any institution, home, hospital, or other facility subject to inspection under the provisions of this act, who shall refuse to admit any member of the commission, or any duly authorized agent of the department, acting within the scope of his authority, for the purpose of inspect, or who shall refuse or neglect to furnish any information required by the commission, or said duly authorized agent, acting within the scope of his authority, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished as provided in the laws of this state.     Any person who shall fail to comply with any of the provisions of the is act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished as provided in the laws of this state.     Sec. 21. Act number one hundred sixty-three of the public acts of nineteen hundred twenty-one, as amended, being sections eight thousand one hundred fifty-nine to eight thousand one hundred seventy-nine, inclusive, of the compiled laws of nineteen hundred twenty-nine; act number one hundred ninety-two of the public acts of eighteen hundred seventy-one, as amended, being sections eight thousand one hundred eight to eight thousand one hundred eighty-nine, inclusive, of the compiled laws of nineteen hundred twenty-nine; and all other acts and parts of acts only insofar as inconsistent with the provisions of this act shall be deemed to be superseded and repealed.     Sec. 22. This act shall take effect on the first day of January, nineteen hundred thirty-eight; Provided. That the governor, by executive order or orders, may make such provision for preliminary organization preparatory to the establishment of the state department of public assistance, as provided herein, as he shall deem desirable.     Sec. 23. Should any provision or section of this act be held to be invalid for any reason, such holding shall not be construed as affecting the validity of any remaining portion of such section or of this act, it being the legislative intent that this act shall stand, notwithstanding the invalidity of any such provision or section. Shall said Act No. 257 be approved? Yes No

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Full Text

The full text of this measure is available here.

Path to the ballot

See also: Signature requirements for ballot measures in Michigan

A veto referendum is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that asks voters whether to uphold or repeal an enacted law. This type of ballot measure is also called statute referendum, popular referendum, people's veto, or citizen's veto. There are 23 states that allow citizens to initiate veto referendums.

In Michigan, the number of signatures required for a veto referendum is equal to 5% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. Signatures for veto referendums are due 90 days following the final adjournment of the legislative session at which the targeted bill was passed. A simple majority vote is required for voter approval.

See also

1938 Measures

• 1938 Measures
• Public assistance programs on the ballot
• Administrative organization on the ballot
• 1938 legislative sessions

Michigan

• Michigan ballot measures
• Michigan ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• University of Michigan Press, "The Initiative and Referendum in Michigan," 1940