24 | OCTOBER 31 • 2019 Jews in the D continued from page 22 HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CENTER FUNDING According to the gover- nor’ s office, the Republican budget tried to gut funding for discrimination inves- tigations by diverting $1.5 million of the Department of Civil Rights budget to three private museums: the Arab American Museum in Dearborn, the Wright Museum in Detroit and the Holocaust Memorial Center. Whitmer restored funding for discrimination investi- gations through the State Administrative Board. By doing so, she stripped the funding from each of the museums, resulting in a $500,000 deficit for each, which may end their ability to collaborate on traveling exhib- its designed to improve race relations as they did last year. “It’ ll be very difficult to continue the programs for the coming year without the funding, ” HMC CEO Rabbi Eli Mayerfeld told Bridge Magazine. “The funding really was the catalyst that made these opportunities happen. ” According to Berman, “This is fake news. My understanding is [Republicans] actually increased the department’ s budget by 1.2 percent. We didn’ t try to gut discrimination investigations at all. ” Democrats counter that Republicans defunded por- tions of the Department of Civil Rights budget in response to the creation of a new Hate Crimes Unit put in place earlier this year by Attorney General Dana Nessel, which Republicans said could open the door to harassment of those with con- servative beliefs. Senate Appropriations Chairman Jim Stamas, R-Midland, told Bridge Magazine the $1.5 million budget shift wasn’ t an attempt to punish the department but rather to provide “sustainable” support for the institutions. Moss says the state needs both: a “robustly funded bud- get to investigate hate crimes” and a well-funded Holocaust Memorial Center “that edu- cates what can happen when hate is left unchecked. ” According to FBI statistics, hate crimes were up 14 per- cent in Michigan in 2017, with 456 incidents. The Michigan Department of Civil Rights fields about 2,000 civil rights complaints a year. “ As the only Jewish state senator, I feel a great amount of stress, ” said Moss, who recently passed a state reso- lution naming Oct. 27, the anniversary of the Tree of Life shooting, a day rededicated to combating anti-Semitism. “I’ ve been assured by the governor that when Republicans come back to the negotiation table, this will be addressed. ” Whitmer left a $100 place- holder for each of the muse- ums in the budget, giving lawmakers an opportunity to restore funding during negotiations. According to Berman, who is also Jewish, Republicans are open to doing so. Moss urges constituents to reach out to their legislators and urge them to pass sup- plemental spending bills. “The louder our voices are the more pressure there is to act,” he said. Mayerfeld Let Old Friends be your Michigan-Florida Connection Keyes Real Estate Estate Property Sales from Listing to Clean-Out! BUY • SELL • I NVEST Throughout South Florida, Including Boca, Boynton, Delray, Broward and Miami-Dade Counties Nina Spinner-Sands NinaSpinner-Sands@keyes.com (954) 290-8293 Rita Morse RitaMorse@keyes.com (305) 609-7559 Say Shalom To New Customers! Advertise in The Detroit Jewish News. Email Keith Farber today kfarber@renmedia.us or call 248.351.5107 Steven E. Stein, M.D. Call us and make your appointment today A Big Thanks! Once again our Patient Appreciation Event on October 10th was a HUGE success! Thank you to everyone who participated and took the time to attend! If you were unable to attend, watch for our upcoming Cyber Sale on December 3rd! Don’ t let the holidays catch you off guard, start your savings now.