January 06, 2006
January 6, 2006
Granholm Says Nothing More Important than Safety of Our Children
LANSING – In her weekly radio address, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today highlighted new Child Protect Laws that she called for and signed into law in September and that took effect January 1. The laws are aimed at protecting children from sexual predators while at school or day care and strengthening reporting requirements for convicted sex offenders.
“Nothing is more important than the safety of our children,” Granholm said. “This New Year, law enforcement officers, school officials, and parents in Michigan are armed with new laws to keep sexual predators away from our children, and to keep our children safe from harm.”
On January 1 the bipartisan legislation took effect to help ensure that sex offenders are nowhere near our children; to engage citizens to be vigilant about protecting our kids; and to put new penalties in place that show sex offenders we mean business.
The measures include:
creating a 1,000 foot safety zone around Michigan schools, shielding students and prohibiting sexual predators from working in, near, or loitering outside school buildings;
requiring criminal background checks for those who operate group day care homes and child care and day care centers; and,
requiring people already on the state’s Sex Offender Registry to notify authorities immediately upon relocating, or face stiff penalties for failing to do so.
“In 2006 we are working to make children in Michigan safer than ever before,” Granholm said. “I want to applaud the Legislature for taking quick action on my proposals to put these important laws on the books.”
The Governor’s weekly radio address is released each Friday at 10:00 a.m. and may be heard on broadcast stations across that state through an affiliation with the Michigan Association of Broadcasters. The address will also be available on the Governor’s Website on Mondays as a podcast for general distribution to personal MP3 players and home computers.
Broadcasters Note: Governor Granholm’s radio address can be accessed through Sunday evening exclusively through the Members Only page of the Michigan Association of Broadcasters website.
Publishers Note: The text of today’s address is attached.
