LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Bills advancing in Michigan's Legislature would make 20 to 30 more prisoners eligible to be paroled for medical reasons.
The House passed the legislation overwhelmingly Tuesday and sent it to the Senate. The number of affected inmates could grow as the prison population ages.
The measures would replace the current medical parole process with one for the "medically frail."
Inmates convicted of first-degree murder would not be eligible, nor would anyone convicted of a crime punishable by life without parole.
The state could save up to $948,000 annually if the 20 to 30 prisoners were paroled, housed in nursing homes and their care was covered by the federal-state Medicaid program.
Similar bills cleared the House in 2016 and 2018 but died in the Senate.
