May 31, 1996

Legislative Week in Review

• The much-discussed revamping of the Friend of the Court system slid easily through the House this week in the form of a 13-bill package that mostly passed on unanimous votes. The bills tighten oversight of child support collection and visitation orders; other provisions include
  • providing custodial and noncustodial parents equal access to their children’s medical and school records;
  • making it a felony for parents to falsely report child abuse;
  • adding a person’s child-support payment history to his/her consumer-credit report; and
  • statistically compiling complaints about visitation-order violations.
• A unanimous Senate vote on a juvenile justice bill would create a boot camp for youthful offenders. HB 4723 mandates creation of at least one such facility, under the aegis of the Family Independence Agency, where troublesome teens will receive military-type discipline and exercise for terms of 90 to 180 days.
• Michigan will lose its status as one of only six states without a cigarette stamp, under a bill passed this week in the House. HB 5662 would require wholesalers to add the tax stamp to each pack of cigarettes sold in the state and would double the tax collection fee, to two percent. Supporters hope the measure will help enforce the state’s cigarette tax, which is the nation’s highest. Detractors claim that the projected increased revenue will be offset by higher administrative costs and more smuggling.
• In a triumph of legislative preventive medicine, the House this week passed two measures banning from Michigan events that haven’t happened here yet. Passage of SB 937 and HB 5662 outlaw same-sex marriage in the state and refuse to recognize gay/lesbian unions legally performed in other states. Same-sex marriage ceremonies have no legal standing in any of the United States at present, although Hawaii’s supreme court is expected to rule on their legality in that state this year. Michigan law currently also bans marriages between first cousins, but the state does recognize the legal unions of first cousins married in other states. Among the party-line defections on both sides was House Speaker Paul Hillegonds (R-Holland) who went on record with, "If two people of the same sex want to have a stable relationship, I’m not sure we should get in the way of that." The measures passed the Senate last week, and Governor Engler is expected to sign them.
• The lower chamber’s second instance of preemptive prevention came with passage of HB 5889, the so-called partial-birth abortion ban. Opponents contend that the practice never has been conducted in Michigan and the legislation is therefore gratuitous, election-year, anti-abortion saber rattling. Supporters counter that if the procedure were performed, it would be more dangerous to the health of women than any other abortion procedure, and thus licensing sanctions against physicians performing the procedure are warranted.

Political News

• Engler Veepstakes Watch: Michigan’s governor took President Clinton to task last week for "political pandering of the worst kind." National GOP leaders had tapped Engler to record the five-minute radio address. Known for his strong stand on welfare, Engler called disingenuous Clinton’s failure to endorse Republican-led welfare reforms.
• Metropolitan Detroit topped the nation in exporting manufactured goods in 1995. Its $27.5 billion in exports—reflecting the robust automobile industry—edges Detroit ahead of such other commercial centers as New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Jose, which rank second through fifth, respectively.