June 7, 1996

Legislative Week in Review

• Michigan’s legislative chambers raced toward summer adjournment a week ahead of their original schedule and called it a wrap at 4:00 a.m. Friday morning. Lawmakers completed almost everything (see the next item) on their platter and will return to regular session in September. Roundup will resume weekly publication at that time.
• Legislators return to the capitol for at least one day on July 2, however, trying to resolve the thorny issue of court reorganization, solutions for which have so far been elusive and divisive. Controversial provisions eliminating Detroit Recorder’s Court and redistributing some current Wayne County court funding outstate (HB 5158) squeaked through the Senate 19–17, but the House declined to concur, sending the measure to conference committee.
• In the session’s waning hours, the legislative chambers agreed on a 65-mile-per-hour speed limit on most state freeways. Some 170 miles of roads considered dangerous will be limited to 55 mph, and 70 mph will be allowed in five designated test zones. The test stretches will let vacation travelers put pedal to the metal in August, September, and October, with police and highway officials making subsequent recommendations on higher speed limits statewide.
• The long-discussed prospect of a so-called arts millage for southeast Michigan advanced this week, with Senate passage of SB 1053. The measure would permit metropolitan Detroit residents to vote on a property tax increase earmarked for arts and cultural activities, including theaters, orchestras, museums, and zoos.
• Anyone want to vote against a new, bipartisan Legislative Ethics Commission to promote cleaner election campaigns? We didn’t think so: The House was unanimous in supporting creation of the eight-member panel specified in HB 5560. The four legislative and four public members are to draft a new ethics code for lawmakers and their staffs by next January.

Political News

• Susy Heintz’s fledgling "Bounce Bonior" campaign is in need of a fast rebound. In a partisan deadlock, the State Board of Canvassers failed to certify of the former state GOP director’s candidacy for the August primary ballot—she wants to challenge Mt. Clemons Democrat David Bonior for his 10th Congressional District seat. In a 2–2 tie, the canvassing board nixed signatures collected by Heintz’s campaign manager on ground that he is not a district resident, as is required by law. Further muddying the waters is the matter of 89 signatures apparently mislaid within the canvassers’ office, although copies subsequently have been provided. Heintz’s attorneys are filing suit in the court of appeals.
• If you add Detroit industrialist Max Fisher, Amway founder Richard DeVos, and Republican fund-raiser extraordinaire Heinz Prechter, what do you get? Hopefully, $5 million, according to GOP strategists planning the $1,000-per-ticket Cobo Hall dinner in next month, just ahead of the Republican national convention. According to the Detroit Free Press, plans call for GOP presidential nominee-to-be Senator Bob Dole to be joined at the event by former presidents George Bush and Gerald Ford.
• State Rep. Willis Bullard (R-Milford) moves to the Senate this week, after an easy victory in the race to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Sen. David Honigman.
• No one has said it was cheap, but the American Institute of Architects has pronounced it beautiful. Renovations to Michigan’s capitol earned the AIA’s Honor Award, its highest recognition, at an award ceremony held this week in the capitol rotunda, locus of the $54 million restoration completed in 1992.
• Engler Veepstakes Watch: This week’s buzz was provided by Bob Dole himself at a luncheon in the heart of Macomb County, where he praised the governor’s transformation of Michigan from "a poster child for the rust belt," into "a growth model for the nation."