September 20, 1996

Legislative & Political Week in Review

• Driving home a point on auto safety for teens, the House and Senate this week adopted a tough new approach to granting initial driving privileges, and the governor announced this morning on WJR radio that he will sign the bill. The role and responsibility of parents will increase: to gain their restricted license, teen drivers will have to rack up at least 50 hours of driving time in the presence of a parent or authorized adult. To receive their unrestricted license, Michigan adolescents will have to wait an extra year—the magic age will be bumped to 17 from 16—and pass a road test, something not required since 1980. The bill (HB 4763) also releases schools from the mandate of providing driver education. A $75 voucher will be provided to those students whose districts drop the training; the voucher may be redeemed at private driver-training facilities, some of which charge in excess of $300.
• Members of the House Republican caucus desirous of bringing to the floor—before the upcoming election—legislation to limit affirmative action practices by state government were displeased with their leadership’s decision to hold off a vote on the measures until the lame-duck session. Gongwer News Service reports that outgoing Speaker Paul Hillegonds feared that debate about the issue was unlikely to be "sound and reasoned" in the legislative interval before November’s electoral storm.
• For Dr. Gerald Miller, the acronym of FIA will soon change in meaning from Family Independence Agency to Family In Austin. The acknowledged architect of Michigan’s—and the nation’s—recent welfare reform efforts will relinquish the reins of Michigan’s social service agency on October 4 in order to head up Lockheed Martin Corp.’s new privatized welfare management division in Texas. Miller’s first task is to land a contract with the lone star state to run its entire social welfare operation—over nine years the contract is expected to be worth $6 billion. Miller’s public service to Michigan dates back to the Romney administration; he was the wunderkind state budget director for Bill Milliken and has been at the fore of Engler administration initiatives for the past six years.
• It also will be adios to Margaret O’Riley, the state’s small business ombudsman. She too soon will trade public sector employment for private, when she leaves the Michigan Jobs Commission to become manager of government and community relations for Allied Signal Automotive of Southfield.
• The Michigan Strategic Fund board of directors voted to change the name and mission of the economic development organization. Henceforth, it will be known as the Michigan Renaissance Fund. Until now the fund has directly subsidized private companies that promised new job creation; under the new strategy, grants and loans will be made to communities, for site development—land acquisition, demolition, and infrastructure upgrades—to assist them in enticing private-sector job providers.
• If you were anxious lest Michigan’s national political prominence fade now that John Engler’s year-long veepstakes vignette has ended, fear not. The Michigan presidential timber farm was operating in full gear this past week, featuring former, current, and wanna-be varieties from which to choose. Last Friday, citizens Bob Dole and Jack Kemp touched down and fired up 5,000 followers in an airport hangar in Freeland. On Tuesday, President Clinton’s visit to Western Wayne County—the place pundits are tripping over themselves to proclaim as the new political bellwether in the state and nation—brought out 10,000 cheering partisans. A day later, at a golf course in Dearborn (western Wayne County), former president George Bush, stroked the crowd gathered for a fund-raising event thrown by U.S. Senate aspirant Ronna Romney.
• It’s really name ID, not face ID, that counts in elections anyway. The youthful visage of U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) prompted a store clerk in the lawmaker’s hometown to "card" the forty-three year old as he sought to purchase beer recently. "She doesn’t know I’m a congressman, and I’m not going to tell her; that’s not my style," said he. For some, it can get mighty thirsty on the campaign trail.