January 31, 1997

Legislative & Political Week in Review

• Michigan’s newly elected, 89th legislature has commenced in earnest; this week legislators braved Lansing’s bitterly cold winds to listen and react as Gov. John Engler delivered his seventh State of the State message. "America knows that Michigan is back as a state of basic values, big ideas, and bold leadership," Engler declared in his Tuesday address, asserting that "state after state is copying Michigan, reforming school funding, reorganizing government, and reducing taxes." Although somewhat less partisan than in past years, the speech drew predictable responses from both sides of the aisle. For example, as Mr. Engler withdrew from the House chamber, recently recrowned Majority Floor Leader Pat Gagliardi (D-Drummond Island) said the governor "has run out of gas," while GOP lawmakers chanted "four more years."
• As expected, the governor called for major education reforms. One is school district accountability. Under this controversial proposal, state-appointed trustees—former state superintendent and Eastern Michigan University president John Porter and former Detroit school superintendent and Edison Project principal Deborah McGriff have been mentioned as examples—would take over administration of school districts in which more than 25 percent of the students annually drop out or 80 percent fail to meet minimum standards on the high school proficiency test. Under other proposals, students would be expelled if they physically harm teachers, school districts would be permitted to mandate school uniforms, and public/private partnership "advanced career academies" would replace traditional vocational education efforts.
• With Michigan’s pothole season arriving early this year, Engler made sure to drive home his transportation plans. He stated his belief that no new gasoline taxes are needed and called instead for revenue to maintain the state’s roadways and bridges to be derived from reforms, among them reconfiguring the federal gasoline and highway tax structure, to allow the state to send less tax money to Washington, and reducing government liability pertaining to roadways.
• The governor also proposed
  • requiring sex offenders entering Michigan from other states to provide the state police with a DNA sample;
  • enacting a series of tougher drunk-driving initiatives, including issuing red vehicle license plates to people holding restricted driver’s licenses;
  • doubling the number of Project Zero pilot project sites, to enable more able-bodied adults receiving welfare to move into full employment and financial independence;
  • strengthening the legal hand of state and federal child-protection workers in their efforts to gain access to information about suspected child abusers; and
  • blocking development in certain “special, irreplaceable, unique” areas of the state.
• Meanwhile, Speaker Curtis Hertel (D-Detroit) unveiled the House Democrats’ legislative goals. The Speaker articulated an "agenda for Michigan’s families" and set an ambitious 90-day time frame for passage. The Democrats—restored to a 58–52 majority status in that chamber—list as their priorities
  • boosting the minimum wage,
  • raising earned-income, child-care, and dependent-care state tax credits,
  • expanding senior citizens’ property-tax deferment options,
  • offering full-day kindergarten in “at-risk” districts,
  • limiting K–3 class size to 15,
  • strengthening high school core curriculum, and
  • creating a $1,500 college-tuition tax credit.
• Accomplishing one item on the House Democrats’ agenda—repealing the so-called photo-voter law that was pushed through by the GOP in the waning hours of last session and requires voters to produce photo identification in order to vote—may take less work than first thought. On Wednesday, Attorney General Frank Kelley declared the measure unconstitutional and in violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. The ruling has the force of law unless overturned in court.