February 7, 1997

Legislative & Political Week in Review

• Governor Engler’s 1997–98 Executive Budget proposes funding for new programs to address present and future technology needs of the state. Also included in the lengthy document is a new general fund allocation of $43 million for road construction and repair; start-up funding for a proposed state hall of justice that would house in Lansing the geographically dispersed supreme court, court of appeals, and State Court Administrative Office; and new monies to enable the Department of Environmental Quality to facilitate the cleanup of urban "brownfield" sites and match federal safe drinking water funds.
• Recent proposals made by House Democrats and Senate Republicans to change the rules by which appropriations conference committees are run were scuttled as both chambers passed Senate Joint Resolution 2. The resolution, which includes the rules by which both chambers must abide, did not include a proposal to allow conference committee members the right to interject whatever they want into a bill under consideration. House Republicans were concerned that this practice would lead to an increase in "pork barreling." As it now stands, conference committees may consider only the specific points of difference between the House and Senate versions of a particular bill.
• The Michigan Public Service Commission believes that sufficient telecommunication competition exists within the state to allow Ameritech Michigan to offer long-distance telephone service. The MPSC voted 2–1 Wednesday to send comments to the Federal Communication Commission reflecting the judgement. The FCC has until April 17, 1997, to render a final decision on the matter. At a press conference earlier in the week, the Michigan Consumers Federation opined that local telephone competition in the state is virtually nonexistent and that allowing Ameritech to prematurely get into the long-distance market would adversely affect Michigan consumers.
• Declaring that he will not be "bullied into taking positions based on politics instead of science," Governor Engler Wednesday rejected a request by federal Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Health and Human Services officials to upgrade the warning on the consumption of fish from the Great Lakes.
• The new president of the Michigan Renaissance Fund will be Robert Filka. The fund fosters local economic development through state funding of infrastructure improvements and land acquisition for special projects. Filka has been the key advisor to Governor Engler in the areas of technology, telecommunication, and public utility policy. Former Renaissance Fund president Jim Storey took a job in the private sector last November.
• Hoping to sew up early the Democratic nomination for governor in 1998, East Lansing attorney Larry Owen formally kicked off his campaign Tuesday in Lansing. Amid a phalanx of Democratic legislators and other officials, Owen declared that he will be running form the "sensible center" in his second attempt for the office.
• Now comes Rep. Karen Willard (D-Algonac), who on Thursday made it official that she, too, is a candidate to succeed John Engler. Representative Willard, term-limited in 1998, becomes the only woman in an otherwise all-male field.
• And then there were 109. Rep. Greg Pitoniak (D-Taylor) assumed the mantle of mayor of Taylor over the weekend, leaving his state House seat temporarily vacant. Speaker Curtis Hertel (D-Detroit) urged the governor to expedite the special election process needed to name a new lawmaker for the 22nd district, which includes Taylor and Romulus.
• Last weekend’s Republican state convention in Detroit was an upbeat affair. Conventioneers focused primarily on ways to out-duel their future opponents, not on election results of the recent past. As expected, GOP delegates reelected Betsy DeVos to the post of party chair. The Democratic state convention will be held this weekend.