May 16, 1997

Legislative & Political Week in Review

• The details of Build Michigan II—Governor Engler’s road repair, gasoline tax, and car insurance proposals—continued to be clarified and debated this week. Engler believes that the fuel hike will cost the average Michigan driver only an additional $22 a year and the increase can be more than offset by a $100 savings per vehicle per year if car owners are allowed to drop now-mandatory liability insurance coverage for accident claims for noneconomic (pain and suffering) damages. House Speaker Curtis Hertel characterizes the governor’s insurance proposal as "extreme, unworkable, and reckless" and offers a counter proposal to instead refund to motorists part of the $1.7 billion surplus of the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association.
• In other road-related news, the Senate Appropriations Transportation Subcommittee has approved SJR "E"—a resolution to abolish the Michigan Transportation Commission. Sen. Jim Berryman (D-Adrian) has unveiled an idea to allow the state’s gasoline tax to be set by a sliding scale rate indexed to the transportation needs of the state at any given time; the tax would range from 15¢ to 23¢ a gallon, automatically adjusting up or down according to perceived road-funding requirements. And in response to the Engler plan, Oakland County Executive Brooks Patterson has dropped his intention to promote a petition drive to place on the November 1998 ballot a proposal to raise the gasoline tax.
• The House was busy on the education front this week. The full chamber approved the community college budget (HB 4305) on Tuesday, with the average increase per school at 5.5 percent over last year; the bill adds money for job training and prohibits reverse discrimination and use of employee-health benefits for abortions. The Appropriations Committee sent to the House floor a relatively uncontroversial $805 million budget for the Michigan Department of Education (HB 4308). In the Education Committee, House Democrats pushed through, on a straight 9–6 party line vote, a measure (HB 4395) to mandate additional clarification of charter school operational behavior.
• The Senate Appropriations Committee approved Wednesday a $260 million supplemental appropriations bill (SB 272) that includes funding for environmental cleanup activities, computer maintenance and upgrades, and restoration of annual school bus inspections by the State Police.
• Physicians in Michigan will be free, under a three-bill package reported out by the Senate Health Policy and Senior Citizens committee, to discuss all treatment options with their patients without fear of reprisal from health insurance companies or health maintenance organizations. SB 501 and HBs 4392 and 4394 prevent insurance providers from imposing gag orders on physicians. The same committee approved legislation (SB 297) allowing emergency medical service operators to offer services—if they meet certain requirements—over and above what their current licenses dictate.
• Abortion clinics will have to meet the same medical standards as other surgical facilities in the state if HBs 4750–52 are signed into law. The package—sponsored by three Right to Life–backed representatives—Terry Geiger (R-Odessa), Mike Griffin (D-Jackson), and Michelle McManus (R-Lake Leelanau)—will mandate state licensure and various physical plant requirements for abortion clinics performing 50 or more such procedures annually.
• In regard to men’s health issues, freshman Rep. Buzz Thomas (D-Detroit) proposes that health insurance providers be compelled to pay for mandatory prostate cancer tests for Michigan males.
• Other new legislation proposed this week includes a measure to require manufacturers of tobacco products to list their ingredients; Rep. Frank Fitzgerald (R-Grand Ledge) believes that "consumers deserve to know the facts about products that they are using." And Rep. Liz Brater, (D-Ann Arbor) seeks to mitigate the increasing importation of out-of-state trash with a five-year moratorium on new solid-waste landfills in Michigan.