October 3, 1997

Legislative & Political Week in Review

• The combination of an abbreviated session week and the start of a new fiscal year put pressure on lawmakers to complete two critical budget bills. As September’s last day dwindled, legislative conferees finally okayed and sent to the chambers for final approval a Department of Transportation (MDOT) budget (SB 174) some ten percent larger than the current year’s total. As a hedge against possible lack of agreement on the $2.1 billion budget, MDOT had sent layoff notices to some employees in the event a new fiscal year began with no authorized spending level for the agency.
• The other budget winning eleventh-hour passage was the Capital Outlay Budget (SB 165) of just under $4 billion. Lack of legislative action on this appropriation would have put the state in arrears on its debt service. Included in SB 165 are planning funds for a new Hall of Justice consolidating several Lansing judicial offices, and planning money to study consolidation of the departments of Military Affairs and State Police.
• Before adjourning on Wednesday for the Rosh Hashanah holiday, the Senate passed three bills implementing Gov. John Engler’s proposed disposition of court-mandated Durant plaintiff payments. The strict party-line votes on each of the measures left Democratic Senators voting in vain for the alternative plan their House colleagues had passed last week. Senate Bills 52, 240, and 719 enact the administration’s plan to repay 84 school districts for unfunded, state-mandated special education programs. Democrats favored repaying the schools through a single, $200+ million withdrawal from the state’s Budget Stabilization ("rainy day") Fund. The GOP plan uses interest only from the Fund over three years and relies on a bond issue to pay other districts that were not plaintiffs in Durant. While Democrats argue that bonding is expensive long-term debt, Republicans counter that the BSF should not be raided for this cause but, rather, set aside for use in the inevitable future economic downturn.
• For the millions of Michiganders outside the Capitol beltway, October 1 was not about a new fiscal year, it was about deer hunting season. To the combined concern of sportsmen, the state’s sizeable hunting industry, and hapless motorists, Michigan’s declining number of hunters has reportedly swelled state herds to the point that Michigan motorists have more collisions with deer than drivers anywhere else. A coalition of concerned groups announced plans this week to try to reduce both the deer population and the number of deer/car wrecks.
• A full-time "swat team" within the Michigan Jobs Commission will identify four to seven high-profile business prospects to lure to the state, according to the Detroit News. MJC director Doug Rothwell told the News that the state’s business and economic climates have improved to the point where it can compete for such "sweepstakes prizes," adding, "Michigan is ready for prime time." The MJC will spend the next few months identifying prospects and cultivating ties to companies that could include Toyota, Volkswagen, and Samsung.
• The National Alliance of Business has named Michigan its State of the Year. The award was presented this week in recognition of the state’s successful rehabilitation of its workforce development programs. This year, Michigan is expected to spend $200 million on workforce development.
• Was that the Governor of Michigan stranded on I-96 Monday night with a flat tire? Wayne County Executive Ed McNamara thought it might be and called 911 as he sped past, late for an appointment. The guv and his driver got the temporary spare on and were headed back to Lansing by the time police arrived, according to the Detroit Free Press, which quoted McNamara as quipping, " I wonder, was that flat tire caused by a pothole, and is there that much poetic justice in the world?" McNamara was referring to Engler’s recent political strife over paying for new roads.