October 17, 1997

Legislative & Political Week in Review

• Live coverage of state Senate debate began this week with Michigan Government Television (MGTV)’s gavel-to-gavel coverage broadcasting upper-chamber deliberations on wiretap legislation. SB 633 will give Michigan police officers authority to wiretap telephones of suspected drug traffickers. Opponents objected that expanding police power will invite abuse of citizen privacy, but the measure passed 279, picking up six Democratic votes. Proponents say the bill, which is comparable to laws in 30 other states, is stricter than current federal wiretapping statutes. Similar measures have passed the Michigan Senate previously, only to languish in the House.
• A streamlined version of the mandatory high school proficiency test passed the House in the form of an eight-bill package of reforms. The tests—designed to measure students’ academic proficiency—will be pared from eight to six hours’ duration and administered in the senior rather than junior year, and test results no longer will appear on diplomas as "endorsements." Instead, a new scoring system will be included in student transcripts.
• Michigan joins 21 other states on a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency list of air polluters. In an effort to reduce smog-causing chemicals that drift across state boundaries, the EPA has charged Great Lakes states and much of the Eastern United States to develop tougher air-quality laws within two years. Michigan is mandated to reduce its airborne pollutants by 32 percent. A spokesperson for the Engler administration says the new EPA standards ignore the significant cleanup already achieved in the state and will cost state jobs.
• A suit filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit this week challenges the University of Michigan’s college-admission policy. Two Caucasian students denied entrance to the Ann Arbor campus contend it was because of their race. The two are plaintiffs in a class-action suit brought by the Center for Individual Rights, a group that last year won a suit charging race-based preferential admissions policies at the University of Texas.
• After one false start, lawmakers have named a bipartisan, bicameral committee to study the state’s campaign finance system. Such a group was approved by a joint resolution last spring but never empaneled. Legislators instead became sidetracked by the pending emergencies of road funding and state agency appropriations. This week legislative leaders somewhat sheepishly got around to naming the committee: from the House, Democrats Pat Gagliardi (Drummond Island) and Deb Cherry (Burton) and Republicans Bill Bobier (Hesperia) and Andrew Richner (Grosse Pointe Park); from the Senate, Republicans George McManus (Traverse City) and Robert Geake (Northville) and two Democrats yet to be named.
• Opponents of Michigan’s recently imposed four-cents-per-gallon gasoline tax hike lost a court battle this week. Their argument that the boost in the levy was enacted improperly by the legislature was overturned by Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Lawrence Glazer. An appeal, along with a possible request for reconsideration, is expected. Meanwhile, Judge Glazer has yet to rule on arguments that the gasoline tax hike violates the so-called Headlee Amendment to the state constitution.
• Considering a run for state office? The hours may be long, but officeholder pay is good, according to a new survey finding Michigan officials at the top of corresponding national salary schedules. StateNet, a government information service, released 1996 salary data listing Michigan Attorney General Frank Kelley and Secretary of State Candice Miller as the nation’s highest paid for their positions. Governor Engler’s compensation ranks second among governors, behind only New York’s George Pataki.