May 22, 1998

Legislative & Political Week in Review

• The Senate fiscal chief’s advice to upper chamber lawmakers this week boiled down to a single word: "Whoa!" Senate Fiscal Agency director Gary Olson told the Appropriations Committee that budget bills approved to date will far outstrip anticipated revenue. Although Olson expects state coffers to swell by about $44 million over last year, legislators currently are contemplating spending plans that would require an increase of almost $260 million. Agency budgets already approved by the legislature are too fat and will have to be trimmed back, Olson cautions. Michigan’s rate of economic growth has slowed considerably, he points out, noting that the state ranked 40th in personal income increase last year.
• "Michigan is Jobzilla," crowed Governor Engler, indulging his penchant for bowdlerizing current movie titles to describe political achievements. He was boasting about the state’s gargantuan employment rate, which rose last month to an all-time high of 4,852,000. Unemployment shriveled to 3.5 percent in April, the lowest since comparable records first were kept in 1970. In breaking its own record—the previous low was 3.9 percent unemployment in March—Michigan dipped below the U.S. average jobless rate for the 37th consecutive month. Nationally, 4.3 percent of the work force was idle last month.
• Relief from pesky jet skis and their youthful operators is on the way—but not this season. House passage of tougher personal water craft statutes includes Senate-backed changes, but it doesn’t take effect until next April. HB 5426, if signed by the governor, will hike the minimum age of operators from 12 to 14, require operators aged 14–19 to obtain a boater safety certificate, limit the crafts’ operation to a minimum of 150 feet offshore, and restrict hours of operation to 8 A.M. until dusk.
• After the dust settled from last week’s election filing deadline, 36 candidates were registered to run for the state’s 16 congressional seats. One incumbent, U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Holland) is unopposed for reelection. Among those being challenged is 16-year veteran U.S. Rep. Sander Levin (D-Royal Oak). Former gubernatorial aide Leslie Touma, a Republican, hopes to unseat Levin and is attracting attention with her campaign treasury of $237,000 to Levin’s $313,000; this is the only Michigan congressional race in which the incumbent has less than a three-to-one financial advantage.
• Among the two dozen who withdrew their candidacy by last week’s deadline were two current office holders. In a surprising change of heart, Rep. Jim McBryde (R-Mt. Pleasant) dropped his challenge to Sen. Joanne Emmons (R-Big Rapids) in the 23d Senate District. In the 36th Senate District, Rep. Allen Lowe (R-Grayling) backed out of his bid for the seat currently held by Sen. George A. McManus, Jr. (R-Traverse City).
• U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids ruled this week that the Engler administration’s reorganization of the former Michigan Employment Security Agency (MESA) violates federal requirements. Some $16 million in federal funding has been held up in the months-long squabble since the state Jobs Commission outsourced former state jobs to the private sector. Judge Robert Holmes Bell ruled that the U.S. Labor Department’s policy of requiring civil service workers to administer the program lacks the force of law but has been in operation for 64 years without congressional challenge and therefore should be recognized as binding. State officials say they will appeal the ruling and in the meantime manage the program without federal funds.
• The state Capitol Building was ringed with motorcyclists this week as roughly 250 bikers mounted what has become an annual campaign to repeal Michigan’s mandatory helmet law. Supporters of repealing the 30-year-old law claim to have gathered almost 15,000 letters supporting their contention that helmets have not been proven to reduce motorcycle deaths. On the other side of the issue, along with organizations representing police, doctors, and insurance companies, is the general public: In a recent poll, 71 percent of respondents reported favoring the helmet law. Twenty-three other states have similar statutes.