July 3, 1998

Legislative & Political Week in Review

• This week all was blue skies and fair weather inside the Capitol Building as well as out. Michigan lawmakers put the finishing touches on the state’s $8.8 billion general fund budget with much more harmony than often is the case. Only three budgets remain unresolved as Roundup goes to press (on Thursday afternoon), and no one is predicting that any midnight oil will be burned over them. In addition to appropriations for the Department of Community Health, Department of Transportation, and the judiciary, the governor’s proposed Clean Michigan Agenda bonding initiative—greatly expanded and renamed in the legislature—also awaits disposition before senators and representatives (and this publication) leave town for a ten-week recess
• As legislators—and most everyone else—prepare to hit the highways this weekend, reports indicate that gasoline will be cheaper and construction projects less evident for the state’s second-largest motoring holiday. According to AAA Michigan, only Thanksgiving tops the 2.1 million travelers expected on state roads over the July 4 weekend. To accommodate the throngs, roughly two-thirds of the state’s record-breaking 150 construction projects will halt from 3 P.M. Thursday through 6 A.M. Monday. Gasoline prices are averaging 10 cents a gallon less than last year
• Inevitably, in the waning pre-recess hours, some legislation gets left behind. Such was the fate this week of relaxed concealed weapon permit laws. While the cause was hot as a pistol last week, the seven-bill package was holstered by House leadership this week; proponents aim to make it a fall campaign issue.
• Some would say the Senate was soft on rock-and-roll when it sent SB 1100 back to committee. Under the "concert decency" bill, parents would be warned about foul language and indecency in live musical performances. The measure would allow the local government in which a musical venue is located to review scheduled lyrics and, if they are deemed unseemly, require that warnings be printed on tickets and promotional materials. The bill was sent back to committee 19-13, despite the dire prediction of its sponsor—Sen. Dale Shugars (R-Portage)—that "this shock rock is poisoning the minds of our children."
• The strikes at General Motors plants in Flint are costing the state’s heretofore robust economy an estimated $130 million weekly in lost production, according to Detroit Free Press estimates. While not yet expected to cripple Michigan’s economy as did GM’s 1970 strike—blamed by some with pushing the whole nation into recession—the state is projected to lose some $16 million weekly in tax revenue if the walkouts continue through July.
• Michiganians rarely have been safer, according to the State Police, whose 1997 Uniform Crime Statistics report shows a nearly 30-year low in "index" crime (the eight serious crimes—murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson—for which the rate of occurrence is believed to be a reliable indicator, or index, of overall crime ). Numbers in these categories dropped more than 5 percent to the lowest level since 1969. From 1996 to 1997, the 1.4 million total crimes reported were down nearly 7 percent—the sixth consecutive decrease and the lowest total level since 1973. Robberies and rapes plummeted by 14 and 11 percent, respectively, with murders inching upward just over 3 percent.
• Administration plans to lease three downtown Lansing buildings for renovation as state offices were thrown back into the review process this week. Approval fell several votes short in the Joint Capital Outlay Subcommittee after House Speaker Curtis Hertel (D-Detroit) called for more study on the issue. Under the proposal, the state would pay more than $260 million in lease payments for the former Lansing Civic Center, the YWCA building, and building that formerly housed the State Library; at the end of the lease the state could purchase the first two for $1 each. Critics contend the state could build new structures more economically. Supporters argue that building new structures takes land and time and would necessitate raising the statutory limit on state building authority; furthermore, they say, the need is urgent and reusing these venerable Lansing landmarks is environmentally responsible.

NOTE: With this issue, Roundup suspends weekly publication until the legislation returns. Publication resumes on September 25.