March 5, 1999

Legislative & Political Week in Review

• Extraordinary security precautions were in place when the state Senate voted this week on the Detroit public schools takeover, and the floor deliberation on the highly controversial matter proved to be a tame affair: The chamber passed SB 297 relatively quickly and calmly with a solid 30-7 majority. Bracing for a possible repeat of last week’s legislative melee in the lower chamber, the Senate had beefed up security with hand-held metal detectors and restricted public attendance by issuing passes for admission to the gallery, four per senator. House leadership reports that when that body takes up the measure next week, comparable measures likely will be employed. Although whether to require admission passes for the House gallery has not been decided, the presence of Michigan State Police personnel and the use of metal-detecting wands have been arranged. The security measures respond to a spirited and disruptive protest two weeks ago when opponents of the dissolution of Detroit’s elected school board temporarily shut down a legislative public hearing on the topic.
• Mayoral control of Detroit’s troubled schools received support from two important Motor City constituencies this week. The Coalition of Detroit School Unions—comprising 14 unions representing teachers, principals, and support staff—issued a statement supporting the pending legislation after receiving assurances that union contracts would not be altered under the shakeup. The Council of Baptist Pastors of Detroit and Vicinity also pledged the support of its membership, which includes some 350 churches across metropolitan Detroit.
• In ceremonies at the historic and ornate Governor’s Parlor in the Capitol Building, Gov. John Engler signed into law the session’s first six public acts last week; the measures cut the state income tax 0.5 percent over five years. Heralding the measure as his administration’s 25th tax cut, Governor Engler boasted that the reduction will improve Michigan’s tax-burden ranking considerably, moving the state from 21st to 31st among the states.
• The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) is touting a just-released report on state smog levels as a breath of fresh air. MDEQ Director Russell Harding released a task force report last week indicating that the state’s air quality has improved over the past 30 years despite public perception that it is worse or no better. The report concludes that the state is in compliance with current federal requirements for the emissions that are a key component of smog. Michigan is one of nine states pursuing a court challenge to stiffer federal air quality standards. Holding his nose at the report’s conclusions is David Dempsey, policy director of the Michigan Environmental Council, who says that the MDEQ "is trying to proselytize for industry to undermine the need for further controls."
• The state’s prepaid college tuition program drew just over 2,500 new applications in its latest enrollment period, which ended last week; this is up considerably from the 1,995 enrollees who sent checks to the Department of Treasury last year. The Michigan Education Trust permits parents to purchase tuition-guaranteed contracts for their kids at two- or four-year state colleges and universities. Seventy-one percent of this year’s registrants bought full-tuition contracts at four-year colleges, 22 percent purchased limited benefits (less than full tuition at MSU or UM), and 7 percent signed on for community college tuition prepayment.
• As the legislative season’s harbinger of spring, the first two state agency budgets were reported out of their appropriations subcommittees this week. HB 4298, the community colleges funding package, left its launch pad in the House, while SB 361, the Consumer and Industrial Services Department spending plan, got the nod from its Senate subcommittee.
• Governor Engler plans a state trade mission to Germany next month, following up on the recent Chrysler–Daimler Benz merger. The governor and his team—the members of which have not yet been named except for Jobs Commission Director Doug Rothwell—will woo German automobile parts suppliers to Michigan.