November 12, 1999

Legislative & Political Week in Review

• The legislature is adjourning for a two-week recess. Roundup will resume publication on December 3.
• With House passage of Senate Bill 198 on an 82-26 vote, the legislature this week continued to nibble away at local control. The bill would prohibit a city council from requiring that municipal employees live within city boundaries, leaving the matter instead to collective bargaining. Firefighter and police organizations, however, say that the version of SB 198 passed by the House is not stringent enough; they prefer the outright ban on residency requirements that was in the Senate-passed version.
• More partisanship from the campaign finance front: The House this week passed HB 5059, which would require candidates to report the names of all political donors, not just those who contribute more than $20 as under current law. While Republicans claim that the bill will curb campaign finance abuse, Democrats insist that it is aimed at an important source of revenue for their party: bingo games, which raise small amounts from a large number of people.
• Michigan Republicans have put political harmony above ideology, agreeing to table indefinitely a planned vote to endorse the Kids First! Yes! school-voucher ballot proposal. According to state Republican Chair Betsy DeVos—whose husband, Dick, is a key organizer of the proposal effort—the party wants to avoid embarrassing Gov. John Engler, who opposes the voucher proposal. Earlier this week, the governor announced that he has formed a committee to study the voucher plan and make recommendations to the Republican Party as well as Republican legislators. Lansing political observers opine that the governor’s opposition to the proposal is based largely on his belief that its presence on the ballot would negatively affect GOP chances in the 2000 elections.
• House Speaker Chuck Perricone (R-Kalamazoo Twp.) hopes quickly to advance legislation (House Bills 4705 and 4706) to raise the cap on the number of charter schools in the state from 150 to 225 over three years. The legislation had been stalled by a group of Republican lawmakers who want more state oversight of charter schools before agreeing to permit their number to increase.
• In the wake of a Detroit News investigation of daycare centers that revealed that nearly 50 percent of them have been the target of complaints, Democrat lawmakers this week unveiled a plan to improve daycare conditions. The Democrats propose to increase the number of daycare inspectors, raise the tax exemption for families with children aged under seven from $3,400 to $10,000, exempt daycare workers from the state income tax, and place failing centers into state receivership. Republicans believe the plan is too expensive and claim that the new daycare rules proposed by the Department of Consumer and Industry Services will address many of the current problems with daycare centers.
• Michigan ranks 48th among the 50 states in federal per capita spending. According to a study conducted by the Senate Fiscal Agency, Washington spent $4,270 per resident in Michigan compared to $5,491 nationally. Only Wisconsin and Utah fare worse than Michigan: their figures are $4,189 and $4,156, respectively. Michigan’s poor showing reflects the fact that not only are there relatively few defense facilities located here, but the number of non-defense federal employees working in the state also is low in comparison to other states.
• Casino gambling in Detroit is eating into lottery sales, according to Lottery Commissioner Don Gilmer. Although 1999 will be a record year for the state lottery, sales of Daily 3 and Daily 4 tickets are down considerably since the MGM Grand casino opened, on August 1. Gilmer expects further erosion when the MotorCity and Greektown establishments open next year. Nevertheless, the commissioner plans no expansion of the lottery—such as Sunday drawings—as long as School Aid Fund receipts from all sources, including the sales tax and general fund, remain high.