Senate Republicans would rather bash the President than stop the Asian Carp

LANSING – The massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has reaffirmed a few things about Republicans: that it will criticize President Obama just for waking up in the morning, and they hate government and say the private sector can do everything better until the private sector causes a disaster and they call for government help.

A pair of resolutions introduced and approved in the Senate on Thursday reinforced those two principals. They attacked the President and tried to blame him for the BP oil spill.

On Wednesday researchers confirmed that at least one Asian carp had been discovered in Lake Calumet, above the locks at the Chicago River, and that led Republicans to introduce and approve Senate Resolution 166 and Senate Concurrent Resolution 47 on Thursday.

Senate Democrats objected to the partisan language in the resolution that said,

“A resolution to call the Obama Administration to task for its failed leadership on preventing Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes and call again for immediate actions to prevent further carp movement into the Great Lakes.”

Last February, the Senate unanimously passed two similar resolutions that urged the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to take immediate actions to prevent the Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes and to develop long-term strategies to address this problem. But this time the Republicans thought it more important to take shots at the President than address the problem.

Last winter the federal government launched a new $78.5 million plan to prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes. However, Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm deemed the proposed measures insufficient, and she directed Republican Attorney General "Manoogian" Mike Cox to seek a legal solution. He filed a motion to the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency order to close the locks connecting the Chicago Sanitary and Shipping Canal to Lake Michigan. However, the conservative court rejected the motion. I guess we need a better AG if he can’t even win in a friendly court.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Prusi, D-Ishpeming, introduced an amendment to strike out the partisan language, but the Republicans would have not of that, and it failed along party lines. Prusi said the President was taking the recommendation of the Army Corps of Engineers, and the resolutions should single out them and not the president. At the very least there is no reason to make it a partisan attack.

“They have been the ones who have been delaying and studying and perhaps giving the President some bad advice on how to resolve this issue,” he said. “But I don’t think that it will serve us well if we just point the finger at the President, making this into a partisan issue.”

It makes no sense to ask some to do something, and then attack them at the same time. The resolution also attacks the President for the BP oil spill, despite the fact that the oil-friendly Bush Administration stripped out regulations and allowed BP the permit to drill when they did not have adequate safety measures in place or a real plan to address an oil leak.

“Whereas, The Obama Administration already has one ecological disaster on its watch. The administration should not allow another disaster with longer-term consequences and within its power to prevent from coming to fruition.”

Sen. Liz Brater, D-Ann Arbor, noted the irony of the Republicans scramming for government help now.

“I would like to welcome my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to the belief that the government needs to be strong and vigorous in its mission to protect the people from harm and to help us address harms in the environment that we cannot address on an individual basis,” she said. “I think it is wonderful that we have bipartisan agreement on that issue today. I hope that we remember it when we have other environmental issues come up in the near future.”

Brater also said she hopes the Republicans sudden concern for the environment continues. She said Republicans can’t continue to call for smaller government, refuse to pay the true costs of environmental protection to keep invasive species out of our ecosystem and prevent other harms to the environment, refuse to regulate industries that cause environmental harm and then blame the person who happens to be in the White House when a disaster that has been brewing for decades finally comes to a head.

She called on the Republicans to start moving bills in the Legislature to protect Michigan from ecological disaster that they have been blocking.

“Sitting in the natural resources committee right now are bills to prevent mercury from circulating in our bloodstream; bills to prevent bottles which contain petroleum plastics from being wasted and instead have a deposit and to be recycled; and bills to protect our water and air,” Brater said. “Most interestingly, a bill that would prevent the spread of invasive species in our ecosystem, introduced by the good Senator from the 32nd District (Prusi), is languishing in that committee.”

In the end, the majority of Democrats, unlike Republicans, put partnership aside, and the resolutions passed by a vote of 31-3.

“We should work with the federal government to provide the resources to prevent more of these invasive species from entering our ecosystem at our ports and through our ships that are circulating, and many other ways that we should be working together to prevent Asian carp and other invasive species from destroying our ecosystem,” Brater said.

Senate Republicans ignore the pollution of CAFOS

LANSING – The Gulf oil disaster demonstrated less regulation and oversight is not a good thing. Someone better tell that to the Michigan Senate Republicans.

On Wednesday, the Senate approved resolution 158 that urges “the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to rescind rules that would require dairy farms to have oil spill prevention plans for milk storage tanks.” It passed – unfortunately, with bipartisan support – by a vote of 24-10.

Eric Barren at Michigan Liberal had a good on this a few days before Wednesday’s vote:

“The definition of oil is not "petroleum." Oils are substances that at room temperature are viscous liquids that don't mix with water. Alas, the critical, illuminating piece of science is buried under reverse Ripperisms ("Ice cream, Mandrake, childrens' ice cream?"), accusations of government run amok and the standard objection of seemingly insensitive environmental lobbyists.
Those objections, incidentally, make a good deal more sense if you highlight the -- you know -- fundamental science of the issue rather than descending into the same lousy environmental reporting that has helped slow our collective response to global warming for two decades. Instead, we get some tired old narrative about gummint bureaucrats run amok, and policy direction that pretends that calling something an oil is the same thing as calling it petroleum, which itself places policy at odds with basic science definitions.”

The sponsor of the resolution, Sen. Wayne Kuipers, R-Holland, said if the EPA does not act to rescind the rules, we should ignore the law.

Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, noted the irony of that position. Kuipers is running for Congress in the seat vacated by “Twitter” Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland.

“I find it ironic that the previous speaker says we should disregard federal law, yet he is on a mission to go there and make it,” Whitmer said. “With regard to this resolution in front of us, this is a resolution and I think it is odd timing to ask that the EPA not require prevention plans for oil spills; anyone watching C-SPAN around here?”

Whitmer said milk is a wholesome product in a child’s body but not in Michigan’s waterways. Milk can have very serious environmental consequences once released into our surface waters.

Whitmer said according the University of Wisconsin Extension Service, milk has a high biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). BOD measures the amount of oxygen consumed when organic matter, such as milk, is broken down by bacteria. In streams and lakes, bacteria would need the dissolved oxygen from 1,600 gallons of water to break down the organic matter in one pint of milk. Because it depletes oxygen, discharging milk into surface waters can upset biological communities and kill fish. The minimum tank size of 1,320 gallons would be enough to deplete the oxygen in almost 17 million gallons of water.

“Milk also has a high concentration of phosphorus, a nutrient that causes the growth of algae and aquatic plants which can deplete oxygen levels in our lakes and streams, exacerbating an existing problem with excess phosphorus in our waterways,” she said. “In today’s world, it’s especially true that it is not unreasonable to ask that emergency plans be in place in case of milk spills or the failure of bulk milk storage tanks.”

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) have been cited for polluting rivers and streams in Michigan with runoff from manure, and these are huge factory farms. A small CAFO would have 1,000 cows that would result in, at the rate of 20 gallons a day per cow, a volume of milk reaching 20,000 gallons a day. But the largest CAFO in this state hosts 3,000. So we are talking about 60,000 gallons of milk a day.

“Now just to put this in perspective, we are not talking about a few cows and a pretty red barn with a dairy maid sitting on a stool with a little bucket milking a cow,” said Sen. Liz Brater, D-Ann Arbor. “That is not what happens on these farms these days. We have, unfortunately, in this state made it all too easy for CAFOs to operate in this state after they were expelled by the country of the Netherlands.”

Senate Republicans try to score cheap political points with ‘meatout’ resolution

LANSING – With the State of Michigan facing a budget deficit and vital services for people who are hurting through no fault of their own being cut, Senate Republicans managed to take time out of a Senate session on Wednesday to pass a meaningless resolution with no teeth to protest a promulgation that has no teeth and carries no weight.

A proclamation issued by Governor Jennifer Granholm calling Saturday a "meatout" day in the state and encouraging people not to eat meat that day as part of a healthy diet drew protests from agriculture and hunting advocates that was way out of proportion. This is no different than those the Governor has issued supporting Michigan wine and egg farmers.

This is a national effort, and according to their website, “ Meatout is an international observance helping individuals evolve to a wholesome, compassionate diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains. The purpose is to expose the public to the joys and benefits of a plant-based diet, while promoting the availability and selection alternatives to meat and dairy in mainstream grocery stores, restaurants, and catering operations.”

Wednesday was also Agriculture Day in the Capitol where the Michigan Farm Bureau and farmers display home-grown fruits and vegetables in the Capitol and lobby their Representatives. Apparently, Senate Republicans think fruits, vegetables and grains are not grown in Michigan. The fact is it’s hard to know where your meat came from, but that’s not the case for fruits, vegetables and grains.

But Senate Republicans took the opportunity to score some cheap political points in an election year. During the Senate session, every Senator is allowed to make a short speech on any subject they choose, and it’s usually at the end of session. On Wednesday it was moved to the middle of the session, and three straight Republican Senators got up and railed at the Governor’s promulgation. Not much different was said between the three, but it’s their right to make a fool of themselves.

That led Sen. Liz Brater, D-Ann Arbor to interject some sanity following the three rants.

“So, basically, what that proclamation does is not, I don’t think, try to harm any meat producers, but it encourages farmers who are producers of vegetables, fruits, and grains, of which there are many, many in this state promoting good health and reducing the risks of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and other chronic diseases which take the lives of approximately 1.3 million Americans each day,” she said.

Brater also pointed out that the same proclamation has been offered by governors in many other states, including the cattle producing state of Texas and Alaska when Sarah Palin was the Governor. Then Brater actually read the promulgation:

“Whereas, March signifies a national celebration of the importance of agriculture in the United States as it provides almost everything we eat, use, and wear on a daily basis; and to recognize and celebrate the abundance provided by Michigan’s farmers and the agriculture sector; and

Whereas, Michigan’s farmers provide consumers with not only food and fiber, but also biofuels and other sources of renewable energy, which are essential to life; and
Whereas, Michigan’s food and agriculture industry, our state’s second-largest economic driver, contributes over $71.3 billion to our state’s economy each year; and
Whereas, Michigan’s agricultural industry provides a variety of wholesome and healthy products including but not limited to beef, dairy, field crops, fruits, horticulture products, pork, poultry, sheep, and vegetables; and
Whereas, Michigan’s agricultural economy expanded at a great rate of more than five times faster than the rate of the general economy; and
Whereas, I urge all Michiganians to join me in recognizing the importance of our agricultural industry, from farm to fork, and to help celebrate this day with meals made with a variety of local Michigan ingredients, including but not limited to meat, vegetables, and dairy products; and
Whereas, The first day of spring has been traditionally designated National Agriculture Day since 1973;
Now, Therefore, be it Resolved, That I, Jennifer M. Granholm, governor of the state of Michigan, do hereby proclaim March 20, 2010, Michigan Agriculture Day, and encourage people throughout the state of Michigan to partake in the abundance of Michigan’s agricultural commodities.”

That led to another ridiculous comment by Sen. Alan Sanborn, R-Richmond.
“Let’s just all go over to the Governor’s mansion and have tofu and seaweed,” he said. “Great Americans eat red meat. Great Michiganders eat meat grown in Michigan.”

And great Michiganders also eat fruits, vegetables and grains that we know are grown in Michigan.

The timing for statements was unusual, until Sen. Wayne Kuipers , R-Holland, introduced Senate Resolution 129. that would “urge the Governor to rescind her proclamation making March 20, 2010, Michigan Meatout Day.”

That resolution passed by a vote of 25-12. Sen. Gilda Jacobs, D-Hunntington Woods, summed up the debate over the resolution best.

“I wish we would spend this much time on finding funding for education,” she said.

Newspapers jumped all over the harmless promulgation, and some of the reaction was just ridiculous. The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus had a front page story.

In the story, Don Miller, butcher at Great Lakes Butcher Supply in Oceola Township, said one day will hurt his business. “Encouraging Michiganders not to eat meat — even if just for one day — constitutes a boycott,” the paper said.

But Judy Daubenmier, head of the Livingston County Democratic Party and a Catholic, had the best response when she said Catholics do not eat meat on Fridays.

“Aren’t they losing business on Friday? What’s the difference,” Daubenmier said.
“Don’t we grow fruits and vegetables in Michigan as well?”

One butcher even had the audacity to say eating meat was healthy. He said “implications that meat is unhealthy are irresponsible, “To imply that meat is unhealthful is uneducated, kind of reckless.”

Then maybe your doctor is full of crap when he tells you to cut down on red meat, and you should go to your butcher instead of a doctor for a check-up. The fact is taking an occasional break from eating meat is healthy.

Why do Senate Republicans hate state workers?

It was poetic justice when Senate Republicans’ disgusting anti-state worker resolution was roundly defeated Thursday.

Sen. Tom George, R-Kalamazoo, introduced Senate Resolution 13 that urges “the Governor to work with the Civil Service Commission to require that state employees either work on President's Day or take the day off as an unpaid holiday.” He then went on some rant that state workers in Indiana work on Presidents Day.

Sen. Liz Brater, D-Ann Arbor, pointed out that Michigan government workers are the only state employees not to get a pay raise last year, and they have made concessions twice to help balance the budget and they are paying more for their health care.

“I believe that the workers of the state of Michigan are an extremely hardworking group of people in the face of years now of downsizing state government, “she said. “The state employees who are left are doubling and tripling their personal efforts to get the job done on behalf of the citizens of the state of Michigan. To balance this budget over and over again on the backs of our hardworking state employees is unfair and quite demoralizing to these workers.”

Michigan has less state employees now than we had in 1973. This smear against state employees comes on the day the Governor introduced her fiscal year 2010 budget that has to make up a $1.5 billon shortfall. That budget includes $28 million in concessions from state employees, and the layoff of 1,500 state employees.

But Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, who represents the district where most of the state workers live, was incensed at the attack on state employees.

“Every year we ask for concessions from our state workers; they are overworked, they are under appreciated,” she said. “I ask the gentleman from Kalamazoo; what concessions have you made in the last eight years?”

Generally, resolutions are approved by a voice vote, but Democrats requested the yeas and nays and voted for a role call vote. Majority Floor Leader Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt, tried to avoid a role call vote by trying to pass it for the day, but once a role call vote is called for, it can’t be passed for the day. The resolution was soundly defeated 30-5.

The anti-worker five voting against state workers were Mike Bishop, R-Rochester; George; Mark Jansen, R-Gaines Township; Tony Stamas, R-Midland; and Nancy Cassis, R-Novi.

It’s so ironic that Republicans will do any thing to get elected, but they hate government and government employees. It’s also ironic that George and others made statements celebrating President Lincoln’s birthday, but it’s not important enough to be a national holiday for workers.

Senate Republicans maneuver to disenfranchise voters

LANSING – Senate Republicans used a sneaky procedure to block Senate Bill 12 that will allow people to vote with an absentee ballot for no reason and disenfranchising Michigan voters.

Sen. Liz Brater, D-Ann Arbor, made a motion to have her bill discharged from the Campaign and Election Oversight Committee to the floor Thursday, but the majority floor leader made a motion that was approved along party lines to pass the items for the day. Of course, this is the last session day until the Lame Duck session after next moth's General Election.

Democrats wanted the bill to be approved so voters can take advantage of the new law before the election when massive lines are expected at the polls next month.

"This means that the voters in Michigan will be at a disadvantage compared to the 28 other states that allow no reason absentee voting," Brater said. "We know that long lines at the polls will turn people way from voting, and the interest in the Presidential Election will increase turnout."

Last month the Michigan House passed House Bill 4048 that will allow Michigan voters to vote with an absentee ballot for no reason. Republicans continue to oppose it as part of their strategy to keep voter turnout low.

"The people of Michigan were outmaneuvered by the Senate today, and its' a sad day for voters," said Sen. Gilda Jacobs, D-Huntington Woods, Minority Vice-chair of the Campaign and Election Oversight Committee.

Current Michigan law allows people to vote A/B for only six reasons: age 60 years old or older, unable to vote without assistance at the polls, expecting to be out of town on election day, in jail awaiting arraignment or trial, unable to attend the polls due to religious reasons or are appointed to work as an election inspector in a precinct outside of your precinct of residence. Passage of HB 4048 and SB 12 will do away with that requirement.

The bill has widespread support. Those in support of the bills include the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, the Michigan Association of County Clerks, the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks, the Michigan League of Women Voters and the Michigan Townships Association. Only the Republican Secretary of State is neutral on the bill.

No reason absentee voting gets OK in the Michigan House

LANSING – The Michigan House passed House Bill 4048 sponsored by Rep. Martin Griffin, D-Jackson, on Thursday with a bipartisan vote of 65-41 that will allow Michigan voters to vote with an absentee ballot for no reason.

Current Michigan law allows people to vote A/B for only six reasons: age 60 years old or older, unable to vote without assistance at the polls, expecting to be out of town on election day, in jail awaiting arraignment or trial, unable to attend the polls due to religious reasons or are appointed to work as an election inspector in a precinct outside of your precinct of residence.

Michigan will join 28 other states that allow no reason A/B voting if the bill becomes law. The bill has widespread support. Those in support of the bill include the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, the Michigan Association of County Clerks, the Michigan Association of Municipal, the Michigan League of Women Voters and the Michigan Townships Association. Only the Republican Secretary of State is neutral on the bill.

It will most likely stall in the Republican controled Senate in an effort to keep voter turnout small. A recent U.S. Census survey said more than 7.5 million people said they did not vote because of “logistical reasons." Sen. Liz Brater, D-Ann Arbor, introduced the companion bill in the Senate, SB 12, but that is stalled.

Surprisingly, or not surprisingly, Livingston County's own Rep. Chris Ward, R-Brighton, was one of those against it. He said there were "too many loopholes and ballots are more subject to voter fraud under a no-reason absentee voting system." I have no idea what voter fraud he is talking about, but the former Brighton Township Clerk has flip-flopped on the issue. He now said he favors early voting.

In the last session he sponsored HB 4569 that was approved by the House on April 25, 2005 and sent to the Senate where all bills go to die. The bill allowed no reason A/B in person for seven days before the election.

In 2003 he introduced HB 4058 that went no where in the then GOP-controlled House. It was basically a no reason A/B bill. It proposed to change the provision that said a person may vote A/B if the voter "is not confident he or she will be available to attend the polls on election day" instead of "is absent or expects to be absent from the township or city in which he or she resides during the entire period that polls are open for voting on the day of an election."

Groups push for no reason absentee voting

LANSING – With voter turnout at an anemic rate often below 25 percent across Michigan, logic says any attempt to improve that number in a country that prides itself on Democratic elections would be welcome, but that does not seem to be the case with no reason absentee voting.

Members of the Senate Democratic Caucus held a press conference Tuesday in front of the state Capitol surrounded by members of the Michigan Municipal Clerks Association (MMCA), various advocacy groups, working people and mothers. The message was simple: an absentee ballot any time, any place for any voter.

“Workers of the state don’t always know if they will be able to vote because they may have an extra shift or get called in to work on Election Day,” said Sen. Liz Brater, D-Ann Arbor. “I go door-to-door all the time and have people tell me they're sorry but they can’t vote because they have to work.
“I also don’t want to see anyone disenfranchised because they can’t stand in that long line,” she said.

Brater introduced Senate Bill 12 that will allow no reason A/B voting way back when the legislative session opened in January 2007, but it has been bottled up in the Senate Committee on Campaign and Election Oversight. Brater hopes Michigan will join 28 other states that allow no reason A/B voting, and she hopes the ground swell of support, similar to the grassroots support that got the smoking ban bill out of committee, will work with SB 12.

“We urge you to contact Sen. (Michelle) McManus (Chair of the committee) and Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop to urge them to take up the bill and give it a hearing,” she said.

Macomb County Clark Carmella Sabaugh recently made news when she was ordered by the Michigan Court of Appeals to stop sending A/B applications to every county resident age 60 or older.

“There is no reason for anyone not to be able to vote absentee,” she said. “The state can take your taxes by mail, why can’t you vote by mail?”

Sen. Gilda Jacobs, D-Huntington Woods, Minority Vice-chair of the Campaign and Election Oversight Committee, praised Sabaugh’s actions.

“You have done some very courageous things in your county with absentee voting,” Jacobs said.

A/B voting will increase voter turnout, and people are hard-pressed to find a reason why anyone would be against no reason A/B voting. It is not a Democrat or Republican issue, but for some unknown reason some Republican so-called leaders are opposing it. Jacobs said in a recent U.S. Census survey, more than 7.5 million people said they did not vote because of “logistical reasons,” and in Macomb County voter turnout increased 40 percent after Sabaugh mailed out A/B applications to all senior citizens. It’s much cheaper to mail out an A/B ballot for the price of a 42-cent stamp than to pay $4.20 for a gallon of gas to drive to the poling place to stand in line and vote.

“People ask why anyone would be against no reason absentee voting: that’s a good question,” Jacobs said. “People say it will cause problems for clerks, but the clerks are here to say it doesn’t.”

Current Michigan law says the are only six reasons for A/B voting: age 60 years old or older, unable to vote without assistance at the polls, expecting to be out of town on election day, in jail awaiting arraignment or trial, unable to attend the polls due to religious reasons or are appointed to work as an election inspector in a precinct outside of your precinct of residence.

“We have all been in the situation when a voter comes into our offices to fill out a A/B application, and they freeze when they come to the part that asks for a reason,” said Evan Hope, the Vice-President of the MMCA and the Clerk in Delhi Charter Township.

Students rally to protest tuition increases

LANSING – It looked more like a pep rally or a tailgate party Wednesday as hundreds of students representing all of Michigan’s 15 publicly financed colleges and university rallied in front of the Capitol steps to protest the increase in tuition and to urge the Legislature to increase funding for higher education.

The large crowd decked out in school colors carried signs, cheered and chanted. Gabriel Pendas, President of the United States Student Association, fired the crowd up and encouraged them to register to vote with the registration materials that were on hand, and he also urged them to lobby for a new law that gives students a tax break on their student loan payment for students who graduate from Michigan colleges and universities and live and work in the state following graduation. Maine just passed the bill this summer.

“This is democracy right here,” he said. “This is what democracy looks like right here; people who are engaged in the process.”

Despite last-minute budget negotiations going on to save the state government from a shutdown on Monday, there were Legislators on hand to address the students.

“As you stand out on the Capitol lawn you are our future,” said Sen. Liz Brater, D-Ann Arbor. “Investing in your education is investing in Michigan.”

In May the state had to make up an $800 million deficit from the current year budget that ends on Sunday, and included in one of the one-time fixes was a delay in paying the schools $160 million. That led to tuition hikes that averaged 11 percent and some incoming students will see increases as high as 21 percent. Students demanded the delayed payment be made to the schools and demanded increases in funding for colleges and universities.

The state is facing a $1.8 million budget deficit in the budget that begins Monday. However, Republicans refuse to vote for a tax increase even though many admit publicly it is required to balance the budget, and Democrats refuse to vote for cuts until Republicans vote for a tax increase.

“We’re not her to deliver a partisan message because proper funding of higher education is not a partisan issue,” said Senate Minority Leader Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek. “This affects both Democrats and Republicans.”

Michigan wants to be a leader in life sciences, alternative energy, advanced automotive manufacturing and homeland security through the Governor’s 21st Century Jobs Fund, but many believe that will require investment in education and other areas. Much of the opposition to the tax increase is because of a mistaken belief that Michigan is a high tax state, and Rep. Pam Byrnes, D-Chelsea, said the states with the lowest tax rate are also the states with the lowest wages.

“I am so glad you are here; the timing could not be better,” Byrnes said. “Minnesota has one of the highest tax rates in the country, but they also have the highest graduation rates for both high school and college.
“That’s where the jobs and companies are going,” she said.

But the tuition hikes present unique problems to students who must find more money to pay for school or drop out, which is happening all too often as college becomes less and less affordable to poor and middle class students. Jason Davis, a student leader at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, said he has had to work 40 hours a week since he was a sophomore in high school to pay for college, and he has had to work up to 46 hours a week to pay for the tuition increases.

“This is an issue that had not been addressed for far too long,” he said. “Year after year the tuition increases, and I have to work more, which means less time for studying.”

Christopher Allen, a medial student at Wayne State University School of Medicine, said he had $20,000 in school loan debt when he began medial school, and that debt is contributing to a shortage of general practice doctors.

“When we have high debt we have people go into higher specialties that bring in higher income to pay that debt,” he said. “That creates a shortage of primary care physicians.”

Senate Democrats take up challenge and introduce revenue-producing bills

LANSING – Responding to Sept. 11's Appropriations Committee meeting where the Director of the Senate Fiscal Agency, Gary Olson, outlined Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop's, R-Rochester, proposal to balance the budget that begins Oct. 1 with $1 billion dollars in cuts and one-time revenue fixes Sen. Liz Brater, D-Ann Arbor, introduced a package of bills the next day to increase revenue as a part of the solution to the budget crisis.

Brater and Democrats on the Appropriations Committee were dismayed at what they called “draconian” cuts in the budget and simple gotcha politics, and they were more appalled when the Senate Republicans, who control the Senate, acknowledged the budget will have to balanced with a combination of cuts, reforms and new revenue but said they will only act on a tax increase proposal from the Democratic-controlled House and indicated they will do nothing until they get one they can vote on. The state faces a $1.7 billion budget deficit.

The bills make a number of technical changes to the income, sales and use tax acts and can be amended to provide needed revenue for critical state services. Although a number of revenue increasing measures have been discussed recently, Lansing insiders believe the most likely option will be a proposal that raises the income tax from its current 3.9 percent to 4.4 to 4.6 percent, a tax on services or a 1 percent increase in the sales tax. It’s expected the House could vote on some of these proposals as early as Friday.

“Today I introduced a package of bills that will help us solve this budget crisis in a swift and responsible manner," Brater said in a press release announcing the package "These bills allow us to come together in the Senate to enact a long-term, comprehensive fix that will protect critical services and allow us to invest in our people. I look forward to working with all of my colleagues to move forward and meet our responsibilities to the people of Michigan."

The cuts Olson outlined would only cut the budget deficit by about $1 billon, and that would leave approximately $700 million to go, presumably made up in in a tax increase initiated by the House. The cuts include eliminating a proposed 2.5 percent increase for K-12 School Aid, eliminating a proposed 2.5 percent increase for higher education and eliminating a similar increase for community colleges. The cuts would also include $116.8 million in cuts to the Department of Human Services, $78.6 million in cuts to the Department of Community Health and $50 million in cuts to Corrections, $23.4 million in cuts to all other departments and $75.4 million in cuts to state employee economic funding. But Olson also gave Senators a look at a proposal that balances the budget with cuts alone.

It would include all the cuts already outlined, as well as a huge cut in statutory revenue sharing, - money local municipalities get to help pay for police, fire and other local services - by $398.7 million. The already hurting City of Detroit would suffer the most with a loss of $208.9 million

Sen. Mickey Switalski, D-Roseville, the lead Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Sen. John Gleason, D-Flushing, also sponsored revenue bills in the package.

"We were elected to act and this package will help us do just that,” Gleason said.