Former State Representative Doug Spade announces run for Michigan Senate

In a bit of great news, former State Representative Doug Spade, D-Adrian, formally announced today he is a candidate for the 16th District State Senate District that covers Lenawee, Hillsdale, Branch and St. Joseph Counties.

“With two government shut-downs in the past three years, a seeming inability to act on pressing matters in a timely fashion, and a ‘my way or the highway’ attitude of inflexibility exhibited by all too many elected officials, it’s no surprise the public has lost confidence in state government,” Spade said in a press release announcing his candidacy.

The 16h District Senate seat is currently occupied by rightwing Republican Cameron Brown, but he is term limited and running for Michigan Secretary of State. But winning in a conservative district is nothing new to Spade. When he was elected to the first of his three terms in the House in 1998 he was the first Democrat to serve Lenawee County in the House since 1914.

I have met Doug Spade a few times, and I had the same impressions as everybody else: he’s a class act, and they think they already know him from listening to the radio show he hosted on WLEN Adrian for 25 years.

I first met him when I was working for my first newspaper, the mom and pop weekly Blissfield Advance. He and I were the “celebrity” guests at a diner hosted by a Girl Scout troop in Blissfield. All I can tell you is that his seeing eye dog was much more popular than both of us.

Spade was the operations manager at WLEN, and for 25 years he hosted a call-in show called “Party Line.” It was not your conventional talk show. The show began at noon, and people just called in to talk about anything they wanted. He made the show about the callers, and they could talk about anything under the sun; from their garden to current affairs. I would listen to see what people were talking about.

I ran across him again when I went to work for the Adrian Daily Telegram. I had only been there a few months when the 1996 election occurred. Doug Spade made his first run at the state House against then incumbent extremist right-winger Tim Walberg, and Walberg kept his seat by just a few votes after a recount. When he retired in 1998, Doug won the seat handily; now held by his brother, Dudley Spade.

USA Today confirms what we already know: a smoking ban will reduce heart attacks

“Community smoking bans have an immediate and dramatic effect on reducing heart attacks, according to two new analyses of laws in the USA, Canada and Europe,” says a story that appeared in USA Today this week.

“Two separate analyses released Monday each found that heart attack rates fall 17 percent within a year after smoking bans take effect. One analysis, which included 13 studies, appears in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. A second analysis, which considered 11 studies, appears in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.” The study goes on to say, “Cigarette smoke can trigger a heart attack in people with underlying heart disease by causing clots or spasms in the blood vessels, says David Goff, a spokesman for the American Heart Association who wasn't involved in either study.”

I have documented study after study of the positive effects on health of a smoking ban, and the numerous health problems it causes, such as heart disease, stroke, dementia, breast cancer and non-fatal diseases, such as asthma, inner ear infections, major depression and other afflictions in non-smokers, yet the Michigan Senate continues to sit on the workplace smoking ban.

So far 37 other states have a smoking ban in place, and even Third World countries ban indoor smoking. Yet, the Michigan Senate continues to sit on the workplace smoking ban. Despite the mounting evidence of the harmful effects of second smoke they refuse to carry out their Constitutional duty and protect the public health. They cling to the false notion that it will cut into bar owners profits, despite mounting evidence that it does not.

It’s time for the Senate to act and stop wasting time.

Join the Battle in Battle Creek for Michigan Saturday

Join like minded Democrats and progressives this Saturday for the “Battle in Battle Creek” sponsored by the Justice Caucus for the first battle in the war to take back the Michigan Senate from the obstructionist Republicans.

Rep. Martin Griffin, D-Jackson, is running in a special election set for November for the 19th District that represents Calhoun and Jackson counties that was vacated with the election of Sen. Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek, to the U.S. House last November. This is the first step in taking back the Senate like we did the House in 2006.

The state election will have national repercussions when the Congressional district boundaries are redrawn based on the 2010 Census.

The plan is to gather at 12:30 p.m. at Ironworkers Local 340, 510 Columbia Ave E, Battle Creek, MI 49014. Following a picnic lunch, volunteers will hit the streets of Battle Creek to knock on the doors of targeted Democratic and independent votes in support of Griffin. Bring a friend or two and make a contribution to improving the state. Griffin is well known and popular of his home county of Jackson, but he is less known in Battle Creek and Calhoun County.

For more information call (313) 333-4502 or (734) 674-7327.

The Justice Caucus mission is to promote the cause of progressive democracy within the Democratic Party, in government and in the legal profession. They also put on Camp Millie that gives Democratic activists the tools for effective progressive political action in their community.

Bitter, party of one

With 28 of the current 37 Michigan State Senators being term-limited in 2010, speculation is high on who will run.

Many people are looking at the 44 State Representatives who were term-limited last January for possible bids, and according to subscription only MIRS, two-thirds of those may run for the Senate. It’s critical that Democrats take control of the Senate because good legislation passed by the House since 2006 has died in the Senate, and the Legislature will redraw the district boundaries in 2011.

The Republicans gerrymandered the district to benefit themselves so badly that more people voted for Democratic Senate candidates in 2006, but the Republicans maintained a 21-17 edge in seats.

MIRS outlined what the 44 former State Representatives are doing and what their future plans are. The response of Livingston County’s two former state Reps are interesting.

Chris Ward, R-Brighton, was a Republican marked for greater things, and he served one of his three terms as the House Majority Floor Leader. His tenure was not a good one, and he cast one intelligent vote that basically ruined his career. He voted with the Democrats in 2007 to raise the state income tax to avoid a brief government. Many people were trying to scrub up his image for another run while ignoring things like having the worst voting record in the House in his last two terms missing more votes than anyone.

Ward, who once served as Brighton Township Clerk, is currently the deputy clerk/register of deeds for Oakland County Clerk Ruth Johnson, a former state Representative who served a term with Ward and was the failed Republican Lt. Governor candidate with Dick Devos in 2006. As for Ward’s plan to run for the Senate, he said he has "no plans to ever to run for Senate or anything else ever again for that matter."

Sounds a mite bitter.

Joe Hune, R-Hamburg Township, is “doing consulting work” and he announced back in February that he is a candidate for the Senate seat in the 22nd District that will be vacated by term-limited Valde Garcia.

The most interesting response came from former Rep. Glenn Steil, R-Grand Rapids. He is “the director of performance improvement for Result Global, a reinvention company in Grand Rapids.” “Asked if he was planning on running for any higher office, Steil asked the reporter for $100 before he granted an interview, reiterating several times that he was serious.”

Griffin files to run for Senate seat

Rep. Martin Griffin, D-Jackson, officially filed to run for the vacant seat in the Michigan Senate last week.

The seat in the 19th District that represents Calhoun and Jackson counties was vacated with the election of Sen. Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek, to the U.S. House in November.

This election will be the first step in retaking the Senate in 2010, and the Senate Republicans have been the biggest obstacle to getting meaningful legislation passed. The filing deadline is May 12, the primary is Aug. 4, and the General Election is Nov. 3. So far, Griffin is the only official Democrat in the race.

Griffin was first elected to the House in 2006 when Democrats took control of the House. Prior to that, Griffin served as the Mayor of Jackson from 1995 - 2006. Griffin has experience in government at all levels; local, state and federal. He served for 12 years as a staff member in the Michigan Legislature and five years with U.S. Rep. Carl Pursell.

Griffin also has a long list of accomplishments and involvement, including chairing the Jackson County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, a member of the Economic Development Corporation of Jackson, a member of the National Association of Realtors, a member of the City of Jackson Planning Commission, a Trustee of Ella Sharp Park Board, a Downtown Kiwanis member, Urban Core Mayors Group, Trustee for Police and Fire Pension Boards and on the Cascade Humane Society Capital Campaign.

Action at Saturday’s MDP convention was not just on the convention floor

DETROIT -- Not all the action at Saturday’s Michigan Democratic Party Convention in Cobo Hall was on the main convention floor, and there was plenty of action in the numerous caucuses, and even at the after party at the beautifully renovated Detroit Riverside Hotel, formerly the world-famous and historic Hotel Pontchartrain.

For a political junkie like me, conventions are a little like a family reunions. It was an opportunity to see old friends and allies, and to see people I will soon be knocking on doors and making phone calls in support of. It was also nice to see Cobo Hall so busy, and the snow did not keep anybody away. In addition to the convention, the boat show and a cheerleading competition was held at Cobo at the same time.

It was also fun for me to attend with my wife for the first time, a recent convert from the dark side. We really enjoyed a few rides on the People Mover and enjoyed a great lunch in the Renaissance Center.

The day started in the Veterans Caucus where John Freeman, the Michigan State Director of Health Care for America, was working to build political support for passing national health care legislation to give all people affordable health care.

Freeman was chairman of the ballot committee last year that tried to amend the state constitution to require the Legislature to pass laws to ensure that "every Michigan resident has affordable and comprehensive health care coverage.” Freeman said past efforts, like President Clinton’s plan failed plan in 1993, failed because it was a “top-down approach” instead of a grassroots effort.

“We want to change that by putting pressure on from the grassroots,” he said. “Democrats are on board, and we need to go after the moderate Republicans.”

Conventions are also where new candidates like to announce they are running, and Freeman, a term-limited state Representative from Madison Heights, said he plans to challenge front-runner Lt. Gov. John Cherry for the Democratic nomination for the open Governor’s seat in 2010.

Candidates also use the caucuses to speak to different groups. Newly-elected MDP Chair Mark Brewer stopped by to both campaign for the chairmanship and fire up the troops.

“We can’t be complacent in 2010,” he said. “The Republicans are meeting down the road in Lansing plotting for 2010.”

One of the most crowded caucuses was the brand new Progressive Caucus. It included lots of young people and Young Democrats, as well as older activists, even an Aldi Stevenson supporter. MDP officer Steve Pontoni was elected chair of the caucus, and bylaws were adopted. The basic tenants of the caucus are pro-choice, pro-environment, pro-labor and pro-civil rights.

“Certainly we are going to disagree, but it is those values that we are embracing,” Pontoni said.

Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing - who has been mentioned as a possible candidate for Attorney General in 2010 - also spoke to the caucus.

“I hate to admit the Republicans are in my district, and I couldn’t wait to get out of town,” she said.

The Republican-controlled Senate has long been a block to meaningful legislation, even when Republications controlled the House, and it’s essential that Democrats get control of the Senate to move decent legislation. Whitmer brought news that Gov. Granholm set a date for the election to replace former Democratic Sen. Mark Schauer‘s, D-Battle Creek, who was elected to congress. The filing deadline is May 12, the primary is Aug. 4, and the General Election is Nov. 3. Reps. Martin Griffin, D-Jackson, and Mike Simpson, D-Liberty Township, have been mentioned as possible candidates.

“This is an important election,” Whitmer said. “It will show if we are still fired up after the Obama landslide, or are we resting on our laurels.
“The Republicans view the Senate as the firewall, and we view it as the last bump to good, progressive legislation,” she said.

The Environmental Caucus saw both accomplishment and plenty good discussion, as plenty of lawmakers showed up, especially House members. After Sen. Ray Basham, D-Taylor, spoke, the caucus unanimously passed a resolution against re-opening the deep-injection hazardous waste well in Romulus.

Rep. Gabe Leland, D-Detroit, was just appointed as the chair of a new House Committee, the Committee on Urban Committee, and he talked about global warming.

“If we don’t take a stab at the global warning issue in the next couple of years we will be in trouble,” he said. “The good news is we picked up nine seats in the House to help us get something accomplished.”

Freshman Rep. Timothy Bledsoe, D-Grosse Pointe, - the first Democrat to be elected from the 1st House District - said the House plans to roll out an ethics package in the next few days that will require lawmakers to disclose their income and bars the revolving door from the Legislature to lobbying.

“We’re only one of three states in the country where you don’t even know where your representative’s money is coming from,” he said. “We are only one of three states; isn’t that crazy?”

In the 8th Congressional District Caucus, Brighton’s Kathy Carney was re-elected as the chair of the district that includes Clinton, Shiawassee, Livingston, Oakland and Ingham counties, as well executive committee members and chairs and executive members of county committees.

Rep. Barb Byrum, D-Onondaga, announced she is organizing an Ingham County Young Dems Chapter to compliment the Michigan State University Young Democrats and the Lansing Young Dems.

“We sure don’t want to compete with those groups, but these are the people who knock on doors and do the hard work,” she said.

The Caucus also heard from Wayne State University law Professor Jocelyn Benson, who is planning a run at Secretary of State. She is pushing the commons sense issue of no-reason absentee voting. She was impressive, but she is even more impressive after I looked her up and saw her qualifications. She will make an excellent SOS, and for the first time in many years the campaign finance law will be applied to both parties.

Benson graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College. She subsequently earned her Masters in Sociology as a Marshall Scholar at Oxford University, and she received her J.D from Harvard Law School, where she was a general editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. Benson also worked as the Voting Rights Policy Coordinator for the Harvard Civil Rights Project, worked as a summer associate for voting rights and election law for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and she was an investigative journalist for the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Sanborn channels Nikita Khrushchev

LANSING -- The Russian are Coming; the Russian are coming!

At least Sen. Alan Sanborn, R-Richmond, seems to think so. The extreme rightwing Senator has used the statement portion of the Senate session the last three days to rail against the alleged "creep of socialism" in the country, and addressing his fellow Senators as "comrades." He also used it the last three days to attack the President of the United States, the U.S. Congress and especially Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

The time is normally used by the Senators to recognize a special day, event or speak about a pet project issue or bill. Sen. Martha Scott, D- Highland Park, uses the statement section to give an original and impassioned speech on her pet project, insurance reform, every single day, and she always ends it with the cry of "move my bills." A session is not complete until we hear from Sen. Scott.

What they don't do is insult each other, and the deliberative body never addresses a colleague by name, using the phrase "the Gentlemen from Howell" or "the Lady from the Second District." But Sanborn's rant was a little over the top on Thursday, even for him, and he took out his shoe and banged it on the rostrum. I though he might consider throwing it at someone considering how unbalanced the man seems to be.

But, apparently, he thought it was October 1960 and he was Nikita Khrushchev in the UN General Assembly held in New York. His boorish behavior certainly reflects that he was Khrushchev, but Sanborn was on the floor of the Michigan Senate in 2009.

His ridiculous behavior was too much for an exasperated Sen. Gilda Jacobs, D-Huntington Woods, and she appealed for respectful behavior on the floor.

"We have young people here witnessing this unusual and weird behavior," she said. "This whole thing just saddens me that we have to stoop to these theatrics."

Michigan Senate promulgates 2009 Senate session schedule

The Michigan Senate Majority Floor Leader has promulgated the 2009 Senate session through the summer, and it does not look very ambitious.

The Republican-controlled Senate will not meet until Jan. 14. Following that one session day, there is a tentative session set for Jan. 20 that follows the normal routine of meeting Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The first solid session day is not until Jan. 27.

The schedule follows the normal routine until it takes the week of Feb. 24 off, and session continues again until the two-week spring break on April 7. Then it's back to work until the session breaks for the summer on June 25.

The Democratically-controlled House has not yet promulgated its schedule for the next session, but the first order of business will be to swear in the 44 new House members shortly after the New Year. The Senate has traditionally been the place where bills go to die, and that will most likely continue. It remains to be seen if the Senate will practice any bipartisanship this time around with the House Democrats picking up nine additional seats.

Meanwhile, there are only three session days left in the current Lame Duck session that begins next Tuesday, and it appears it will not be enough for the ambitious Lame Duck agenda. Among the things Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop and other legislative leaders say they want to address in Lame Duck is the expansion of Cobo Hall in Detroit, getting an agreement for development of a light rail system along the Woodward Corridor in metro Detroit, completing action on promise zone legislation that will help communities allow residents to attend colleges free of tuition costs, addressing the surcharge on the Michigan Business Tax (MBT), foreclosure problems in the state and the workplace smoking ban.

In addition, the fiscal crisis is having a negative effect on the budget, and budget cuts may be addressed in Lame Duck. There are tentative session days set for the week of Dec. 9 and Dec. 16, and indications are they will needed and used. It's unclear if there will be marathon session days like the Legislature experienced last October and November when the budget was approved, but it's possible.

Prusi chosen as the new Senate Minority Leader

LANSING – The Senate Democratic Caucus chose Sen. Mike Prusi, D-Ishpeming, as the new Senate Minority Leader today to replace Sen. Mark Schauer, who was elected to U.S. Congress from the 7th District on Nov. 4.

The caucus went behind closed doors this morning before session after days of lobbying, and Prusi and Democratic Floor Leader Sen. Buzz Thomas, D-Detroit, emerged as the leading two candidates. Following session, Schauer announced Prusi was chosen as the new leader and Thomas will keep his position.

"The most pressing item on my agenda is to address what is currently going on in Michigan," Prusi said. "We need to find common ground to address the problems facing Michigan."

Prusi currently serves as the Democratic Vice-Chair for the Senate Finance Committee. He is in his second and final term in the Senate, and he served three terms in the Michigan House of Representatives before being elected to the Senate.

"Senator Prusi has been at the forefront of the most pressing issues facing our state, including energy policy and the state budget," Schauer said. "These experiences will serve him well, and I am confident he will excel in his new role as Caucus Leader. We will work closely to ensure a smooth, productive transition."

Only four of the 17 Democratic Senators will be returning in 2010, and some people thought one of the returning Senators would be more motivated to help win a Democratic majority in the Senate in 2010. But apparently experience won out.

Senate calls special session

LANSING – The Michigan Senate will meet in a rare Friday session at 10 a.m. before it breaks for the summer.

Speculation is that the budget conference committees will be able to present conference reports after a budget agreement was reached Wednesday by administration and legislative officials. There is also speculation the Senate will take up the energy bills, House Bills 5524-5525 and 5548-5549. The complex package of bills were passed by the House with bipartisan support on April 17, and the Senate Committee on Energy Policy and Public Utilities passed all but HB 5525 by a vote of 5-3 on June 12.

The full legilsture will not return from summer beak until Sept. 9. The Senate, however, has set tentative session dates for July 15-17, July 22-24 and Aug. 13, 27 and Sept. 2. No word on the House, where all the seats are up for election. The Senate seats will not have to stand for election until 2010.

Update: The House will also be in session at noon on Friday 6/27.

Pressure for action on popular smoking ban goes high tech

The Lansing-based Campaign for Smokefree Air (CSA) is taking its campaign to ban smoking in Michigan workplaces high-tech with a video contest to urge the Michigan Senate to act.

The Smokefree Video Challenge is looking for the most creative ways to tell the Michigan Senate why Michigan workplaces -- including restaurants and bars -- should be smoke free. CSA is challenging people to produce short, two-minute videos that will be placed on YouTube telling Michigan's senators why Michigan should become the next smoke-free state.

According to the group's Web site, CSA will review all submitted videos and will choose the top five. Then those videos will be placed on the CSA Web site, where people will vote for their favorite video. The winner will receive travel vouchers toward a trip to the smoke-free city, state or country of their choice, and with some 30 states and numerous countries already smoke free -- France is the latest to go smoke free -- they have a lot of destinations to choose from. The winning video may also be used in upcoming CSA advertising. The deadline for submissions is March 14.

In early December, the Democratic-controlled House approved House Bill 4163 -- introduced by Rep. Brenda Clack, D-Flint -- by a vote of 56-46. When the bill was referred to the Republican-controlled Senate, a brief fight ensued as to what committee it would be sent to. Proponents of the bill wanted it to go to what many saw as the most logical place for it: the Health Policy Committee. The chairman of that committee, Sen. Tom George, is receptive to the ban. George is a medical doctor.

Instead, it was sent to the Government Operations and Reform Committee, chaired by Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop. Although the ban has lots of support from people from both parties, Bishop has said he will not only not allow the bill to be voted on, it will not get even get a hearing.

That comes on the heels of a poll released on Jan. 23 by CSA that says an overwhelming majority of Republican voters support legislation to make Michigan workplaces smoke free.

The poll was conducted Jan. 9-12 by Lansing-based EPICA/MRA, which polled more than 500 self-identified Republican voters. The poll said 76 percent favored smoke-free legislation, including 62 percent who "strongly favor it." That number drops when you ask respondent if that includes bars and restaurants, but it's still a majority of voters at 67 percent.

"We're hoping Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop takes this information to heart," said Judy Stewart, the spokesperson for CSA, in a press release.

Telephone surcharge passes on last session day before holiday break

For the first time in Michigan, cell phone users will be assessed a surcharge to fund 911 emergency telephone services after the Michigan House and Senate gave approval to Senate Bills 410 and 411 Thursday on the last day of session in 2007.

Many county and other municipalities that operate emergency call centers have complained that as more and more people switch from traditional land line telephone service to wireless cell phones, funding for operating the emergency centers is falling because there are less land lines paying the 911 tax. Currently, land lines are charged 29-cents per month on their bills and cell phones are charged nothing. The version headed to the Governor for her signature adds a 19-cent surcharge to cell phones and internet phones and lowers the surcharge for land lines from 29 to 19-cents.

The revenue neutral bill also allows county governments to establish 911 fees on cell phones in their counties and allows local governments to put the fees to a vote of the public. The bills passed the Senate by a vote 33-3 and passed the House 92-15. The fee was set to expire on Dec. 31, and the new version sets a sunset for just two years on Jan 1, 2009.

The bills were originally passed by the Senate in the spring, but it got caught up in the House after attempts were made to keep the same 29-cent surcharge on land lines and add it to cell phones as well. The extra funds raised would have been used to fund other emergency services.

The Legislature will reconvene on Jan. 9, 2008.

Senate holding confirmation hearing for new DHS director

LANSING – With the budget crisis out of the way – for 30 days at least – the Michigan Senate is getting back to its normal schedule of 10 a.m. sessions Tuesday through Thursday.

In a routine week filled with committee hearings, the Senate Families and Human Services Committee’s confirmation hearing on Tuesday of Ismael Ahmed as the director of the troubled Department of Human Services may be the most interesting. Gov. Jennifer Granholm appointed Ahmed on August 9 as the director of one of the largest executive departments in state government following the resignation of Marianne Udow-Phillips. Ahmed has been serving as the acting director of DHS since his appointment until the Senate advisee and consent hearing.

The far-flung DHS has more than 10,000 employees and directs the operations of public assistance and service programs that includes temporary cash assistance, food assistance, childcare, child support enforcement, medical assistance, adoption and foster care services, domestic violence services, juvenile justice services and adult and children’s protective services. The DHS and former director Udow-Phillips came under fire recently for its handling of the Ricky Holland case, the 7-year-old Williamston boy who was murders by his adoptive parents in July 2005 after the parental rights of his biological parents were terminated by DHS.

Ahmed has a unique resume, and he has earned the respect of many people in Michigan with his work as the executive director and founder of the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS). It’s a private nonprofit agency that grew from a storefront operation that helped just about 125 people in 1971 to an agency with a $15-million budget that helps some 90,000 people a year. However, because ACCESS was created primarily to assist the Arab immigrant population adapt to life in America it and Ahmed have come under attack by some conservative groups and bloggers, especially following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. by Muslim extremists.

In 2002 when he ran as the Democratic nominee to the Board of Regents for the University of Michigan he was attacked by Debbie Schlussel - a conservative political commentator, radio talk show host, columnist and attorney – as being friendly to Arab terrorist groups. Those attacks continue, but Ahmed has his defenders as well, such as veteran journalist and Wayne State University Journalism Professor Jack Lessenberry , who called Schlussel an "Ann Coulter wannabe."

The committee hearing - chaired by Sen. Mark Jansen, R-Grand Rapids – will begin at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Senate hearing room on the ground floor of Boji Tower, 124 W. Allegan St. in downtown Lansing. The hearing, like all committee hearings, is open to the public.

Legislature misses midnight deadline for avoiding a shutdown but still passes budget agreement

LANSING – They missed the midnight deadline for averting a partial state government shutdown, but it appears after a day of bills funneling back and forth between the Senate and House a shutdown was averted early Monday morning.

Shortly before 3 a.m. Monday morning the Senate voted 19-19 for the conference report for House Bill 5198 to set a sales tax on certain services with two Republicans crossing over and Lt. Gov. John Cherry broke the tie by voting yes. Earlier in the morning two hours earlier the Senate had voted the same way for the conference report for House Bill 5194 that that raised the income tax rate from 3.9 percent to 4.45 percent.

Averting the shutdown took a lot of starts and stops, such as the conference report for the package of bills known as the Public Employees Health Benefit Act bill requiring pooling of health insurance for teachers and other public employees. It barely passed in the House by a vote of 57-52 just minutes after midnight Sunday night/Monday morning. That appeared to be the last piece in the puzzle for an agreement to balance the budget and for the Governor signing a 30-day continuation or temporary budget bill if the Senate passed the revenue bills authorizing the sales tax and the income tax increase.

Things got rolling in the Senate at 9:30 p.m. when it took up bills sent over from the House. Senate Bills 772 and 773 – the all important continuation budget - was passed by a vote of 34-3 that will keep the state government going for 30 days beginning on Monday. The continuation budget bill was previously approved in the House. The other budget bills are tie-barred to the continuation bill, and it took all night and the early morning to get all the pieces in order.

“This is a multi-departmental budget bill, and it includes debt service payments,” said Sen. Ron Jelinek, R-Three Oaks, the chair of the Appropriations Committee.

However, the continuation budget bill was tie-barred to the revenue increases; House Bills 5198 that set a sales tax on certain services and HB 5194. Earlier in the day the House passed HB 5198 that set the sales tax on 23 categories of services. It was approved with a narrow vote of 56-53, with the support of all but two Democrats. The bill provides some $613 million toward this year's $1.8 billion budget deficit.

The Conference Committee, consisting of three members from both Houses, voted 4-2 to approve HB 5194 that raised the income tax from 3.9 percent to 4.45 percent. Shortly before 11 p.m. the House passed the bill by a vote of 57-52 to kick it over to the Senate. Rep. Chris Ward, R-Brighton, and Rep. Ed Gaffney, R-Grosse Pointe Farms, were the only Republicans to vote for the bill. Ironically, Ward was on the conference committee and cast one of the two no votes.

The Senate also passed unanimously a series of reform bills aimed at improving government efficiency in exchange for some Republicans supporting the revenue increases. Senate Bills 396, 396 and 397 were passed that creates a Commission on Government Efficiency. The commission would conduct a comprehensive reviews and analysis of state administrative functions and mandates imposed upon local units, and the commission would recommend potential cost-saving reforms to the Legislature.

SB 549 was passed unanimously to implement a uniform school calendar for all public school districts. The rationale is there will be a monetary savings if it is easier to share program and services if they are all on the same calendar. SB 632 would allow products made by prisoners through Michigan State Industries (MSI) only be sold to non-profit agencies and tax-exempt agencies.

A major reform that was passed unanimously was House Bill 4800 that ends the so-called “double dipping.” It amends the State Employees' Retirement Act to suspend pension payments of a retiree under the act if the individual is reemployed by the State of Michigan directly or indirectly. The House substitute for SB 622 was passed 22-16 that will allow the Michigan Department of Corrections to privatize the corrections mental health program by allowing them to contract with "third-party providers."

Most of the Michigan’s media was for the first time in a long time focused on the Capitol, and Detroit and Lansing area TV stations were conducting live interviews and reports on both the House and Senate floors. However, Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, had the Senate Sergeants-At-Arms order the assembled media not to photograph or film the vote board when votes are taken to give the bills immediate effect. Those votes are not recorded anywhere or appear in the Senate Journal, so a photo or video of the board would be the only record. The rules that govern the Senate say nothing about what the media can or cannot shoot once they are given permission to film or photograph on the Senate floor.

This is not the first time Bishop has been accused of censorship. Last August he received a firestorm of criticism for attempting to block access from Senate computers to the blog "Blogging for Michigan" that had been critical of his handling of the budget situation. Only after he received criticism from both sides of the political spectrum did he relent and change his position.

Senate fails to reach budget compromise 24 hours before a government shutdown

LANSING –The Senate adjourned shortly before midnight on Saturday, apparently no closer to a budget solution that will stop a government shutdown in some 24 hours.

The Senate convened at noon today, but most of the day was spent at ease of the call of the chair as the Republicans and the Democrats spent the majority of the day in closed-door caucuses or in face-to-face negotiations. Despite rumors of an impending deal that included a boost in the state income tax rate and a sales tax on some discretionary luxury items that will keep the state open it never became a reality.

The Senate finally went into open session to conduct public business at 8:35 p.m., and one of the first actions was that Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Troy, appointed Sens. Valde Garcia, R-Howell, Wayne Kuipers, R-Holland and Michael Prusi, D-Ishpeming to the conference committee for House Bill 5198. The bill was passed with a bipartisan vote of 24-13 late Friday night, and it would allow a sales tax on some services in the state to go forward. The committee would work with three members of the House to decide what services would see a sales tax and how much.

The Senate then approved Senate Bill 799 by a vote of 36-1 that would transfer $20 million from the Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps (MCCC) Endowment Fund to the General Fund.

According to the analysis of the bill from the nonpartisan Senate Fiscal Agency, the bill would amend the Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps Act transfer the $20 million from the balance of the MCCC Endowment Fund to the General Fund, for the fiscal year that ended Sunday. This amount is the entire balance of the permanent investment of the Fund.

Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps (MCCC) is a special program that provides a variety of service opportunities for young adults age 18-25 to conduct conservation and recreation projects in state parks for a one-year term of employment at minimum wage to help prepare them for future employment by enhancing on-the-job skills, offering many training opportunities and providing hands-on work experience. The crews work to protect some of the most significant and threatened natural resources in the state, including marshes, fens, oak barrens and lakeplain prairies.

The transfer would entirely eliminate the program next year. The funds from the MCCC Endowment Fund are used as a match for a Federal Wildlife Grant, which would be in jeopardy with the elimination of the program.

Following that brief action, the Senate quickly went back to standby mode at 8:45 p.m. until it adjourned shortly before midnight. The Senate’s last chance to avoid a government shutdown will occur at 2 p.m. Sunday when it tries again to reach a deal on a budget to present to the Governor.

Senate heads off the LSJ and publishes salary info of employees without name

The Michigan Senate is apparently not waiting around for a Freedom of Information request from the Lansing State Journal for salary information on Senate employees and has established a web site with that information, according to an unnamed source in the Senate.

Last month the LSJ posted the public information on 53,000 non-exempt public employees that includes name, title, department, county of the workplace and salary, and it caused an outcry from state employees calling it a callous invasion of privacy. The timing, just days after Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop falsely claimed state employees were overpaid and demanded the governor rescind a previously negotiated pay raise, so angered state employees that some are talking about a misguided boycott of the LSJ.

Last week the House Business Office that maintains salary information for all Legislative staff members, as well as partisan central staff, received a FOIA request from the LSJ requesting salary information. The Senate has not yet received a FOIA request, so it decided to take a proactive approach and publish the salary information but omit individual names.

The web site lists salary by job title – and it differs from Senate office to Senate office - and then by where the person works. The web page also states that Senate employees are paid a fair and competitive wage for the work they perform. Unionized state employees gave up $300 million in concessions in the last contract.

However, sources said although the Senate has not officially received a FOIA request, the web site does not prelude them from receiving one, supply salary information with the individual’s name and having the LSJ - or any newspaper or blog - publish the public information.

Legislature extends summer vacation to July 17

Michigan Legislators will be even harder to find until July 17 after the House officially canceled session that was to begin Tuesday of next week.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm said late last month that lawmakers should not go on their two-week vacation that was to last until July 17 without resolving big pieces of state government's budget that starts Oct. 1. There was speculation that the governor could try to call a special session of the Legislature if legislators left without addressing a potential $1.6 billion shortfall. Although the budget year does not start until Oct. 1, there are only some 11 session days left this year, and Michigan public schools have already started their fiscal years.

As a compromise, the Legislature agreed to only a one-week break, but this latest news breaks that promise. There was no reason given for canceling next weeks sessions, but apparently Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop’s promise to meet over the break to discuss the budget situation was just more lip service and there was no budget or tax deal to vote on. Bishop’s only motivation seems to make the Governor look bad in his quest for the seat that will be open in three years.

I have not heard any word from the Senate on if they plan to cancel next week’s sessions, and they had next week marked as tentative session days. However, there did not appear to be any serious chance the Republican-controlled Senate would actually meet. Just before the break the Senate passed Senate Resolution 81 that made sure they would not have to come back before the two weeks were over.

According to the Associated Press, SR 81 changed a mechanism known as a call of the Senate, in which legislative leaders can lock lawmakers in the chamber and dispatch state troopers to arrest absent legislators.

Majority Republicans worried that Democratic senators might show up for session during the break and try to order them into session. So they enacted a change Wednesday — along a 20-17 party-line vote — requiring that a majority of all elected senators vote to issue a call of the Senate. Previously, only a majority of senators voting had to support such a move, regardless of whether a quorum of senators was present. The change effectively ensures Democrats will not have enough votes to force their GOP colleagues into session. Senate Minority Leader Mark Schauer, a Democrat from Battle Creek, criticized the rule change as penalizing Democrats that are "here to do the business of this body, such as balancing the state budget." Schauer says lawmakers should finish work on the budget — including raising taxes — by Saturday.

Perhaps Michigan Liberal will now extend the deadline for its “Michigan Legislature Summer Break Photo Contest.” The contest offers a $50 prize to the best photo of your local obstructionist legislator enjoying his or her vacation instead of working in Lansing to solve our state’s budget crisis. The original deadline was 5 p.m. July 10, but finding them has been harder than trying to find a Republican that cares about working people. Perhaps the deadline will be extended now.

Top Secret Senate GOP budget plan ignores advice of Wall Street

Standard & Poors, one of the top Wall Street rating agencies in the country, said in a report Monday that Michigan could see further declines in its credit rating if the Legislature does not get off the dime and address the structural budget deficits facing the state, according to a report by the subscription only Gongwer News Service.

Isn’t that what the governor has been saying for months?

The report, called "Prompt Action Key to Improving Michigan Credit Outlook,” went on to say that this is the most critical legislative session in a decade, and it said Michigan's outlook could return to stable if the Legislature passes a tax restructuring package and acts on other structural budget issues. Standard & Poors already had the state on a negative credit outlook, the only state it has ranked as such.

A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) said the report indicates more bad news for the state if action isn't taken soon, but he said the 2006-07 budget still should be resolved with cuts.

Yet Bishop and the Senate Republicans continue to play politics and hide their top-secret budget plan from the public.

As you recall, the Senate Republicans rejected the Governor’s Executive Order of Feb. 8 that addressed the $3 billon budget shortfall without a plan of their own. The EO would address the shortfall with a mix of cuts in spending, enacting a 2 penny tax on services that will cost the average tax payer about $1.33 a week and increasing taxes on such unhealthy items that cost millions in health care, such as cigarettes and liquor.

The Senate plan is still the most closely-guarded secret in a town full of journalists and reports, pundits, staffers and politicians, and the Senate GOP continues to play politics by keeping the plan secret. Their plan calls for just cuts and one-time accounting tricks and gimmicks to try and balance the budget instead of addressing the structural problem that got the state a negative credit rating. Legislative offices have been flooded with letters, phone calls and emails urging them not to enact the cuts the Governor has proposed, and that’s one reason the GOP plan is so secret

This is exactly what the Republicans did last summer in a cheap, blatant campaign ploy by eliminating the Single Business Tax early, and it also caused the state a drop in its credit rating. The lack of a known business tax is keeping companies from moving to Michigan because of the uncertainly.

Call Sen. Bishop at (517) 373-2417 and urge him to make his secret plan public and available to the people who will pay the freight: the citizens.

Cone of Silence may be used to discuss Secret GOP Senate budget plan

The Senate Republican’s Top Secret budget plan may finally see the light of day after weeks of skullduggery and intrigue that reached such ridiculous heights that only Republicans members of the Senate Appropriations Committee have seen the full proposal, and they were a not to write any of it down to keep it as confidential as possible

But according to subscription only Gongwer on Thursday, the four legislative leaders are expected to start discussions next week on reaching an agreement on the 2006-07 budget, including a peek the Top Secret Senate Republican budget cut plan. I wonder if Agents 86, 99 and Austin Powers have heard about this?

The Senate Republicans rejected the Governor’s Executive Order to balance the current budget early last month, and like the Republicans' irresponsible decision last summer to kill the Single Business Tax (SBT) without a replacement, the Senate Republicans also had no plan to replace the EO. They have been scurrying around the last two weeks under the cloak of secrecy to come up with a plan that is supposed to balance the budget with cuts alone.

Even though we are already in the currant fiscal year, Senate Republicans have been telling us for weeks they will soon have a plan to balance the budget with spending cuts alone. But exactly what those cuts will be is a closely guarded state secret. They are keeping those cuts from the public for as long as possible.

The plan itself is still not scheduled to be released even during the discussions, but some Senate Republicans have apparently said it might be next week. Secrets are hard to keep in Lansing with so many politicians, staffers, lobbyists and reporters, but the Senate cuts are as big a secret as the identify of covert CIA agents. No wait, strike that example.

Apparently this discussion will involve Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Twp.), Senate Minority Leader Mark Schauer (D-Battle Creek) and House Minority Leader Craig DeRoche (R-Novi). I wonder if CONTROL’s Cone of Silence is available for the discussion.

For weeks the Governor has been assailed in the media for the cuts she proposed, and that’s clearly one reason the GOP is keeping their propped cuts secret and away from public view as long as possible. Now, the cuts that come out of any discussions can also be blamed on Dillon and Schauer and not just Republicans.

Top Secret budget plan stays secret

Deep Throat speaks, sort of. Actually, he speaks, but he says nothing.

The much-ballyhooed article in the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus today on the Senate Republican’s Top Secret, for-your-eyes-only proposed budget plan is long on rhetoric and short on specifics. The plan is so secret and the Republicans are so afraid of the public to see what they plan to cut that Republican members of the Appropriations Committee and GOP staffers have been told not to write any of it down to keep it as confidential as possible. On penalty of death, I assume.

However, our own Sen. Valde “Deep Throat” Garcia – AKA Colonel Obvious – spilled the beans. Without divulging specifics, Garcia said the Republican plan relied on spending cuts as well as "accounting procedures" such as spending delays and shifts.

The article was written by Rich Perlberg, the executive editor for the newspaper and the former general manger of Hometown Newspapers, and it’s surprising that a good, veteran journalist let him get away with not revealing a single program they plan to cut.

“Our proposal protects the foundation allowance (for schools), but I can't guarantee that it will stay that way," Garcia said. That's because some of the Republican-recommended cuts are in areas the governor may want to protect.

As part of a plan to make-up a $3 billon shortfall in the state budget without even deeper cuts in essential services that residents depend on, the Governor proposed her budget almost a month ago that calls for a combination of spending cuts and a 2 penny investment on previously untaxed services. For the average family that will mean an increase of about $65 a year, or a $1.33 cup of coffee a week. The Senate Republicans rejected the plan without one of their own more than two weeks ago, and the actual cuts the GOP plan must make on top of the $4 billon in spending cuts the governor has already made since 2002 is the closest guarded secret since the Manhattan Project.

Tell us what the planned cuts are. Is that so hard? The Governor told the public what she must cut, and she has been battered by the press, interest groups and the public for it, yet the Republicans refuse to tell us what cuts they will make that will be much deeper and painful than the Governor’s cuts.

I guess me know why they are keeping it a secret as long as they can.