Whitmer will lead Senate Democratic Caucus

Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, will be the first women to be the leader of a caucus after the Michigan Democratic Senate Caucus unanimously chose her to be the Senate Minority Leader today.

She was chosen before the Senate session today to replace term-limited Sen. Mike Prusi, D-Ishpeming, and to lead the caucus for the 2011-14 session. According to subscription only Gongwer, Sen. Glenn Anderson, D-Westland, was the only other candidate, but he bowed out of the race to make Whitmer a unanimous choice.

“While there will be a lot of changes in the Capitol, the priorities of the Michigan Senate Democrats will be the same, and we have a lot of talented individuals coming in who will fight harder than ever to see that they are addressed,” Whitmer said. “I am eager to work with anyone who is earnestly ready to roll up their sleeves and make the tough decisions necessary to right Michigan ’s ship for the long-term. I hope the new governor and incoming legislators will bring an open mind and a cooperative style to move us forward, and get past the partisanship, gimmicks and games that have been so problematic these last four years.”

Unfortunately, she will lead a caucus that is the smallest since the 1940s. She has worked hard to get Democrats elected, and I walked this summer and fall on a couple of canvas walks she organized and led.

She has been a thorn in the side of Senate Republicans the last couple of years, using procedural moves to make the caucus more relevant and involved in the process. She will need all that procedural magic with the Democratic disadvantage at 26-12.

Democratic leader also urges GOP to move on Hire Michigan First bills

Senate Minority Leader Mike Prusi, D-Ishpeming, was just one person battling Republicans to help those unable to find a job in the Bush recession continue to receive unemployment benefits, and the persistence paid off on Wednesday when the U.S. Senate a approved a six-month extension of unemployment benefits after weeks of Republican obstructionism.

Prusi introduced Senate Resolution 172 on July 1 urging U.S. Senate Republicans to put partisanship aside and lift their filibuster on a bill that will allow a six-month extension of unemployment benefits and Medicaid funding, but Michigan Senate Republicans even refused to allow a vote on the resolution and promptly went on a two week vacation.

“I am glad to see that two Republicans in the U.S. Senate finally allowed a vote on an extension of unemployment benefits and that it passed last night,” Prusi said. “I called on them to do so weeks ago, and it’s just a shame that more than 100,000 unemployed Michigan residents had to struggle to get by with their lifeline cut for three weeks while the Republicans played games and took vacations.”

While Senate Republicans enjoyed their vacation, 114,000 Michigan residents had their unemployment benefits run out. These workers, along with almost 300,000 additional unemployed Michigan workers, will have their benefits extended thanks to Congress’ action last night.

“Unfortunately, it isn’t much different in the State Senate, where Mike Bishop and the Senate Republicans continue to do nothing for Michigan ’s economy and our unemployed workers,” Prusi said. “We have legislation before the State Senate that would hire Michigan workers first on state-funded projects and secure $138.9 million in federal funding to extend unemployment benefits for workers in retraining programs. The Senate Republicans in Lansing need to stop obstructing our efforts to help Michigan workers.

Senate Republicans give Michigan’s unemployed the finger

LANSING -- The Michigan Senate Republicans joined their U.S. Senate colleagues in giving Michigan’s thousands of unemployed workers looking for work in the Bush recession the middle finger when they refused to even allow a vote on a resolution urging U.S. Senate Republicans to lift their filibuster on a bill that will allow a six-month extension of unemployment benefits and Medicaid funding.

“Today, we are about to break for a couple of weeks for the 4th of July holiday, but because of the Republican Senators and the United States Senate's failure to act on the unemployment extension and the FMAP extension, we are facing some critical issues here in the state of Michigan,“ said Senate Minority Leader Mike Prusi, D-Ishpeming. “If we do not get that extension passed in Washington, D.C., by next week, 97,000 families in Michigan will lose their unemployment benefits.”

The Senate Republicans referred Senate Resolution 172 to the Committee on Government Operations where bills go to die. Democrats moved to discharge the committee from further consideration, but Republicans moved to postpone the motion temporarily.

Republicans have used the lame excuse that the bill will increase the federal budget deficit, but the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said the deficit was because of the Bush tax cuts for the rich that Congress did not pay for and the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The cost of allowing the unemployed an extension is just a tiny fraction of this year’s budget deficit.

“I think that is rather disingenuous when this same crowd of Republicans in six of the eight years of the Bush Administration turned a $236 billion surplus into a $1.4 trillion deficit,” Prusi said. “Now all of the sudden, they want to cut the deficit; they want to cut taxes; they want to cut regulations; they want to cut red tape; and the first thing they go after is cutting millions of Americans out of unemployment benefits and cutting millions of Americans off the Medicaid rolls.”

The Senate was on various recesses on and off on Thursday, waiting for bills to come over from the House because the Legislature breaks for most of the summer. Senate Republicans then moved that further consideration of the resolution be postponed for the day, meaning the summer, but Democrats asked for a vote on that postponement.

As predicted, every single Republican voted to stiff Michigan’s unemployed.

“Those are your constituents and my constituents that week by week will fall off the unemployment rolls; lose the support that keeps their families whole, puts food on their table, pays their rent, and allows them to live a modicum of a decent life here in the state of Michigan,” Prusi said. “They are playing pure partisan politics with the lives of our constituents, and I find it reprehensible that we will not even stand up.”

Republicans quickly moved to adjourn, despite objections from Democrats, and Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing - one of the Senate Republican’s most vocal critics - and Sen. Deb Cherry, D-Burton, were on the board to speak.

I hope Republicans have to go back to parades and picnics and look Michigan’s unemployed constituents in the eye and tell them tax cuts for the rich are more important for their very economic survival.

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 fiddle while Michigan smolders

LANSING -- If anyone wants to know why bipartisanship and cooperation are hard to come by in Lansing just needs to take a look at the action on Wednesday of the Senate Republicans and Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop in unilaterally rejecting appointments Gov. Jennifer Granholm made to six university boards for terms that begin the day she leaves office with no hearings.

Granholm made the bipartisan appointments on April 7, and she followed previous precedent set by former Republican Gov. John Engler in making the same type of appointments. In fact, at least one of the 14 people on the list, Doug Roberts, was one of those appointed by Engler. None of Engler’s appointees ever had to go through the advise and consent process.

Granholm laid the blame squarely where it belongs.

“Senator Bishop rejected qualified appointees to serve our state universities, making them nothing more than partisan political pawns,” Granholm said in a statement. “He chose to ignore the advice of an attorney in his own caucus and rejected sitting board members like Doug Roberts, who Republicans have confirmed in the past, just to make a partisan point.”

Republicans tried this last Thursday, but Democrats used a parliamentary procedure to thwart them. Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, made a motion to adjourn and Lt. Governor John Cherry Jr., the Senate's presiding officer, granted it - in accordance with Senate rules - over the objection of Senate Majority Floor Leader Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt.

Republicans were a little more prepared yesterday. They took a recess for an hour until Cherry left the chamber, and they then reconvened with Sen. Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, in the chair and took up the issue.

While the budget waits and people are unemployed, Republicans killed an hour until the Lt. Gov. had to go to another appointment and left the chamber. That is just sad. They again proved that petty politics and keeping power is more important than anything else.

“In addition, it shows that we are having another unproductive and self-serving day in the State Senate,” said Sen. Deb Cherry, D-Burton, “After focusing a full session day on this last week, Senate Republican leadership continues to focus on this political issue instead of addressing the bills to create jobs and help Michigan workers.”

Cherry them brought a motion consider each of the 14 appointees separately. That failed along party lines. Last Thursday, the same motion almost passed, and two Republicans sided with the Democrats while another Republican did not vote because they supported some of the 14 appointees. The effort failed 18-19. Ironically, Richardville voted with the Democrats. He must have gotten a good talking to and went along with the party line.

Only Sen. Bruce Patterson, R-Canton, voted with the Democrats for a second time. Patterson - one of only three attorneys in the Senate - said summarily rejecting the appointments appears to go against the Constitution. He is a stickler for the constitution, and he spent the weekend researching the issue, as well as discovering that Governors as far back as Republican Gov. William Miliken has used the same procedure that was rejected yesterday.

“Here we are taking action en masse, even rejecting people we’ve approved in the past,” Patterson said. “When we look at Article VIII, Section 6, it talks about the boards of control and how they are to be constituted,” Patterson. “But, again, that’s just picky,picky, picky little details.”

Senate Minority Leader Mike Prusi, D-Ishpeming, challenged anyone to "look me in the eye" and say the appointees were getting fair and equitable treatment.

“The Michigan Senate has not rejected university appointments without hearing in recent history,” Prusi said. “Over the last 20 years, no gubernatorial appointee—and that includes Governors of both political parties who have made appointments to the boards of control—has been rejected without at least giving them a hearing.”

Senate Republicans get outplayed in political game

LANSING -- Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop’s attempt to unilaterally reject appointments Gov. Jennifer Granholm made to six university boards for terms that begin the day she leaves office with no hearings failed Thursday with a procedure move by Democrats and some desertions by a GOP caucus that usually marches in lockstep.

Granholm made the bipartisan appointments on April 7, and she followed previous precedent set by former Republican Gov. John Engler in making the same type of appointments. The attempt to reject the appointments without the normal advise and consent hearings upset Democrats and touched off a long debate.

“Article I, Section 17 of our Constitution allows these people the right to a hearing in front of a committee to determine whether or not they are qualified to serve the appointments that the Governor has sought to make,” said Senate Minority Leader Mike Prusi, D-Ishpeming. “The Michigan Constitution does not limit the time period to which the Governor may make an appointment to the office. Because the appointment power is vested in the Governor, the timing of these appointments is within the Governor’s discretion; not just this Governor but every single Governor of the state of Michigan since we approved this Constitution back in 1964.”

The normally organized Republicans were simply outmaneuvered by the minority Democrats.

After all of the agenda had taken care of, the Senate discharged the 14 university appointments in question from the Government Operations Committee, bringing them to the floor. Then the wheels fell off the Republicans‘ bus and their carefully laid plans.

Democrats sought to vote separately on each appointment instead of voting them up or down with just one vote. Normally, those types procedural motions usually go along strictly party lines, but two Republicans sided with the Democrats while another Republican did not vote. The effort failed 18-19.

“I ask you either approve these appointments, or remove this item of business, and let’s get on with what we are supposed to be here doing, not playing partisan, political games,” Prusi said.

As the debate continued and about a dozen senators having requested to speak, Republicans tried to end the debate, but that motion failed with five Republicans breaking ranks to oppose ending debate.

Right after that vote ended, Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, made a motion to adjourn and Lt. Governor John Cherry Jr., the Senate's presiding officer, granted it - in accordance with Senate rules - over the objection of Senate Majority Floor Leader Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt.

“We can debate the process of gubernatorial appointments and equity all day, and the fairness of this action is definitely questionable, but this is not what the Senate should be focused on in the first place,” Whitmer said. “As leader of the Senate and someone vying to be the top lawyer in the state, you would think that Mike Bishop would have more respect for the state constitution, but his latest emphasis on politics over progress only continues to show how out of touch he is with the people of Michigan.”

Subscription only Gongwer reported that “ Bishop was livid at the Thursday defection,” and “Mr. Bishop left the Senate chamber without speaking to reporters.”

It’s unclear if the issue will be taken up on Tuesday, but clearly some Republicans are impressed with some of the nominees.

Here are the nominees:

FERRIS STATE
Edward Haynor
Larry Leatherwood

CENTERAL MICHIGAN
Ronald Edmonds
Kevin Kelley

WESTERN MICHIGAN
John Cakmakci
George Franklin

MICHIGAN TECH
Russell Gronevelt
Terry Woychowski

GRAND VALLEY STATE
Douglas Crim
Matthew Tomasiewicz

EASTERN MICHIGAN
Michael Hawks
Erane Washington-Kendrick

NORTHERN MICHIGAN
Larry Inman
Douglas Roberts

Senate Republicans play election politics with health care reform

Even though the state budget is facing a shortfall and Michigan residents are hurting and need help, that didn’t stop Senate Republicans from flagrantly playing election politics on the Senate floor today.

The Senate took up Senate Joint Resolution K today, a proposed constitutional amendment designed to exempt Michigan from the health insurance reform bill moving through Congress.

It would “Prohibit a Federal law or rule from compelling any person, employer or health care provider to participate in any health care system,” and it is clearly aimed at the current health insurance reform bill being reconciled in Washington, D.C. and playing to the Republican base that has taken an extreme right turn.

The amendment required a two-thirds majority to go before the voters, and it only got 24 of the 26 required votes. Every single Republican voted for it, and two Democrats crossed over to vote yes.

Sen. Gilda Jacobs, D-Huntington Woods, called the Republicans out for playing politics with federal law, and she said it was unconscionable when we are facing major problems and the Senate has not yet addressed the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Individual Market Reform package of bills.
“This joint resolution feeds into the fear-mongering that is paralyzing Congress and the Legislature here in Michigan,“ she said. “The irony of all this, as we hear the debate that says the state should be taking care of things themselves, we are not doing that.”

The resolution was introduced by Sen. Wayne Kuipers, R-Holland, who is running for U.S. Congress in the seat vacated by “Twitter” Pete Hoekstra, who is running for Governor. At least three other Republicans are considering a run for the seat, and because he has a tough primary, he is playing to the base with this ridiculous resolution.

Senate Minority Leader Mike Prusi, D-Ishpeming, recognized that.

“I also further believe that underlying this joint resolution was a lot of cynical politics, and I find it sad that we would use such a critical issue that affects nearly every one of the people we represent here to advance in an election year; cynical politics of fear” he said.

Obviously, the Supreme Court has spoken the state’s rights issue long ago, and this could have some serious negative effects on the state.

“I think one of the further un-discussed ramifications of this may have been what it could cost the state of Michigan if we are making this statement and trying to contravene what is going on in Washington,” Prusi said. “That's the potential withholding of Medicaid payments, SCHIP payments and other health care dollars that flow from Washington to the states.”

Plenty of real straight talk in State of the Union speech

BRIGHTON -- President Obama hijacked the real “Straight Talk Express” Wednesday night in the first of eight State of the Union speeches.

Like many people, I attended a speech watching party, and I attended the party hosted by the Livingston County Democratic Party. The people in the crowded banquet room at Memories Lounge at times sat in rapt attention, cheered and laughed. The President not only delivered a great speech, but he talked off the cuff directly to the American people and Republicans, who are blocking everything in an attempt to regain power.

The president covered a wide variety of subjects, from the banking crisis to nuclear weapons. He pleaded for bipartisan action on the country’s pressing problems, but judging from the crowd shots of the Republicans and past history, their only concerns is just defeating the President at all costs.

He took banks to task for not lending to help stimulate the economy, even though they gladly took bailout money.

“Our most urgent task upon taking office was to shore up the same banks that helped cause this crisis,“ he said. “It was not easy to do. And if there's one thing that has unified Democrats and Republicans, and everybody in between, it's that we all hated the bank bailout. I hated it. You hated it. It was about as popular as a root canal.”

He also talked about his efforts that have begun to turn the economy around, and he did so with tax cuts to people who need it most and spend more.

“Now, let me repeat: We cut taxes. We cut taxes for 95 percent of working families,” he said to thunderous applause. “We cut taxes for small businesses. We cut taxes for first-time homebuyers. We cut taxes for parents trying to care for their children. We cut taxes for 8 million Americans paying for college.”

But while he acknowledger the success of the Recovery Act, the President acknowledged how far we have to go to dig ourselves out of the worst recession since the Great Depression.

“But I realize that for every success story, there are other stories, of men and women who wake up with the anguish of not knowing where their next paycheck will come from,” he said. “That is why jobs must be our number-one focus in 2010, and that's why I'm calling for a new jobs bill tonight.”

That’s something people here in Michigan are very interested in. Michigan Senate Democratic Leader Mike Prusi, D-Ishpeming, called for action today on state legislation that upholds the priorities outlined by President Obama in the last night’s speech.

“Following the President’s speech, it’s clear that certain core values resonate from the highest level of government on down to the state and even local level,” Prusi said. “Senate Democrats have placed an emphasis on these priorities and we have been fighting for Michigan’s middle class all along, and it's time to start moving legislation that can offer them real relief.”

That federal jobs bill will focus on small businesses and entrepreneurs where most of the jobs are created.

“So tonight, I'm proposing that we take $30 billion of the money Wall Street banks have repaid and use it to help community banks give small businesses the credit they need to stay afloat,” he said. “I'm also proposing a new small business tax credit -– one that will go to over one million small businesses who hire new workers or raise wages.”

Despite speculation that he will back off health care reform that is choking our economy, he renewed his effort to reform health care.

“Now, let's clear a few things up,“ Obama said. “I didn't choose to tackle this issue to get some legislative victory under my belt. And by now it should be fairly obvious that I didn't take on health care because it was good politics.

“I took on health care because of the stories I've heard from Americans with preexisting conditions whose lives depend on getting coverage; patients who've been denied coverage; families –- even those with insurance -– who are just one illness away from financial ruin,” he said.

He also asked for some real bipartisanship and said Americans are sick of the constant fighting. The President acknowledge there will always be differences between the two parties, but he said the parties must get together to address the problems.

“But what frustrates the American people is a Washington where every day is Election Day,” he said. “We can't wage a perpetual campaign where the only goal is to see who can get the most embarrassing headlines about the other side -– a belief that if you lose, I win.”

He left people with some of the inspirational words that led so many people to vote for the first time ever in 2008.

“We don't quit. I don't quit,“ he said “Let's seize this moment -- to start anew, to carry the dream forward, and to strengthen our union once more.”

So-called reforms are just same old attacks on state workers

Reform: “the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc.”

Someone needs to send Senate Republicans copy of a dictionary, and once again, their idea of reform is to cut state worker’s pay. Senate Republicans released their so-called “government reforms” on Tuesday, and the target was their favorite whipping boy, public employees.
They are calling for a constitutional amendment to be placed on the ballot in August to require government workers to take a 5 percent pay cut and pay 20 percent of their health insurance premiums. But they expanded their attack to snare all levels of government employees- elected officials like the governor and legislators, state employees, local government employees, teachers and others. Even though Michigan’s economy has changed with the huge loss of manufacturing jobs, the proposal did not include a single tax reform proposal.

It would also cap administrative costs in school districts at 28 percent of the entire district budget, and the proposal also targets the poor; eliminating yet-to-be-determined optional services under Medicaid. After the last budget year eliminated dental benefits, I’m not sure what else they can eliminate. Apparently, the proposal would also eliminate collective barraging, but Republicans hate unions even more than they hate state workers.

This is just another campaign tactic from the GOP caucus where the majority are running for statewide office.

“While reforming how government does business is of critical importance, there are other issues that matter to Michigan families,” said Mike Prusi, D-Ishpeming, the Senate Democratic leader. “I encourage my colleagues from across the aisle to take action on several additional legislative issues before our chamber, including foreclosure assistance, lowering of insurance rates and Hire Michigan First. Reforms will help us in the future, these other proposals help families today.”

State workers have continued to make sacrifices to balance the state budget. In the current budget that was just passed in October that had a $1.5 billon shortfall, it included $28 million in concessions from state employees, and the layoff of 1,500 state employees. State employees have made concessions that have saved the state more than $3.7 billion since 2001.

The myth that state employees are overpaid and state government continues to grow has already been debunked. In August, respected Michigan State University professor of economics Charles Ballard issued a report that said state employees earn less than their private-sector counterparts with comparable educational attainment. It also confirmed what we already know: state government is smaller now than it was in 1973. In fact, state government is only about 80 percent of what it was at the beginning of this decade, and it’s going to get smaller.

The proposal would also eliminate so-called “lifetime health care benefits” for retired legislators who have not vested before January 1, 2010. That’s simply not true. It kicks in only after they are finished with their entire maximum term they can serve and it kicks in at age 55 and is in force until they reach age 65 when Medicare kicks in. It seems Republicans only want the independently wealthy and the retired to serve in the Legislature.

Proposed budget will kill any chance at economic recovery and mortgage the future

LANSING – Diverse groups from the Michigan Municipal League (MML) to the Michigan Association of School Administrators expressed shock that House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford, agreed to use the all cuts budget proposed by Senate Republicans as targets for balancing the 2010 budget.

Dillon is siding with Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, in using all cuts to make up the $2.8 billon deficit in the state budget that must be in place by Oct. 1. The only thing that appears to be certain in the fluid budget situation is that there will be a continuation budget. Part of the alleged deal between Bishop and Dillon is an agreement to include new revenue that will allow the Legislature to restore some spending cuts in a supplemental appropriations bill down the road. But the problem is that Bishop has been running for Attorney General for the past year and there is no incentive for Bishop to even allow his caucus to take up any new revenue bills down the road.

The budget cuts passed by the Senate Republicans will devastate the state, and they include eliminating the state’s 78 Child and Adolescent Health Center (CAHC) Programs, a $110 cut in the per student in the foundation grant, eliminated School Readiness grants, completely eliminated Early Childhood funding, eliminated vocational and adult education, eliminated the Michigan Promise Grant scholarship, huge cuts to the Healthy Michigan Fund, cut 8 percent to Medicaid providers and a 12 percent cut to local government revenue sharing.

The good news is Senate Republicans are balking at the cuts that will hurt Michigan’s future and economic recovery.

Senate Democrats offered concrete suggestions on Thursday for resolving the crisis, while avoiding cuts that would eliminate any chance for a long-term economic recovery.

“For anyone to imply that the only way to fix our budget is through cuts alone or general tax increases alone is baloney,” said Senate Democratic Leader Mike Prusi, D-Ishpeming. “Our alternatives present a compromise approach that still includes some painful cuts, but uses reforms to protect the things that will make our state competitive in the future. These options should at least be on the table as we hammer out a final budget deal in the coming days.”

Senate Democrats have consistently defended several key priorities that are important investments in making our communities safe and our workforce attractive to new businesses, including: Early childhood and public education programs, so that our young people enter school ready to learn; Promise scholarships that help our students afford a higher education and secure good-paying jobs; Local revenue sharing that provides police officers and firefighters to watch over our loved ones; and Health care programs that keep people from seeking more expensive care down the road that we all end up paying for.

The caucus acknowledged that difficult cuts in other areas of the budget may have to be considered, but they have identified a number of reasonable funding sources that would allow Michigan to restore these key investments. These funding alternatives include:

Ending Michigan’s status as a donor state. Assessing just a 2 percent fee on physicians, like we do with hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care providers, allows us to secure a 3 to 1 match from the federal government. This is an idea that even members of the Senate Republican majority have supported in the past and it could provide more than $300 million. By ignoring reforms adopted by other states, we are allowing Washington to dole out hundreds of millions of dollars to states like California, Texas and Alaska instead of Michigan.

Asking multi-millionaires to pay their fair share. Decoupling from the federal government on estate taxes for estates more than $2 million, like a number of other states have done, would allow us to collect at least $130 million to avoid these painful cuts. A majority of other states, including all of our neighbors in the Midwest, already have some type of system to require this.

Reducing tax expenditures. By temporarily scaling back the more than $36 billion in tax credits the state hands out every year; we can avoid wiping out important services.

Limiting tax loopholes. We currently give millions of dollars in breaks to oil and gas companies, insurance companies, and others, while some are advocating for the complete elimination of programs that help our kids. Those aren’t the right priorities for Michigan.

“Now, there may be those who accuse us of being obstructionist or not going along to get along. Well, this caucus has been around long enough to recognize when short-term political considerations are sending us over a cliff, and we won’t let it happen on our watch,” Prusi said. “We’ll do whatever it takes to restore these priorities, and if others in this town are hell bent on making these kinds of mistakes, they’ll have to do it without our help. And anyone who suggests that there’s no time to consider these options should commit to skipping their Republican leadership meeting up north next weekend to stay here and do this right.”

Senate Republicans slap Michigan workers in the face and address a problem that does not exist

LANSING – Less than 24 hours after voting against Michigan’s unemployed workers and leaving $140 million in federal funds that would have gone directly to Michigan workers who cannot feed their families on the table, Senate Republicans again voted against Michigan workers on Thursday by addressing a problem that doesn’t exist.

Senate Bills 612-615 were approved along primarily party lines that address fraud in the unemployment benefits system and penalizes the unemployed who received benefits by mistake. Senate Democrats were upset for a number of reasons, and the bills did not receive a single committee hearing. They were introduced in late May and forgotten until passed by the majority on Thursday as the Legislature took two-week summer break.

“This shows that our priorities are clearly out of step with the needs of people who are struggling out there in Michigan,” said Sen. Hansen Clarke, D-Detroit.” While we are cozy in this air-conditioned chamber, there are people who are struggling just to barely make it. This is another example of how this Legislature is totally out of touch with the needs of people.”

Specifically, the bills would allow the recovery of interest on the amount of improperly paid unemployment benefits, double the amount of damages that may be recovered for fraud and create the "Special Fraud Control Fund" and require amounts recovered for fraud violations to be deposited into this Fund.

Senate Democrats said they support going after fraud, but there is no provision for the state making a mistake, or even the worker thinking he is eligible and receives benefits that later turns out he was not eligible for. It also didn’t address employers who fraudulently try to stop a worker from collecting benefits.

“I didn’t see anything in those bills that was aimed at employers who are fraudulently denying workers unemployment insurance,” said Sen. Ray Basham, D-Taylor. “I had a trucking company in my office the other day in their fight with Treasury over taxes that they were charged. In fact, there was an $80,000 dispute in Treasury who is admitting that they are wrong, but they don’t want to give the money back to the trucking company.

“So if the trucking wants to continue to litigate this, they will have to put up one hundred and something thousand dollar bonds to go after $80,000,” he said.

The bills would also put Michigan out of conformity with federal rules and put us at risk of about $70 million in federal sanctions. But Senate Democrats were more incensed that the bills were rushed out without a single committee hearing just 24 hours after refusing to consider House Bills 4785 and 4786 that would provide unemployment benefits to individuals who are only available for and seeking part-time work and those in an approved job training program who have exhausted their regular benefits. That would make Michigan one of only about five other misguided states to say no to those funds.

“When we are at 14.1 percent unemployment here in the state of Michigan, and we leave $140 million sitting on the table in Washington that we could be using to benefit working families and people who have lost their jobs here in Michigan, I think that is a travesty of what we are sent here to do,” said Senate Minority Leader Mike Prusi, D-Ishpeming.

Because Michigan's largest employer, the auto industry, is losing market share in the national recession, it has the highest unemployment rate in the nation. But, only about half of Michigan’s unemployed workers are currently receiving benefits, according to a report by the Michigan League for Human Services, because they have exhausted benefits without finding a job, they are working part-time or they lost a part-tine job. It’s also estimated that for every $1 of unemployment benefits spent by workers and their families, there is an estimated $2.15 in economic growth.

Prusi said he is angry that he has to go home to the UP during the Legislature’s two-week break where unemployment is even higher than the rest of the state and tell them the only thing the Legislature did was penalize them if a mistake is made. Instead of helping 20 percent of the people, they are going after 2 percent of the people.

“You could have brought home that we are extending your unemployment benefits. You could have brought home we are going to help you get retrained for a job because your job has left and is not coming back. But all you are going to do is say we ended fraud in the unemployment system,” he said. “The very bulk of the people and the very number that is shown 2.5 percent of the people are overpaid in their unemployment benefits, and you are going to go after that 2.5 percent and claim you saved $100 million. That is fraudulent in itself.”

Senate Republicans vote against Michigan workers

LANSING – Senate Republicans again voted against workers Wednesday, and left $140 million in federal funds that would have gone directly to Michigan workers who cannot feed their families on the table.

Senate Democrats tried to discharge House Bills 4785 and 4786 from the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee to the floor on Wednesday, but it was blocked along party lines. The bills, approved by the House on May 6, would provide unemployment benefits to individuals who are only available for and seeking part-time work and those in an approved job training program who have exhausted their regular benefits. It will pump $140 million in federal funds into Michigan which is suffering with double-digit unemployment, and Michigan cannot afford to give up that money for people who can only find part-time work and people who lost a job and are trying to learn new skills.

Senate Minority Leader Mike Prusi, D-Ishpeming, said Michigan unemployment is the worst it has been since 1983, and in 1983 he was one of those unemployed. He said he had to leave two small children behind in Michigan as an unemployed miner and find work in Colorado. He said he doesn’t want any more Michigan residents and families to have to go through that and leave the state.

“The only thing that helped keep my family together was the fact that I had extended unemployment benefits,” he said “There were 3,500 iron ore miners laid off, and you could not find a job in the Upper Peninsula to save your soul.”

Today’s ore miners are auto workers, and the need to diversify Michigan’s economy is paramount. The economic climate has also produced thousands of workers who are technically part-time because they work less than 40 hours a week, and employers also do not have to supply benefits like sick days and health benefits. If that type of worker lost their job, they would not be eligible for unemployment benefits under the current plan. In fact, part-time workers currently make up one-sixth of the nation’s workforce.

“These bills have sat long enough,” Prusi said. “Thousands of people are going without unemployment benefits because we refuse to act in this chamber, and I think now is the time to act before we break for the summer; before we let these families go without the unemployment benefits that supports them and supports their children.”

Opponents – primarily Republicans and the Michigan Chamber of Commerce - claim that once the stimulus money is gone in four years the employers will have to pay more in taxes to pay for the unemployment benefits. But most states, all with lower unemployment rates, have taken the money.

GOP staffer may be in trouble for telling the truth

LANSING -- Another Michigan Senate GOP staffer may be in danger of losing their job for daring to tell the truth.

Last week Senate Republicans finally moved the package of bills known as the Hire Michigan First legislation, but they stripped the teeth out of the bills like they did the foreclosure bills. A GOP analyst for the Senate produced an analysis of the bills, according to subscription only MIRS, that said the package "won't have much real impact," but will get the Senate Democrats off their backs on an issue that could play poorly politically if left to fester.“ In other words, instead of trying to help Michigan’s economy they did it for purely political reasons.

According to MIRS, the spokesman for the Senate Republican Caucus said the document was the analysis of one person from the policy staff. The analysis was produced at the request of Senators, and the document by analyst Jamie Clover Adams represents the individual personal policy view of the analyst.

You will recall last month Senate Republican consultant Dennis Darnoi wrote a white paper that looked at why Republicans have lost in the last couple of elections, and it said they cannot expect a backlash against the party in control to win in 2010. A couple of weeks later, the services of Mr. Darnoi - the former Chief of Staff for Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop - were no longer required.

I hope Ms. Adams has her resume updated.

The 19-bill Hire Michigan First package was approved by the House in March, but Senate Republicans resisted efforts to pass the package.

The bills simply say a company that gets tax breaks and money from Michigan tax payers must hire Michigan workers when ever possible. The version the House Democrats passed rewards companies that employ 100 percent Michigan workers with state economic development incentives. The 12-bill package also encourages transparency and accountability by requiring companies that accept incentives to report on who they hire to ensure that Michigan residents are put first. The package also cracks down on companies that hire undocumented workers by creating penalties that include requiring them to pay back their tax incentives and barring them from future state contracts.

“It’s not enough to just see products that say, 'Made in Michigan,’ we want our products, buildings and bridges to be made by Michigan,“ said Sen. Glenn Anderson, D-Westland, a lead sponsor of the Senate package. “That’s why I fought for this issue every chance I got, and it’s why I will continue to push for the elements of this plan that weren’t included in today’s vote.”

Senate Democrats also tried to correct loopholes in the bills inserted by Republicans that will make it easier for companies to not hire Michigan workers. Additionally, three bills in the package have yet to see any Senate action:

Senate Bill 289, a bill that would change the current law requiring vendors who contract with the state to hire not less than 50 percent of Michigan residents to 100 percent of Michigan residents.

Senate Bill 288, a bill that would allow Michigan to cancel a contract or stop payment under a contract to a vendor who knowingly hires illegal aliens or who knowingly violates Michigan's Prevailing Wage Law.

This one makes no sense to me. Conservatives rail against the individual illegal immigrant crossing the border just to earn more money than he can’t earn in his own country, but they continue to refuse to hold the company responsible that hires them illegally, and creates the demand and makes huge profits accountable.

Senate Bill 291, a bill that requires vendors under state contract to report on the number of new jobs created under the contract and the number of Michigan residents hired on that project.

“You have weakened the provisions that protect the wages and the jobs here in Michigan,” said Senate Democratic Leader Mike Prusi, D- Ishpeming. “We have had a long tradition here in Michigan of fairness as it applies to jobs and the wages that are paid on these jobs when they are jobs under state contracts.”

Senate Republicans rev up attack on workers

LANSING – Michigan Senate Republicans continued their anti-worker stance by approving Senate Resolution 16 on Thursday that asked the U.S. Congress to oppose the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).

The resolution was introduced by Sen. Mark Jansen, R-Gaines Twp., and co-sponsored by Senators Wayne Kuipers, R-Holland and John Pappageorge, R-Troy. The resolution was approved 20-16 along party lines.

Under current U.S. law, if more than 50 percent of employees certify their desire for representation, then a union can choose to form using card check procedures by signing a card and the employer would have to recognize the bargaining unit. However, currently the employer does not have to recognize the card check petition of the majority and can veto the majority and require a secret-ballot vote overseen by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and it does every single time. Under the proposed EFCA, an employer could only challenge a card check petition if fraud or illegal coercion was alleged. Currently, once the workers indicate they want a union, the employer calls for an election, and then the intimidation, threats of closure, threats of firing and actual firing begin.

The rise of unions coincided with the rise of the middle class, and the assault on the middle class has coincided with the attack on unions. Sen. Ray Basham, D-Taylor, said the fall in union membership has contributed to the widening gap between the rich and poor. Basham was a past Employee Support Services Representative for the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 245 and on the bargaining committee for the local.

"As organized labor becomes less and less and people lose health care and a living wage, then again, we get the very rich and the very poor," Basham said. "A lot of countries have a very rich and a very poor population like Mexico, but when you do not allow employees to organize and peacefully assemble and to have a collective voice in a workplace, you are doing a disservice not only to those employees, but also to the middle-income folks as a group in this country."

Republicans have continued to cling to the false talking point that EFCA "does away with the secret ballot." The fact that it's not true has not stopped them from parroting it at every opportunity, and this is something we have seen with all GOP talking points. It's also ironic that now Republicans now care about the sanctity of elections.

"What on earth is Congress thinking when they take away a person’s right to vote," said Sen. Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt. "Elections by a secret ballot allow everybody to have a say in their shop."

The simple fact is that what the EFCA does is put the power of who calls for a secret ballot in the hands of the employee not management. The workers can call for a secret ballot anytime, but the employer cannot do so to use the extra time to intimidate the workers.

Senate Minority Mike Prusi, D- Ishpeming, said he has seen plenty of intimidation on the part of employers. Prusi is a former iron ore miner who has spent plenty of time at the bargaining table. He was elected to three terms as President of Local Union 4950 of the United Steelworkers of America.

"On the question on whether or not there is coercion involved, I have seen much more coercion on the part of the employer than I ever have on the part of an organizing union," Prusi said. "The employers who spend, in some cases, hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars to keep the union from their workplace would be much better served if they were to work with their employees in a collective bargaining arrangement for the betterment of the employees and the betterment of the workplace."

Unions are the most democratic organization in the workplace, and workers elect their leaders and vote for the contract. It is also a bipartisan organization, a fact not lost on Sen. John Gleason, D-Flushing. Gleason was a skilled trade millwright for 30 years and is a member of Millwright's Local 1102 and UAW Local 598.

"A Republican President said it would be foolish; President Eisenhower said, “It would be foolish to not understand what unions have offered our country," Gleason said. "I agree with that Republican President that the unions have offered us a great deal of fairness."

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.