UNDER THE DOME

Capitol Update, August 4-October 6, 2008

Cynthia Ann Paul

Wayne County Sheriffs' Deputies Campaign- County Executive, Ficano proposed a budget that cut 327 sheriff deputies. SEIU’s systematic attack:
• Letter writing campaign to Wayne County Commissioners, Wayne County Sheriff and County Executive;
• Letters to the editor to 7 major papers in Metro Detroit;
• Joint letter from Anna Burger and Phil Thompson (encourage sheriff and executive to sit down and negotiate, SEIU will help find additional $$ from State and Federal sources and were planning a public demonstration;
• Joint letter from Phil Thompson and Mark Gaffney (President of the MI AFL-CIO);
• Numerous Press releases;
• Half a dozen state representatives and Senators sent letters to the Wayne County Commission, Ficano and Sheriff Evans; and
• Rally on the steps of the County Building;
• Webpage up for SEIU Local 502 members, http://www.seiumi.org/local502/Default.aspx.

Detroit Police Forensic Lab Campaign- Prosecutor, Kym Worthy and Mayor Cockrel closed the entire Detroit Police forensic labs based on discrepancies found in a preliminary audit of the firearms division. SEIU testified before the Senate State Police Sub Committee; Meeting with the City of Detroit; anticipate a letter writing campaign; letters to the editor and press releases.

Ergonomics Standard Turned Over to MIOSHA Commission- The ergonomic standards advisory committee presented standard to the General Industry Safety Commission and Occupational Health Standards Commission. This is a minimal consensus standard that will require evaluation and employee training on ergonomics. Anticipate this moving after the election. Kudos to Marsha Parrot-Boyle.

Granholm Signs Energy Package-Under the new laws (HB 5524, PA 286; SB 213, PA 295; SB 1048, PA 287), utilities would have to use at least 10 percent renewable power by 2015. They also have to help customers cut at least 5.5 percent of their potential power demand through energy efficiency programs over that same period. And customers would receive tax credits for purchasing certain energy efficient products. But the bills cap customer choice at 10 percent of the load for Consumers Energy and Detroit Edison to give them the demand stability they said they needed to be able to finance new power plants in the state.

Charter School Expansion Bill- The Senate amended a bill that initially dealt just with substitute bus drivers to open up the development of charter high schools. SB 1252 passed 20-18 vote, with Sen. Roger Kahn crossing ranks to join the solid Democratic caucus against the bill. The measure repealed a section of PA 1, 2008, that itself repealed a provision allowing charter schools to transfer property to another school. The provision is seen as a way of encouraging the growth of charter high schools and critics are worried that the provision would be a way of getting around caps set on the number of charter schools authorized by universities.

MBT Surcharge Phase out Speed Up- A three-year phase-out of the surcharge added to the Michigan Business Tax would begin in 2009 under legislation passed by the Senate on a 26-12 vote on Thursday. Also passed was a bill that eliminates current provisions in the MBT that include other taxes a business pays in its MBT base. But in amending the House version of SB 1038 the Senate also dropped a tie-bar provision that would link the bill to changes in the Kreiner decision. Under SB 1038, approved on a 27-11 vote, companies with less than $6 million in gross receipts would be able to excise other taxes paid from the revenue and expenditure base they would pay tax on. The changes made by the Senate also eliminate from the base real estate broker and securities traders commissions.

No Reason Absentee Voting Passes House- HB 4048 will allow Voters to request absentee ballots without giving a reason why they can’t vote at the polls on Election Day under legislation passed by the House on 65-41. It was amended on the floor to stipulate that if 5 percent of all state ballots in a statewide election are spoiled, then the absentee voting system would revert back to its current form.

Property Tax Snafu- The State House passed a Joint Resolution that would allow voters to approve a constitutional amendment changing the way property taxes are assessed (HJR III). The provision which generates the taxable value by multiplying the preceding year’s value by the percent increase in the State Equalized Value (SEV) would be limited to the property value’s increase (so if a home’s value went up by 1 percent, that’s how much the assessment could increase) and freezing the assessment if a home’s value decreases in a given year. The current law already caps property tax increases by 5 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less. The linen copy of the resolution remains in the House though.

House Passes Pregnancy Discrimination Bill- HB 6226 would add more language to the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act in regard to sex discrimination, police department policies that require women to take unpaid leave for the duration of their pregnancy would constitute sexual discrimination. Passed the House 105/2.

Nursing Home Licensure- Public Hearing for Changes in Ownership- HB 6388 specifies the Department of Community Health would need to hold a hearing at the request of any person before ownership is transferred. This and the nursing home regulation package (please see August 1, 2008 Under the Dome Column) passed the House. This bill passed the House 61/45.

Suta Dumping Revamp Passes the House- HB 6386 and 6387 would bring Michigan law into compliance with federal law, HB 6387 allows public officials to make requests to the agency for information in the public’s interest. And HB 6386 strikes language in the current law dealing with sole and primary purpose mandatory transfers, but keeps the language regarding prohibited transfers intact.

The House Labor Committee Takes up Early Out of Wayne County Court Employees- The Committee took testimony on HB 6379, which would allow employees in the court who have 80 years of combined age and length of service to retire from their positions early, a move proponents of the bill said would offset a proposal by Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano to lay off 295 court employees.

Right To Work Zones- Introduced Again- House Bill 1457 (Cassis) will allow local governments would be able to declare themselves right to work zones, meaning all-union shop agreements would not be permitted in the area, under a bill introduced in the Senate

Senate Introduced Anti-Bias Crime Statute- SB 1454 and SB 1455 which outlaw “bias-motivated” crimes which would be crimes directed against a person based on their gender, race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation or disability. (Please see August 1 Under the Dome Column for more detail, it explains the House passed version).

Civil Service Commission- State retirees will pay more for most of their prescriptions. Those who retired after January 1, 1987 will see their drug co-pays increase to $10, $20 and $40 depending on the medication. Mail-order 90-day supplies will be double the 30-day co-pay. For earlier retirees, the 30-day co-pay will remain at $7, $15 and $30, but the 90-day supply will now require the double co-pay. In addition to the drug co-pays, retirees will also see office visit co-pays and annual deductibles increase beginning January 1. Retirees on the PPO will see their deductibles rise to $300 per person or $600 per family (a $100/$200 increase) and those on Medicare will pay $300 a year each. The plan also increases the office visit co-pay to $15 and the emergency room co-pay to $50. Travel- The commission agreed to increase the standard mileage reimbursement, when a state car is available but not used, to 39.9 cents. If a state car is not available, the reimbursement is 58.5 cents per mile. The new rates are effective October 1.
Meals-The commission also changed the meal reimbursement on trips, requiring employees to provide receipts for every meal.

Detroit Renaissance Report- Encourages major changes in Michigan’s corrections, Medicaid, teacher retirement and state worker health care system.

ACLU Sues Over Voter Purge-The Department of State uses two processes to pull off voter registrations from the Qualified Voter File that the American Civil Liberties Union is arguing violate federal law. The two processes about which the groups are complaining have to do with changes of address. Voters who receive a driver’s license in another state are currently automatically taken off the voting rolls in Michigan, but the ACLU said federal law requires that they be sent a notice to confirm that they have moved. State law also requires that new voter registrations be purged if the voter card is returned undelivered. The ACLU said federal law requires that they remain on the rolls for two elections after the card is returned.

Grant for Hospitals- Michigan hospitals will receive part of a $3 million grant over the next three years that will go toward reducing the risk of hospital-associated infections in intensive care units.

RMGN Off of the Ballot- The Michigan Supreme Court upheld the result of the Court of Appeals decision to take the Reform Michigan Government Now! proposal off the November ballot, though with varied reasons.

Dillon Recall on the Ballot- The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals did not respond to a request to reverse a lower court’s decision that led to a recount and validation of recall petition signatures against House Speaker Andy Dillon, and his recall will be on the November ballot. The petition originally did not have enough validated signatures because 2,053 were thrown out because the circulator was not a registered voter or a resident of Mr. Dillon’s district, which is required by state law. A federal district court judge found those two requirements unconstitutional, which was appealed but unanswered by the ballot deadline.

Governor Granholm Goes through with the Mayor Kilpatrick removal proceeding and ultimately Mayor Kilpatrick enters a plea deal removing himself from office. Ken Cockrel with the Detroit City Council will be the Interim Mayor.

Federal Bail out Passes- A majority of Michigan’s U. S. House delegation voted for the revised $700 billion Wall Street bailout that won final passage in Congress and was signed by President George W. Bush. In a reversal from Monday’s vote, when the Michigan delegation voted 9-6 against the proposal, on Friday the vote was 9-6 in favor of the revised proposed. The sweetener was more tax cuts for businesses. Two Republican members and one Democrat switched from earlier “no” votes. The vote in the entire U.S. House was 263 to 171, with the yes votes being more than 40 more than the number needed to pass the measure.

Granholm Signs K-12 Budget -SB 1107, PA 268- The bill allocates half of what Ms. Granholm had proposed to get the high school program started, she was confident it would really be a $30 million program with support from the foundation community. The program will help create high schools that work, small and rigorous. The budget, the largest of the 2008-09 fiscal year, totals $13.4 billion, $400 million more than the current year's appropriation. The per pupil increases will range from $56 for the school districts paid the most per student to $112 for those districts receiving the least. The budget also adds another $10 million to help provide thousands of very young Michigan children with access to pre-school programs. It will also help provide for all-day kindergarten classes in many school districts.

Governor Signs General Government Budget- HB 5816, PA 261 Granholm struck four provisions with line-item vetoes as she signed the general government budget for 2008-09, which includes a long-sought 2 percent increase in statutory revenue sharing, the first boost in seven years. The governor vetoed two sections allowing the attorney general to carry into the next fiscal year some funds from consumer protection, antitrust, Medicaid fraud and other actions, saying it would authorize spending in excess of target agreements. She also removed language requiring the Department of State to conduct a cost allocation study on its collection and administration of transportation revenue, saying a current system to allocate costs is reasonable, and language that would have dedicated $3 million of the Jobs for Michigan investment program to the Lakeshore Advantage because she said awarding of funds should be done with the oversight from the Michigan Strategic Fund Board. The bill contains $3.16 billion in appropriations for six state departments, the Executive Office and the Legislature. The $668 million in general funds is 3.7 percent higher than the current year.

Transportation Budget Signed late September HB 5808, PA 275-The stalemate over the budget centered on DRIC. The final agreement on the future of DRIC was that the department can finish the DRIC study but in doing so the state is not bound in anyway to implement its recommendations. The state to continue a study of a crossing that would be built with public resources and backing, but requires the Legislature to approve any steps that could lead to actual construction. That includes creating a public-private partnership, authority to set and collect tolls, and a provision that would create a governing structure for the bridge. The budget totals $3.6 billion, none of which are paid for with general funds. The budget is $252 million, or 7.5 percent more than the current fiscal year, but the state’s restricted fund portion declined by 1.7 percent or $36.9 million.