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Michigan Government
Michigan Rising: Aiming to Recall Snyder—While Disgruntled Former Volunteers Target Michigan Rising
by Chris Savage
Michigan Rising, the group formerly known as the Committee to Recall Rick Snyder (CRRS), was unsuccessful in its bid to recall Michigan's governor last year. The challenges the group faced, discussed in my previous piece,…
Whirlpool Corp—A Michigan Job Creation “Success Story”: Dodging Taxes & Profiting from Poverty
by Chris Savage
I have been following and writing about Public Act 4, the Emergency Manager law, since it was passed in March of 2011. The first impacts of the changes made by this law hit in Benton Harbor, Michigan. A tiny town on the…
Snyder Signs Bill Ending Same-Sex Benefits for Public Employees — Strips More Children of Health Care
by P.D. Lesko
Michigan Republicans sent House Bill 4770 and House Bill 4771 to Governor Rick Snyder and on Thursday December 22, 2011 he signed the bills into law. The bills prohibit public employers from including domestic partner…
Republicans in the Michigan Legislature Wildly Exaggerating Savings From Same-Sex Benefits Cuts
by P.D. Lesko
Michigan Republicans want to see House Bill 4770 and House Bill 4771 signed ito law by Governor Rick Snyder. The bills would prohibit public employers from including domestic partner benefits in their public employee…
Savaged: Michigan Supreme Court Quietly Affirms Access to Courts Is Based On Ability To Pay
By Chris Savage
In late November of this year, the Michigan Supreme Court issued a tersely worded order (pdf) that said simply this: On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal the July 19, 2011 judgment of the Court of…
Pure Michigan: MSU Survey Shows Governor Snyder Has Lowest Approval Ratings in the Nation
by P.D. Lesko
For the past year, Governor Rick Snyder has been getting pretty much everything he wanted from the state's Republican-controlled legislature. Together, the state's Republicans have been accused of legislatively sucker…
Michigan GOP Legislators Move To Make Recalls Much More Difficult
by P.D. Lesko
According to a December 1, 2011 piece in The Chicago Tribune, "Less than a month after the rare recall of a state lawmaker, Republican leaders in the Michigan Senate proposed a constitutional amendment to limit the reasons…
Savaged: County Commishes Suggest Euthanizing Local Humane Society Over Money Dispute
By Chris Savage
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."— attributed to Mohandas Gandhi
What would you call a group of municipal leaders that was receiving $1.5 million in…
Why Is Ann Arbor’s State Senator Accepting Free Meals From the City’s Own Lobbyist?
by P.D. Lesko
In September 2011, MLive political analyst Susan J. Demas outed Democratic State Senator Rebekah Warren (left) as one of only four Michigan legislators who had accepted more than $1,800 in free food and drinks from lobbyists…
New Report: Michigan Economy Is Moving “Significantly Backward” By Hiking Taxes on the Poor
by P.D. Lesko
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, one of the nation’s premier policy organizations working at the federal and state levels on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income families and…