I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
House Speaker Andy Dillon’s proposal to pool the healthcare for all public employees in the state of Michigan is sparking a debate that crosses party lines. Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Dillon’s fellow Democrat, says the idea is a bad one that won’t save the state any money in the foreseeable future:
Granholm said the proposal won’t help resolve the state’s current financial problems in 2010 or 2011, and might even detract from negotiations to erase a looming $1.7-billion deficit next fiscal year because lawmakers might thing they don’t need to cut state programs or find new revenue to plug the budget hole.
Granholm said she doubted a larger pool of employees would save the state money, noting that the state already pools 55,000 employees in large health insurance pools.
She also said that the timing is bad, that the state should not consider any reform proposals until we see what comes out of the current debate over healthcare reform at the national level in Congress.
On the other hand, Attorney General Mike Cox, a Republican running for Granholm’s seat as governor, issued a press release saying that Dillon’s idea has merit and should be seriously considered:
“By increasing the use of pooling and bringing Michigan’s public employee health costs down to the national average, we can reduce costs while protecting quality coverage,” said Cox. “Speaker Dillon is doing the right thing by moving this debate forward and I stand ready to work with him. Governor Granholm and the other legislative leaders must also give this proposal serious consideration.”…
Additionally, Cox has argued that Michigan’s public employee health costs must be brought down to the national average. Cox pointed to a 2008 Detroit Renaissance report that found Michigan could save as much as $269 million per year if public employee health costs were brought in line with the national average of other states.
Strange bedfellows, as the old saying goes.
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