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The Michigan Messenger going forward

By Staff Report | 11.16.11

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 [...]

Colorado-based abstinence program provided false and misleading information to Michigan students

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By Todd A. Heywood | 11.16.11

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.

Class action lawsuit filed against MERS over unpaid taxes

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By Todd A. Heywood | 11.15.11

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.

Schuette fights important mercury regulations

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By Eartha Jane Melzer | 11.14.11

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.

Garcia on vote to eliminate ‘Promise’ scholarship: ‘I felt I had no choices’

By Todd A. Heywood | 09.30.09 | 8:01 pm

(photo by Todd A. Heywood/MichiganMessenger.com

(photo by Todd A. Heywood/MichiganMessenger.com

LANSING — Republican State Sen. Valde Garcia says he broke a promise Wednesday not to support any bill that eliminated the Michigan Promise scholarship because he felt he had to.

“I did not want to vote for that bill,” said the lawmaker from Howell. “I felt I had no choices. It was a no-win situation and I had to make the tough decision.”

On Tuesday, Garcia said he would not support any budget bill which would eliminate the Michigan Promise scholarship, but late this afternoon Garcia cast the deciding vote which effectively killed the popular program.

Valde Garcia

Valde Garcia

The bill was approved by the House earlier Wednesday, and it passed the Senate 19-18. Garcia’s deciding vote was cast right before voting closed.

“It was not a lie,” Garcia said of his Tuesday statement. “I fully intended to vote against. Sometimes this is an ugly process.”

Garcia, who faced some heat last week as the House-Senate budget conference committee, said he felt if he cast a vote which killed the higher education budget, it could have derailed the budget process, sending the state crashing into a government shut down. The Senate vote on the higher ed budget came an hour before two budget bills in the House met such strong opposition, votes on them were temporarily suspended.

Comments

  • furiousinlivonia

    Senator Garcia is a coward and a traitor. Maybe the Michigan legislators could each write out a check in the amount of $4,000.00 and donate it to a Michigan family that now has no idea how they are going to pay for their child to go to college. They should be able to afford it since they are the second highest paid legislators in the country. They could make that first check out to my daughter who worked extremely hard for months to score high on the MME and scored a 28 on the ACT. Her name is Jessica. She wants to be a psychologist. That money was going to pay for her first two years at a community college. Thanks for teaching her that a promise made by Michigan legislators is worth nothing.

  • ecjlmd

    Totally a coward. I thought you were a school teacher, a voice for Michigans students! Whatever! I say to the politicians, cut your income, give it up for 6 months. You guys take cuts. And who really needs a state fair, are you kidding, lets worry about the kids preschool through highschool on on to college! Glad you can sleep tonite Sen Garcia, knowing because of your income your kids will be fine!

  • truejake2

    heres a thought, if we're really running that short on cash and our legislators are so bull headed that they wont dotheir jobs and they are making a huge paycheck, and they wont give it up, if none of those can be changed, why dont we copy california and do the big garage sale like they did, im sure michigan owns a lot of crap that the government doesnt need or want, and the people could use. im sure it owuld bring in at least sdome money, no matter how bad the economy is people find ways to buy things so if they have the incentive that by spending a little cash now means they get better benefits from government programs that wouldnt need a budget cut anymore, im certain many people would do everything they could to buy what ever they could in a giant state garage sale, whya hasnt en1 thought of doing something like that?

  • carol_b

    As a parent of 2 kids in college, there is NO way I can affrod to make up the difference in my son losing out on his “PROMISE” scholarship. This is a scholarship based strictly on merit, not based on minority, low income or any other “hardship”. It is welll deserved by every high school student who worked hard at acheiving high grades on the ACT. With the outrageous cost of college, my 2 kids tuition together equals over $50,000 a year before grants and scholarships. Without the Promise Scholarship, most families will not be able to afford higher education for their kids. Without higher education, unemployment and low income jobs will become even more prevalent. It doesnt take a genius to figure out that this would have been an investment in Michigan's future. Now the future of Michigan will be hitting the road to parts unknown, leaving behind the state that broke it's promise to them. And so on and so on.

  • dvdparvu

    Yeah it's a big deal for you parents paying for your kids college, but how about us college students who's parents won't be paying for our college? Yeah, we're totally screwed because the state of Michigan is filled with mindless people who, for some reason, thought it would be a good idea to vote for Jennifer Do-nothing once again. Thanks Michigan government. Thanks for making me more poor than ever.

  • dvdparvu

    Yeah it's a big deal for you parents paying for your kids college, but how about us college students who's parents won't be paying for our college? Yeah, we're totally screwed because the state of Michigan is filled with mindless people who, for some reason, thought it would be a good idea to vote for Jennifer Do-nothing once again. Thanks Michigan government. Thanks for making me more poor than ever.

  • dianetunison

    It is quite amusing to me that parents are blaming the Senator for their childrens lack of funds for education. The parents had 18 years to save and plan for their childrens education and recklessly did not. So, tell me, how is Senator Garcia responsible for their irresponsibility? Instead of pointing fingers and blaming, these parents should look in the mirror. Stop blaming and start figuring out plan B….like everyone else is actively doing!

  • dianetunison

    It is quite amusing to me that parents are blaming the Senator for their childrens lack of funds for education. The parents had 18 years to save and plan for their childrens education and recklessly did not. So, tell me, how is Senator Garcia responsible for their irresponsibility? Instead of pointing fingers and blaming, these parents should look in the mirror. Stop blaming and start figuring out plan B….like everyone else is actively doing!

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