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.
LANSING — Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm was waiting in her Capitol office for a temporary spending bill that would re-open state government. The Michigan House had adjourned for the night. And gallery watchers early this morning were streaming out of the Capitol believing the budget battle of 2009 was over, just two hours after it had begun.
But the GOP-led Senate had another plan. The chamber took up a special continuing budget resolution the Democratic-controlled House passed before heading home. The budget restored K-12 education funding to the 2009 levels.
The bill was introduced for passage when Republican Sens. Alan Cropsey of DeWitt and Ron Jelinek of Three Oaks rose to offer an amendment which eliminated millions of dollars in K-12 education spending.
In short, the Republican lawmakers moved to continue a plan to eliminate $218 in per pupil funding to local school districts, as well as other cuts which had stalled the K-12 budget in the Michigan House most of the day.
That move was met with spirited oratory by Democratic senators.
Saying the proposed cuts would “rips apart the fabric” of public education in the state, Sen. Gretchen Whitmer of East Lansing, gave an impassioned speech outlining what she said would be the real life impact of the cuts. She said 200 public school districts in Michigan would be forced into deficit spending, summer school and before- and after-school programs would be eliminated, school buses would not receive annual safety inspections, and 12,000 to 14,000 people would lose jobs as a result of the cuts.
“You like to rail against the [Michigan Business Tax] ad nauseum — but how the heck are we to compete with China, India, or even Indiana for that matter when you balance the budget on the backs of our kids?” Whitmer said. “I know some of you will retort that the schools are OK this … No they are not. Do they prefer amputation to death — maybe. Who wouldn’t?”
Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop of Rochester, countered the Democrats’ pleas to stop the cuts.
“The hard cold truth is we can only spend what we have. We do the best we can,” he said.
And with that, the amendment cutting the K-12 budget was passed by the Republican majority. And the subsequent bill was also passed by the majority party.
The bill goes to a conference committee, where representatives of the House and the Senate will hammer out a compromise.
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