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.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop are meeting today for budget negotiations, in the wake of tension between the two of them over the scope of the governor’s ability to transfer money within or between departments. Gov. Granholm has been claiming that she has the authority to veto specific appropriations in bills and then transfer the money earmarked for those appropriations to other projects for which the spending levels were set by the legislature. Bishop has challenged that authority.
Granholm’s spokesperson says the governor was misunderstood:
Later Tuesday, amid speculation about the governor’s comments, spokeswoman Liz Boyd said her boss was misunderstood.
It is clear, Boyd said, that the governor can’t transfer money she has vetoed from department to department.
But the key question is whether the governor can transfer money within a department from one project to another when the legislature has clearly set the spending levels for both projects. Granholm’s deputy spokesperson, Megan Brown, emailed the Michigan Messenger this morning with a copy of a 1993 Michigan Supreme Court ruling that ruled that the governor does have the power, through the State Administrative Board, to transfer money within departments.
A 1997 report by the Citizens Research Council of Michigan seems to back up that authority:
Finally, intradepartmental transfers also may be made by the State Administrative Board, a six-member board consisting of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and State Treasurer. In this case, six members of the executive branch have the authority to revise enacted appropriations without the consent of the Legislature. Though challenged by the Legislature on the grounds that the 1921 statute granting the Board the authority to make transfers was repealed by the Management and Budget Act of 1984, the State Supreme Court ruled in 1993 that the Management and Budget Act failed to repeal this authority, thus upholding the Board’s authority to make intradepartmental transfers.
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter