LSJ Blogs: Capitol Journal by Scott Davis

Got a problem with a jobless claim? Good luck

The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency is continuing to experience huge backlogs in the numbers of claims involving disputes or appeals, despite the recent addition of 70 workers and new phones to handle such cases.

State officials say the system is now swamped with a backlog of about 100,000 claims involving disputes, which they say is an unusually high level, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Some applicants have complained about not being able to get through on the agency’s phones and weeks of delay in resolving their claims. The problem reflects the ongoing struggle of the agency to deal with rising numbers of jobless claims.

Since December, nearly 600,000 new claims were filed for unemployment benefits -- 58,000 cases last month. With Michigan's unemployment rate continuing to lead the nation at 15.2 percent, no one is expecting the problems at the state agency to disappear anytime soon.

Deficit solutions? Put this in your pipe and smoke it

With state lawmakers scrambling to find solutions to the budget deficit, some might consider looking to a different kind of green to fill those coffers.

Tuesday night, the city of Oakland, Calif., passed a new tax on medicinal marijuana sold in the city – which city officials say should generate about $300,000 in the first year alone.

The tax was supported by some marijuana dispensary owners who hope the new tax will increase their credibility in the eyes of the public. Last year, Michigan joined California and a handful of other states in legalizing the sale of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Unlike California, Michigan allows authorized marijuana users to buy their pot from authorized individual dealers – not dispensaries – and these dealers are severely restricted on the amount of marijuana they can sell. The state of Michigan or local government does not tax these sales.

With changes in state law, that could change easily enough and bring in much needed revenue to the state. Some would argue the marijuana sales are occurring regardless of how one feels about medicinal marijuana use: Why not tax them?

The new punching bag: Public employee healthcare reform

A prominent Michigan Democrat is taking a swing at a new proposal by fellow Democrat House Speaker Andy Dillon to place all public sector employees into one health insurance program.

Former Rep. John Freeman, a Democratic candidate for governor and now state director of Health Care for America Now, said Dillon’s plan to save government up to $900 million annually is unrealistic and would further burden government employees.

In a recent Lansing State Journal, Freeman said the proposal would cut benefits to teachers and reduce union bargaining power.

"This isn't real change. It's the same old song with a different beat,” he wrote. “Health care reform is vital for our state. With 1.3 million uninsured Michiganders, we need to focus on how to enable more, not fewer, people to pay their medical bills. But Dillon's prescription is one we in Michigan can't afford to fill.”

Interestingly, Dillon seems to be garnering more support for his plan from the other side of the aisle. Last week, Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, a Republican, came out in favor of the plan.

Jobless? Hey, the phones still work

With the Lansing area’s jobless skyrocketing to 12.3 percent, it’s fortuitous that unemployed workers can now apply for benefits 24 hours a day through an automated telephone service.

Officials with the Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Development announced the new hours Thursday, saying that jobless persons now can dial the automated system 24 hours a day, six days a week, from Monday through Saturday, Gongwer News reported.

Formerly, the phone system ran from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Those needing the help of an actual Unemployment Insurance Agency staff member must call from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday.

State officials have steadily been making improvements to their computer systems after thousands of new jobless applicants began flooding the system in December, causing lengthy delays in receiving and processing claims.

Now if only state officials can do something about that pesky jobless rate.

$10 minimum wage? Republicans, don't have a heart attack

Sometimes, it's all about baby steps.

That lesson may be lost on the Michigan Democratic Party, which is considering asking voters to raise the state’s minimum wage to $10 an hour – a whopping 35 percent increase from the current $7.40 an hour.

The potential 2010 ballot initiative was among a few discussed Wednesday by Mark Brewer, party chairman. Other proposals include requiring employers to offer an "affordable" health benefit to employees – or pay a financial penalty.

If the intent is to induce heart attacks and/or bouts of psychotic rage among their Republican brethren, then this Democratic strategy appears sound. But if the goal is a serious quantum boost in the minimum wage, it may be that even Democratic voters in Michigan don’t have the stomach for that.

Insurance wars: The personal vs. the impersonal

For State Rep. Mike Simpson, D-Jackson, the fight to push through legislation to punish insurers for wrongfully denying claims is personal. He watched his daughter die of cancer and then went bankrupt after his insurer refused to pay the claims.

For insurers, it appears decidedly impersonal, as they have flooded much of Michigan with thousands of “robocalls” against the legislation.

On Tuesday, Simpson, a legislation sponsor, and Rep. Barb Byrum, a Democrat from Onondaga and chair of the House Insurance Committee, jointly announced they have no intent to back down from pushing through the new laws, Gongwer News reported.

"I strive to get good legislation through my committee and passed by the Senate," said Byrum, who denied charges that she told the insurers she would refer the bills out of committee on the first day.

Meanwhile, the Michigan Insurance Coalition and the Michigan Chamber of Commerce are continuing to blast the proposal, calling it a “partisan ploy” by Democrats that would increase the number of frivolous lawsuits against insurers, if it is passed.

Michigan over a cliff? Here's one rope

Gov. Jennifer Granholm says the state is going over a financial cliff, and it may have to fashion a rope – one that few Democrats or Republicans may want to grab.

This rope would be made of additional tax revenues through temporary changes in current credits and loopholes, and Granholm told reporters Monday that the state will to consider the possibility of crafting them once federal stimulus funding ends in 2011.

She said the state would face a revenue shortfall of $300 million next year, even if it uses “every penny” of stimulus dollars next year, Gongwer News reported.

One thing the state can’t do, Granholm says, is enact the $1.2 billion in service cuts proposed by the Senate, which the governor refers to as “dangerous” cuts.

Stay tuned on who grabs onto this rope suggested by Granholm, or is more than happy to plunge down that cliff.

Jones accuses Democrats of stalling on new police headquarters

As crews near completion of the new State Police headquarters in downtown Lansing, state lawmakers are still deciding whether to honor a lease with the developers.

The House State Police and Military Affairs Subcommittee had been scheduled to vote this week on appropriating money for the lease, but canceled the meeting shortly before it was to take place. A new date has not been yet.

Rep. Richard LeBlanc, D-Westland, committee chairman, said discussions are ongoing regarding what to do with the new $39 million building, Gongwer News reported. He said there are more issues to consider than just whether police will move into the new building.

Meanwhile, State Rep. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge – a chief foe of the new headquarters – accused House Democrats of stalling on the issue. He contends that the state has no business leasing a new headquarters for state police when it is laying off troopers because of a budget shortfall.

"I'm very disappointed that once again the House leadership has put off voting on this important budget,” Jones said. “More than 100 troopers have been laid off. The citizens of Michigan want public safety funded, not a building that is not needed. I can only conclude that they wanted to give lobbyists more time to try to change votes."

Report: More than 1,000 Michiganians lose health insurance weekly

Health advocates say the clock is ticking for immediate national health care reform, and, in Michigan, that ticking appears deafening.

Statewide, about 1,040 people on average are losing their health insurance every week, due to rising job losses and increasing insurance costs, and 54,030 are losing coverage every year, according to a new report from Families USA.

“Employers that do continue to offer health coverage are being forced to pass on the rising costs to their employees by imposing higher premiums or copayments or by offering plans that cover fewer benefits,” said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, a consumers health organization. “Other employers are choosing not to offer coverage at all because it is simply too expensive."

Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., lawmakers are trying to forge a national health care proposal with bi-partisan appeal – a plan that appears to become more watered down and ineffectual with each passing day.

Walberg vs. Schauer: Rocky II?; Thumbs down on Michigan maps

It appears to be a Rocky vs. Apollo Creed match in the offing for 2010, with this week’s announcement by former U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, a Republican, that he will wrest his old 7th District seat back from U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek.

Which is one is Rocky and which is Apollo Creed depends purely on which side of the aisle you reside.

Walberg has already taken off the gloves, saying Schauer trusts “big government” and that he could not sit by while Schauer “votes to raise taxes, spend trillions we don't have and bring the failed Granholm strategies he advanced in Michigan to Washington, D.C."

Schauer has only issued a statement saying now is the time to put politics aside, but things should heat up considerably later, Gongwer News reported.

With Republicans nationwide poised to use the stimulus as their major issue in 2010, expect President Barack Obama’s name to be mentioned in the 7th District race at least once, twice, or a few hundred times.

Yoopers are peeved by palm-only maps

When it comes to depicting Michigan as merely a palm-shaped state, the Upper Peninsula rejects that hands down.

Saying that some official state publications neglect to depict the most northern region of the state, State Rep. Michael Lahti, D-Hancock, has introduced legislation requiring that official state publications, documents and promotional materials that depict Michigan show the whole state, the Associated Press reported. "Sometimes we get missed," Lahti said.

A House committee Tuesday unanimously approved the bill, and the full House has yet to vote on it.