LSJ Blogs: Capitol Journal by Scott Davis

Cox proposal would expand public official disclosures

Michigan would take a step toward transparency under legislation proposed by Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox that would require public officials to disclose lobbyist-paid gifts and details about their assets and income.

If the bills are passed, Cox said Thursday, the state would join 47 others that have more detailed rules about what public officials must disclose about their financial lives, the Detroit News reported.

Cox’s proposal would require elected officials and some appointed ones to reveal on what boards they serve, who paid for golf and dinner outings, and the amount of their housing mortgages. It would also force the disclosure of similar gifts given to spouses and dependents.

State Rep. Paul Opsommer, R-DeWitt, is sponsoring Cox’s legislation, which will be introduced in the Legislature next week.

House Majority Leader Kathy Angerer, D-Dundee, said ethics reform proposals are not new, noting that the House passed reform bills in March, but the Republican-led Senate has not acted on them.

Lawmakers hope second time a charm for senior protections

A second attempt to strengthen protection for senior citizens has passed the state House once again and has moved on the Senate.

The legislation, co-sponsored by state Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing, would make financially exploiting a vulnerable adult a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $50,000 fine, and it would disinherit children who abuse, neglect or exploit their aging parents.

The legislation is designed to address a 40-percent rise in elder abuse complaints in Michigan since 1998, according to state officials. Similar legislation was passed by the House but never made it to the Senate floor for a vote in the final weeks of last year’s session.

Signs of worry in the Cherry camp?

Gov. Jennifer Granholm is stepping up her support of Lt. Governor John Cherry’s bid to succeed her by sending emails to Democrats across the state urging them to contribute to his campaign for governor in the 2010 election.

Granholm has publicly endorsed Mr. Cherry several times, but the recent mailing brings that endorsement to a larger audience, Gongwer News reported.

The email comes as polls show that Cherry is garnering less support than expected from likely primary voters.

"We cannot move backward in 2010. We simply must support John Cherry in his campaign to be Michigan's next governor. Please join me in making a contribution today," the email said.

Cherry is being challenged on the Democratic side by Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith, D-Salem Township, and former Rep. John Freeman. House Speaker Andy Dillon is considered another potential candidate.

Over-stimulated? Dems and Reps clash over more dollars for unemployment

House Democrats are ratcheting up the pressure on the Republican-led Senate to take up legislation expanding unemployment benefits that initially would be funded by $139 million in added federal stimulus money.

Business advocates and Republicans have said that companies will pay for the expanded system through increased taxes after the stimulus is exhausted, but state Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing, said lawmakers can review the program again -- and potentially lower benefits -- when that point is reached.

But Matt Marsden, spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, said it is ill-advised to begin a new program that would lead to higher unemployment taxes for businesses when the state is trying to improve the climate for job creation.

But Meadows that people receiving these benefits spend those dollars at companies, providing an immediate boost to the state's businesses and economy.

The Senate version of the legislation, passed in the House, remains in committee.

Tony Soprano tactics? Republicans accuse Dems of bullying

Michigan House Democrats scored a victory Wednesday in passing legislation they say will protect consumers from wrongful denials, but House Republicans claimed that the Gov. Jennifer Granholm administration has been using bullying tactics to pressure Republicans to support it.

On Wednesday, House Republican Leader Kevin Elsenheimer, R-Kewadin, said that several Republican House members had received calls from the office of Michigan Automobile and Home Insurance Consumer Advocate Butch Hollowell asking them to provide names of political supporters and opponents, the margin of electoral victory and other information. Elsenheimer said the caller stated the purpose of the information was to be used to rally support for insurance legislation pending before the House.

“Politics is politics, but what the governor’s office of Auto and Home Insurance Consumer Advocate is doing would make Tony Soprano blush,” said Elsenheimer. “This is nothing but a strong-arm shake down on the part of the Granholm-Cherry administration and Hollowell to intimidate Republicans into backing a planned pay-off to the trial lawyers lobby, ‘or else.’”

Today, Hollowell denied his staff members had been requesting political and electoral information from House Republicans, but acknowledged his staff has been compiling county-by-county data on unemployment rates and numbers of uninsured drivers from lawmakers of both parties in recent months. He said that effort was related to ongoing insurance reform efforts.

Hollowell said his intent was not to bully Republicans.

“There are other ways we can get the information,” he said. “We’ll respect that.”

The legislation, which is now headed to the Senate, would strengthen penalties against insurance companies that illegitimately deny consumer claims, hold CEOs accountable when they knowingly foster wrongful denial of claims by making the misconduct a felony and create whistle-blower protection.

Rumblings of a shutdown?

Gov. Jennifer Granholm says she remains optimistic that state lawmakers will pass a budget next month and avoid a government shutdown this year, but acknowledges that tempers are “flaring” in talks with legislative leaders.

The Detroit News is reporting that a growing number of observers say the likelihood of a shutdown is increasing because the Republican-controlled Senate, the Democrat-dominated House and the Democratic governor are far apart on budget proposals. In 2007, a budget stalemate forced state government to shut down for a few hours. The new budget under discussion would take effect Oct. 1.

"Tempers are flaring behind the scenes,” Granholm said.

According to sources, Granholm has proposed revenue increases and tax credit savings of about $685 million to help balance a 2009-10 budget that has a $2.8 billion shortfall. But the proposals are meeting resistance in the Senate.

"The Senate remains committed to its plan of cuts in government spending and using some stimulus money (to balance the budget),” said Matt Marsden, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester. “But the Senate doesn't have the votes for tax increases."

Field for Attorney General becoming more crowded

Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton says he is considering throwing his hat into the ring for the Democratic nod to run for state attorney general in 2010.

Leyton told Gongwer News he has been encouraged by many people to seek the post, but doesn’t know when he would make a final decision about running for the position. It is being vacated by term-limited Attorney General Mike Cox.

"I've been training for this my entire career," said Leyton, a former Flint Township board member who now in his second term as prosecutor.

Others who have expressed interest in replacing Cox include Sen. Gretchen Witmer, D-East Lansing, Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, Sen. Bruce Patterson, R-Canton, and former Appeals Court Judge Bill Schuette, a Republican.

Film credits fading to black?

State Rep. Pete Lund, R-Shelby Twp., is hoping to close the curtains on the state's year-old enhanced film tax credits.

According to Gongwer News Service, he plans to introduce legislation to end the credit, saying the $138 million is not a wise use of taxpayer dollars when a budget crisis has forced to state to reduce funding for police, education and roads.

Since the state instituted the enhanced credit, several movies have filmed in Michigan, and companies have announced plans to build studio space..  

Efforts to cap the benefits films receive from the 42 percent Michigan Business Tax credit have been proposed in the Senate, but have not moved through it.

Send us your tired, your poor...but keep those terrorists on ice

Last month, Gov. Jennifer was more than willing to let California ship some of its prisoners to Michigan to watch over them -- for a fee, of course.

But, like public officials in many states, Granholm is less warm to the idea of housing federal detainees of the soon-to-close naval prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Gongwer News reported. The feds have encountered a lot of obstacles in finding a new home for the detainees, who seem to strike a chord of fear and abject terror in many Americans at the mere mention of their existence.

"Governor Granholm continues to have concerns about the homeland security implications of relocating Guantanamo detainees to Michigan," said Liz Boyd, Granholm's spokeswoman. "The governor's top priority is for the safety and security of Michigan citizens."