LSJ Blogs: Capitol Journal by Scott Davis

Going after the small fish.....

We all know there are major issues facing the state. So why is the Republican Governors Association going after Democratic gubernatorial candidate Virg Bernero for $24,000 in office expenses while he was Lansing's mayor over a 5-year period?

This week, the group, which backs Republican Rick Snyder, began running a 30-second spot that criticizes Bernero for spending $4,000 on personalized pencils and maintaining an office aquarium and also $20,000 on food over five years.

Bernero’s campaign officials responded the food was for official city functions and the fish tank actually was purchased by his predecessor, David Hollister. Also, Bernero’s campaign officials note Bernero has given up his city car and reduced his office budget every year.

Seems like Republicans could choose bigger fish to fry if they’re going after Bernero. Still, turnabout is fair play.

For many days, Bernero’s campaign and its affiliates have running spots and leveling charges at Snyder, some of them quite ridiculous, such as the notion that Snyder stands to personally profit if he is elected governor.

Ah, elections. The fun never stops.

Still on the sidelines: Yet another retirement plan

In all the splash over a new state employee retirement plan approved Thursday in the House, one alternative remains in the Senate.

This week, state Sen. Gilda Jacobs, D-Huntington Woods, quietly unveiled a retirement incentive proposal aimed at a few hundred employees of the state Legislature, the governor’s office and the state judiciary. It drew the ire of several state employees because it offers a pension multiplier of 1.75 for those whose ages and years of service equal 75; that’s higher than the pension multiplier of 1.6 offered for all state employees in the House bill.

Employees earning $50,000 annually with 30 years of service who retire with a multiplier of 1.6 would get an extra $1,500 a year, compared to the normal 1.5 pension multiplier. A 30-year employee retiring with a multiplier of 1.75 would get an extra $3,750.

Jacobs said she introduced the bill in the Senate as a sort of stop gap measure if state employee reform was not passed this session.

“No matter what, this group of employees is sort of getting lost in the shuffle of term limits,” Jacobs said. “They are not protected by civil service. They are at-will employees....My goal is to go in and try to protect these at-will employees who are going to be losing their jobs.”

New poll: Snyder's favorability through the roof

Yet another poll has dismal tidings for gubernatorial hopeful Democrat Virg Bernero.

A newly released national poll by North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling that his Republican opponent, Rick Snyder, has a favorability rating that is the best of any first-time Republican candidate for governor in any state polled.

It also showed Snyder dominating Bernero, Lansing’s mayor, with a 52-31 lead.

The new poll found 43 percent of Michigan voters saying they have a favorable opinion of Snyder. About 28 percent expressed an unfavorable feeling. Independent voters said view Snyder favorably by 3 to 1. PPP said no candidate in either party has garnered those kinds of numbers in 2010 polling.

All of this suggests the uphill climb that awaits Bernero before the Nov. 2 election.

Quran burning in East Lansing: Hate crime or free speech?

I was glad to see an individual turn himself in this week for burning a Quran and scattering its pages around the Islamic Center in East Lansing. But as reprehensible as that act is, I'm a little concerned at the possibility that authorities might file a hate crime charge against the person.

A hate crime seems like a pretty major charge for what some may consider an expression of freedom of speech -- similar to, say, burning the American flag. Many Americans see that act as reprehensible as well, but I think many realize that burning the flag in protest is one of our most basic freedoms.

Without that, many of our other freedoms crumble.

At the time, I thought ‘charge the Quran-burning guy, but with trespassing or vandalism.’ That seemed more reasonable.

Since that initial reaction, though, I’ve learned more about hate crime charges. A colleague explained to me that burning a Quran as an act of protest in public -- as a Florida pastor threatened to do this week -- is very different than burning a Quran or cross outside someone’s home or business in the dead of night.

It’s not a public protest; it’s a secretive act designed to intimidate a very specific minority. In this time of rising Islamophobia, Muslims who frequent the East Lansing center certainly had reason to be concerned about their safety after the Quran burning incident.

So now, I have a clearer idea of the balance between freedom of speech and hate crime enforcement. And, for the time being, I’ll have faith that our authorities have a clear idea of that balance as they decide how to charge this person.

Granholm: State worker retirement incentive moving closer to approval

Revenue sharing for Michigan cities may have to be cut further if the state House can’t reach agreement on a new retirement incentive for state employees, Gov. Jennifer Granholm said Tuesday.

Granholm said she believes state lawmakers are moving closer to approving the incentive, a cost-cutting measure similar to an incentive passed for public school employees last spring, Gongwer News reported.

However, both teachers and state workers are unhappy about provisions that require employees to pay 3 percent of their salary toward retiree healthcare costs. However, there is no guarantee the money would be used for that purpose.

Even though some House Democrats are opposed to the proposal, Granholm said she believed agreement could be reached this week.

Davis: I'll be back in a week

Heading off to a week's vacation, but I'll return on Sept. 14. If state lawmakers manage to pass a budget before then, you can reach me at 1-BELIEVE-IN-MIRACLES.

Trebesh: "Cigar-chomping" party insiders chose Calley replacement

Michael Trebesh of Bingham Township, who ran unsuccessfully for the 33^rd District state Senate seat in August, was left out in the cold Wednesday when Republican party officials met to fill a suddenly open slot on the ballot.

Michigan Republican officials chose former state Rep. Judy Emmons of Sheridan to run for the seat, which is being vacated this year by Sen. Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt. State Rep. Brian Calley of Portland beat Trebesh in the primary, but Calley vacated his candidacy when GOP gubernatorial hopeful Rick Snyder chose Calley as his running mate.

Emmons will run against Democrat James Hoisington for the Senate seat.

Trebesh obviously was peeved at the process this week. He was quoted in MIRS as saying, “This whole smoke-filled room, cigar-chomping stuff has to stop. That’s why they don’t want me there. I’m a reformist.”

New 33rd Senate District candidate on the way

There could be a successor to State Rep. Brian Calley on the Republican ballot for the 33^rd Senate District as early as tonight.

Gongwer reports that the Republican Party county executive committees for Clinton, Ionia, Isabella and Montcalm will meet behind closed doors to pick a candidate for the ballot. The action is required because Calley’s candidacy was vacated Saturday when the Michigan Republican Party, during its convention, accepted his nomination as lieutenant governor on the ticket with gubernatorial hopeful Rick Snyder.

Last week, Sen. Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt, who is vacating the district’s Senate seat this year, said former Reps. Judy Emmons of Sheridan and Scott Hummel of DeWitt are front-runners for the appointment. Also vying for the job is Mike Trebesh of Bingham Township, who lost to Calley in the Aug. 3 primary.

The committees will meet at 7 p.m. tonight in Alma.