LSJ Blogs: Capitol Journal by Scott Davis

Schor eyes run for Bauer's House seat

 Months after Joan Bauer won election to her third and final term as state representative; a longtime Ingham County politician is eyeing a run for her seat.

Andy Schor, a Democrat and eight-year Ingham County commissioner, has formed an exploratory committee to examine a run for the solidly Democratic Lansing and Lansing Township district.

Schor was elected in November to another two-year term as commissioner, and he insists a potential run for Bauer’s seat in 2012 would not interfere with his duties as commissioner.

Schor is likely the first of a handful of Democrats who will run for the post. Schor, who also serves as an advocate for the Michigan Municipal League, says fundraising for his campaign officially begins on April 27.

To Gov, with love........

Shortly before Gov. Rick Snyder unveils his proposed budget, the Michigan State Employees Association has sent him a Valentine.

It’s not exactly full of warmth and sunshine. It reads:

“Gov. Rick Snyder

Roses are red.Violets are blue

Governor Snyder, I live here too.

From me to you on Valentine’s Day.

Focus on jobs – Not on my pay!”

This could be a strained courtship. But who knows? It may tug on the guv’s heartstrings, after all. Snyder may offer his own Valentine to state workers when he unveils his budget Thursday.

Signing off for a week....

Heading out for a week of time-off. I certainly wish I could stick around to watch the expected fireworks over the unveiling of Gov. Rick Snyder’s budget, but it’s all beyond my control.

Don’t worry. I’ll be back Feb. 22 to parse through the budget info and try to make sense of it. Meanwhile, other LSJ staffers will be covering the budget unveiling.



To Gov, with love........

Nearly a week before Gov. Rick Snyder unveils his proposed budget, the Michigan State Employees Association has sent him a Valentine.

It’s not exactly full of warmth and sunshine. It reads:

 “Gov. Rick Snyder

Roses are red. Violets are blue

Governor Snyder, I live here too.

From me to you on Valentine’s Day.

Focus on jobs – Not on my pay!”

This could be a strained courtship. But who knows? It may tug on the guv’s heartstrings, after all.

Snyder may offer his own Valentine to state workers when he unveils his budget Thursday.

Clouds gathering over ruling to stop healthcare contributions

Storm clouds are gathering around the Michigan Civil Service Commission’s defiance of the state Legislature by ruling Wednesday that 14,000 non-union employees do not have to contribute to retiree healthcare under last year’s early retirement legislation.

Commissioners agreed the Legislature had no authority in September to order the employees to pay 3 percent of their salary into the account. Under the state constitution, the commission generally has purview over the salary of civil service employees.

House Speaker Jase Bolger, a Marshall Republican, was outraged.

"The Civil Service Commission needs to stop this irresponsible spending spree of the taxpayers' money," Bolger said. "Last month, commissioners increased health insurance costs exponentially and now they've increased them even more. Their inability to deal with reality is flat-out absurd."

He said he would try through "available channels" to have the decision overturned. It’s unclear whether that means he will try to get both the House and Senate to overturn the commission by a two-thirds vote, as allowed under the constitution.

The administration of Gov. Rick Snyder also was unhappy with the decision.

“We have serious concerns regarding both the fairness and fiscal crisis aspects and are exploring if that's even possible and under the Commission's purview,” said Sara Wurfel, spokeswoman for Snyder.

New item pricing poll begs question: Does Snyder buy groceries?

A recent poll on Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposal to repeal the state’s item pricing law shows the public is evenly split on the issue.

About 45 percent of likely voters in Michigan now favor repealing the law, according to the late January poll by Marketing Resource Group. The same percentage want to keep it.

By contrast, a statewide poll in 1992 showed that 50 percent opposed repealing the measure.

The recent poll showed that Republicans are more likely to support repealing the law. Interestingly, men were more likely to repeal it. Fifty-six percent of men favor repealing, compared to 34 percent among women.

Is that because married women still generally do all the grocery shopping for a family? If that stereotype still holds, women at least are answering the survey from a solid base of experience? And it makes one wonder whether married men who stay away from grocery stores know what they are talking about.

All of which begs the question? Who does the grocery shopping in Rick Snyder’s household?