Business + Labor
GOP leader on Whitmer’s equal pay directive: Ignore it
What’s Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey’s message to state contractors regarding Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s new equal pay directive? “Don’t worry about it,” the Clarklake Republican said in an interview with the Michigan Advance. During a 20-minute interview last week in the new Senate majority leader’s Capitol office, Shirkey called Whitmer’s new executive directive to halt […]
Congressional Dems angry at GM layoffs as Detroit car show kicks off
The North American International Auto Show kicking off in Detroit on Monday still offers the shiny debut of several new cars, albeit with the cloud of a vastly changing automotive industry. Democratic members of Michigan’s congressional delegation used the show to express frustration with large-scale corporate reorganizations at automotive manufacturers, namely General Motors. The Detroit-based […]
Poletown closing cuts deep
Southeastern Michigan residents are still reeling over General Motors’ announcement that it will lay off almost 15,000 workers and close out production at five North American plants. One of them is the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly, known to many as the “Poletown Plant.” Just before the North American International Auto Show kicked off in Detroit this week, […]
Bliss seeks to expand racial equity as she nears re-election campaign
As the mayor of Michigan’s second-largest city prepares to run for a second term in office, she’s focused on continuing to make Grand Rapids a business-friendly city for enterprises of all sizes. Mayor Rosalynn Bliss, a long time city commissioner who was elected as Grand Rapids’ first female mayor in 2016, has prioritized trying […]
GM layoffs could mean 16,000 fewer jobs overall in Michigan
Lawmakers and state officials were presented with a somewhat encouraging picture of the national and Michigan economies at a semi-annual budget conference Friday morning. However, General Motors layoffs put a damper on the outlook. Gabriel Ehrlich, director of the University of Michigan’s Department of Economics, reported that “Michigan’s economy has rarely been better than is.” […]
Right to Work repeal 1st bills for new Labor Caucus members
The first bills that will be introduced by members of the new Legislative Labor Caucus are familiar ones repealing Right to Work. The legislation signed by GOP former Gov. Rick Snyder in 2012 was a huge blow to the labor movement in Michigan, the home of the UAW. The law makes it easier for workers […]
Shutdown halts Michigan domestic produce inspections
Domestic produce being sold in Michigan grocery stores is not being federally inspected because of the partial government shutdown, according to state agriculture experts and national media reports. The shutdown has halted federal inspections of domestic produce, including fruits and vegetables grown in the U.S., per a federal lobbyist for the Michigan Farm Bureau and […]
Voters Not Politicians could challenge ballot proposal limits
Updated, 9:50 a.m., 1/9/19 A litany of legislation signed during last month’s Lame Duck session is under scrutiny as groups consider a variety of challenges. Voters Not Politicians is the organization that got Proposal 2 passed in November aimed at ending the practice of gerrymandered legislative districts in Michigan. The group may mount some kind […]
Former LG’s next job: business lobbyist
Former Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, who left office on Tuesday, has already found his next line of work. Calley, a Republican who mounted an unsuccessful primary bid for governor last year, will serve as the president of the Small Business Association of Michigan (SBAM), leading communications and government affairs work for the small business-focused membership […]
Gilchrist: ‘Exciting and humbling’ to be Michigan’s first African-American LG
On Jan. 1, Garlin Gilchrist II will make history when he is sworn as Michigan’s first African-American lieutenant governor. Gilchrist spoke with the Michigan Advance this morning in one of his first in-depth interviews since the Nov. 6 election and said his history-making role is both an “exciting and humbling opportunity.” The 36-year-old Detroit native […]
Snyder vetoes ‘baby box’, downtown development bills
Updated 12/28/18 at 10:50 a.m. Gov. Rick Snyder today vetoed 11 bills, including GOP-sponsored legislation that would have permitted altering downtown development areas and allowed parents to give up children in “baby boxes” in designated spots. The term-limited Republican is down to his final days in office after a hectic Lame Duck session that resulted […]
Snyder signs almost 50 more bills into law
As term-limited Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder prepares to leave office next week, he signed several dozen bills today that arrived on his desk during the frenzied legislative Lame Duck session. One of the bills makes cyberbullying a crime, House Bill 5017, sponsored by state Rep. Peter Lucido (R-Shelby Twp.). The bill is now Public Act […]