Business + Labor
Lack of state budget progress rankles Michigan school leaders
Walled Lake Consolidated Schools began classes on Tuesday. So did East Lansing Public Schools, where Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sends her teenage children. Each of those districts, along with other public schools around the state are beginning the 2019-20 school year without knowing how much money they’ll have, because the GOP-led Legislature and Whitmer have not […]
Detroit’s former Cobo Center is now TCF Center
The former Cobo Convention Center in Detroit has a new name: TCF Center. The Tuesday downtown news conference included Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing), Wayne County Executive Warren Evans and Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter. “This naming rights agreement has been a goal of the DRCFA since it […]
Column: When you fix those damn roads, include mobility for all
Michigan has a transportation funding problem, and it’s been with us for years. We don’t invest enough in our system, and when we do, it doesn’t help everybody. This dysfunction has led us to the point where we need to invest at least $2.5 billion annually to “fix the damn roads.” As bad as they […]
State budget chief begins planning for possible government shutdown
With about five weeks to go before the beginning of the state’s 2020 Fiscal Year and no clear sign of a budget deal, the state budget chief is preparing for a possible partial government shutdown. State Budget Director Chris Kolb on Friday emailed each state department head seeking “a comprehensive list of all functions and […]
Republican Peter Meijer under fire for barring drag performers with Down Syndrome
Updated 1:41 p.m. Republican congressional candidate Peter Meijer has banned an international troupe of drag performers who also have Down Syndrome from performing at his Grand Rapids venue. Meijer, who’s seeking the GOP nomination for Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District in a crowded 2020 field, owns the Tanglefoot, an art space in Grand Rapids. The Tanglefoot […]
Whitmer rejects GOP road-funding idea over school funding concerns
Republican legislative leaders and Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer met on Thursday to try and break an impasse over road funding and the state budget, but they don’t appear to be having much success with that. Whitmer dismissed the options presented today by state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake) and House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R-Levering), […]
State suspends Walled Lake marijuana license
The state’s Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA) suspended its first marijuana-related business license last Friday, citing unreliable testing and reporting at an Oakland County laboratory. According to a complaint from the MRA, some marijuana products tested at Iron Laboratories in Walled Lake contained higher-than-allowed levels of certain pesticides, and the laboratory repeatedly reported test results the […]
House Dems announce clean air legislation
As the Michigan Legislature prepares to return to work full-time after its summer recess, House Democrats announced Wednesday a package of bills aimed at cleaning up the state’s air quality. At a school in Dearborn not far from a steel plant with a long history of air quality violations, a group of Democratic state representatives […]
Susan J. Demas: Republicans don’t want to give Whitmer a victory on roads. You can blame business lobbyists for that.
For decades, powerful Michigan business groups have led the anti-tax charge, warning that any increase would surely tank the economy. During every downturn, they’ve blamed our tax burden, blithely ignoring reams of evidence that Michigan is not a high-tax state and it’s our continued dependence on the ever-downsizing domestic auto industry that makes our recessions […]
Biz leaders make push for new road revenue as Whitmer, GOP leaders keep talking
The state’s leading business advocacy groups want Michigan lawmakers to know that they’ll stand with them if they vote to raise taxes for road-funding revenue. Rich Studley, president and CEO of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, officials from other groups like Business Leaders for Michigan and various regional chambers held a press conference on Tuesday […]
U.S. Steel lays off roughly 50 in Ecorse, plans more cuts
The manufacturer U.S. Steel has laid off almost 50 employees at its Great Lakes Works Facility in Ecorse, according to a letter they sent earlier this month to the state’s Workforce Development Agency. In the letter, the company’s director of employee relations, Mark Tade, notes has temporarily idled one of its furnaces “due to current […]
In Detroit, Pence touts Trump admin. economic gains as recession fears rise
Updated, 6:23 p.m. 8/19/19 with comments from Rep. Levin Vice President Mike Pence on Monday urged a group of Southeast Michigan business leaders to “reject the siren song of socialism” and reelect his boss, President Donald Trump, to a second term. In a 25-minute speech to the Detroit Economic Club — his third appearance before […]