Business + Labor
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 […]
Whitmer appoints most cabinet members, with one Snyder holdover
Gov.-elect Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday announced 10 key appointments to her administration, including new directors in charge of regulating the environment, roads and state police. There is one holdover from the GOP Gov. Rick Snyder administration. After campaigning on a promise to “fix the damn roads” and clean up Michigan water as it struggles with […]
Incoming Michigan congressional members head to Harvard
Two newly elected Democratic members of Michigan’s congressional delegation recently shared their thoughts on an early-December trip to Harvard University that included some of the country’s top business executives. U.S. Reps.-elect Andy Levin (D-Bloomfield Twp.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) were among the newly-elected congressional representatives to take part in a semi-annual retreat hosted by the […]
Whitmer pledges to bring back bottled water for Flint
After the Gov. Rick Snyder administration made the call in April to stop giving out bottled water to Flint residents, his successor said she will bring the program back. The Republican’s administration cited almost two years of test results showing falling lead levels in city tap water. But many Flint leaders and residents remain alarmed […]
Missed anything in the busiest Lame Duck ever? Catch up here.
Members of the 99th Michigan Legislature made history this year, sending more than 400 pieces of legislation to Gov. Rick Snyder in the body’s busiest lame-duck session in history. Joe Borgstrom, principal of the Lansing economic development firm Place+Main, summed up a lot of the criticism of this frenzied Lame Duck session in a recent tweet. […]
Michigan Senate bets on internet gambling
The Michigan Senate voted Thursday night to approve a series of bills legalizing online gambling in Detroit and tribal casinos. House Bills 4926, 4927 and 5881, all sponsored by state Rep. Brandt Iden (R-Portage), had already passed the House in June. The Senate amended the bills to ensure that Detroit would continue to receive a minimum $179 […]