LANSING – The Michigan Senate moved Wednesday toward acting on legislation that would expand the state’s ability to issue tax credits for economic development this year, require greater disclosure about the nature of those deals and extend specific credits to lure the creation of an alternative energy park in Wixom.

But even as the Senate prepared to vote Thursday on the bills, there was lingering bad blood from a Senate session two weeks ago on the issue. At that session, Sen. Nancy Cassis (R-Novi) criticized Sen. Glenn Anderson (D-Westland) for not speaking out about the state’s offering of tax credits to Quicken Loans in exchange for moving its headquarters from Livonia, which is in Anderson’s district, to Detroit.

Anderson had left the floor when Cassis made her remarks, but he struck back Wednesday, the first session day since then. He called Cassis’ comments a “feeble attempt” to divert attention from the pace at which the Finance Committee, which she chairs, has acted on the bills (SB 773 , SB 774 ) that would expand the Michigan Economic Growth Authority’s ability to offer tax credits this year.

“Normally, I would dismiss her comments as we’ve all grown accustomed to her ‘sky is falling’ proclamations and wild accusations,” he said in remarks on the Senate floor. “This is inexcusable and shameful at a time when our people our crying out for this Legislature to help revive our state’s economy.”

But then Senate Republicans objected, saying Anderson had violated Senate rules by impugning Cassis’ motives. They further blocked Anderson from the routine practice of having his remarks printed in the Senate Journal although Senate Democrats made sure to post his speech on their Web site and on Facebook.

Cassis did not respond to Anderson’s remarks. In the past, she has said MEGA needed a thorough legislative review before receiving the authority to issue more credits this year and called the Wixom proposal unrelated to her efforts on MEGA reform. MEGA is near its credit limit, and officials are worried about crippling a key state economic tool for the rest of the year.

Prior to Anderson’s comments, Cassis said she was pleased with the outcome of negotiations with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

The Senate moved SB 774, which would set a limit of $95 million on how much in additional credits MEGA could issue from one year to another, into position for final passage on Thursday. It held off on acting on SB 773, the main bill that would grant MEGA an additional 85 credits this year and also require it to report more information to the Legislature about the authority’s activities. MEDC officials are reviewing a new Senate substitute on the bill.

Meanwhile, HB 4922 , which also would issue the tax credit extension, remains pending in the Finance Committee. Senate Republicans are waiting for the House to act on SB 70 and SB 71 , which have additional MEGA transparency language, before moving on that bill.

And the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee voted Wednesday to send bills (SB 777 , HB 4523 ) to the full Senate. The first bill would create a fifth classification for a battery tax credit, tailored for the company, Xtreme Power, that wants to build an advanced, high-storage battery at the shuttered Ford Motor Company plant in Wixom.

The Senate bill requires Xtreme to create at least 500 jobs to receive the credit, in contrast to a similar bill that passed the House last week (HB 5275 ) that mandated 300 jobs.

And the second bill approved by Commerce and Tourism would create a Michigan Business Tax credit for the firm Clairvoyant Energy and a Saginaw group to encourage their solar energy projects. Clairvoyant also would be at the Wixom plant.

There has been discussion about a Monday deadline for the Legislature to act on the bills so that Xtreme and Clairvoyant could meet a federal timeline in an application they are making for federal loans. It is unclear what the impact is of having the bills near completion, but not signed into law by then.

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