LANSING - While observers statewide watched the results of the congressional primary in the 13th District and in legislative seats during Tuesday's primary election, a slaughter took place among local officials in key regions around the state. In almost unprecedented numbers township supervisors and sheriffs were voted out of office in the primary and the
LANSING - In Michigan, where House seats tend to be in very safe Democrat or Republican districts, winning the primary almost assures candidates they'll win the general election, so says political analyst Brendan Ringlever of BL Government Affairs. Listen to what's likely to happen in the primary on Aug. 5 in this special BL Government
WASHINGTON - President Bush and Republicans are angling to put the blame for high gasoline prices on the Democrats, backing Sen. Barack Obama into a corner where he can be seen as caring more about environmentalists than the millions of middle-class voters feeling the financial squeeze of $4 gas. On July 14, President Bush rescinded
LANSING - Ever since the House threw on tie-bar amendments to a campaign finance measure and augmentation to the state's no-fault auto insurance, legislation that would change the Michigan Business Tax's gross receipts calculation to exclude taxes businesses remit to the state has hung in limbo. The House acted on SB 1038 prior to recessing
LANSING - The first publicly-released public opinion poll on the controversial Reform Michigan Government Now! proposal shows that 70 percent of those queried support the broad measure that would dramatically reform legislative redistricting, cut the number of legislators and Supreme Court and Court of Appeals judges, and require financial disclosure. While Republican officials have pilloried
LANSING - A constitutional amendment offered by Rep. Mark Meadows (D-East Lansing) that would cut legislative pay, and deduct more for absences, as well as abolish term limits, will become the 16th joint resolution in the Legislature that could act as a counter for the Reform Michigan Government Now! ballot initiative, which seeks not only
LANSING �?? Michigan Senate members could act on legislation changing utility regulation this week, but it was unclear how big a chance there was that action would in fact take place. Indications from the office of Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) were that chances for action this week were "slim." However, at least one
LANSING - There is a possibility the full Senate may begin to act on legislation dealing with the renewable energy portfolio standards this week, Senate GOP sources said, but action on the main measure may wait as legislators try to develop a compromise proposal on the bill that critics have charged would allow the state's
LANSING - The current Michigan tax credits for the film industry are bringing business to the state, and the cost of those credits will not be known until next year, Michigan Economic Development Corporation officials said in urging the House Commerce Committee to hold off adjusting those credits. In the first nine weeks of the
LANSING - The Senate Fiscal Agency was asked to review the state budget to come up with a list of proposed cuts and efficiencies that could help offset revenue losses from the state eliminating the surcharge on the Michigan Business Tax, Senate Finance Committee chair Sen. Nancy Cassis (R-Novi) said Tuesday. Cassis made the comments