LANSING - Republican lawmakers introduced bills on Wednesday that would prohibit the amendment of tax credits originating under the now-defunct Michigan Economic Growth Authority, which have accumulated a $9.4 billion liability in the state and caused a budget shortfall in the current fiscal year. Rep. Lee Chatfield (R-Levering) and Rep. Gary Glenn (R-Midland) introduced HB
LANSING - Action to erase a $330 million General Fund shortfall in the 2014-15 current fiscal year is now complete with Governor Rick Snyder signing Tuesday bills that make some reductions, but mostly a variety of moves to replace General Fund money with revenue from other sources. HB 4110 (PA 5, immediate effect) and HB
LANSING - Governor Rick Snyder said during a radio call-in show Monday that, should voters reject the sales tax increase on the May ballot, he would work with legislators to craft a replacement plan, but he said including revenue increases in that plan could be difficult. The response came to a question Snyder has fielded
LANSING - The final budget structure for the new Department of Talent and Economic Development is not quite in place yet, but it will include few funding increase requests, Michigan Economic Development Corporation CEO Steve Arwood, director of the new department, told the House Appropriations General Government Subcommittee on Wednesday. Arwood said the budget as
LANSING - Sen. Goeff Hansen is supportive of Governor Rick Snyder's budget proposal dedicating millions of dollars to funding programs to promote career and technical education, but he also wants to ensure measurable success for that funding over time. "I agree with career tech, I agree with moving towards making it more applicable to the
BARCELONA - Tom Wheeler, chairman of the US Federal Communications Commission, Wednesday defended his agency's move to regulate the Internet, ensuring that broadband players would be unaffected by his light touch approach to the rules. "This is no more regulating the Internet than the First Amendment regulates free speech in our country," Wheeler said in
DETROIT - Governor Rick Snyder pushed for more emphasis on career and technical education as he launched the first merger of the Governor's Education Summit and the Governor's Economic Summit. Noting that the education and economic development people had tended to segregate themselves in the room, he urged participants for the remainder of Monday's events
LANSING - Jobs from the film industry may be part-time, but wages generally surpass the average salary and provide benefits for many workers in the state, supporters of the $50 million film incentives told the Michigan House Tax Policy Committee on Wednesday, but opponents said the lack of permanent jobs shows the program isn't working
LANSING - While many of the state's license fees, especially for alcohol permits, may no longer be considered sustainable revenue streams for their respective programs and so need to be increased, a portion of those increases also is expected to pay for IT upgrades, an official with the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs said
WASHINGTON DC - US Senate Republicans appear to have largely abandoned efforts to fight an FCC vote later this week that's expected to reclassify broadband as a public utility-like service. After years of grappling with how much or even whether the federal government should be involved in regulating the Internet, the commission is expected to