LANSING - The House Appropriations General Government Subcommittee heard from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the Michigan State Housing Development Authority and the Michigan Land Bank on Tuesday, the agencies made their case for receiving the recommended funding for fiscal year 2014-15. Michael Finney, president of the MEDC, said much of the program's budget priorities
WASHINGTON DC - U.S. personal income increased by 0.3 percent in January, driven by Increased government benefits from the Affordable Care Act and from cost-of-living increases, Comerica Bank said in a report issued Tuesday. The expiration of long-term unemployment benefits was a drag, as was the after-effect of the December boost in lump-sum social security
LANSING - Doubt is mounting among House Republicans about using the state's surplus funds for tax relief with momentum building to instead use the funds for road repairs as the pressure from constituents, especially after the first thaw of the year, builds to improve the state's crumbling roads. Rep. Tim Kelly (R-Saginaw Township), sponsor of
SAN FRANCISCO - Total Kickstarter pledges have surpassed $1 billion, the company announced Monday. The total came from 5.7 million donors, and half of the sum was pledged in the last 12 months alone. In Kickstarter's first month in April 2009, its users raised nearly $3,900. Kickstarter, along with competitor Indiegogo, have become funding places
LANSING - The executives of the state's three biggest counties, at a joint press conference Monday, urged Michigan legislators to reject proposed changes to the state's auto insurance system. Supporters of the changes said the three officials were out of their depth to weigh in on the plans. Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, Macomb County
LANSING ? Fourteen checks for more than $7.6 million were handed out Friday by the Michigan Strategic Fund as part of the Downtown Infrastructure Grant program for public infrastructure improvements. ?These grants will improve Michigan downtowns and spur additional economic growth in the surrounding areas,? said Gov. Rick Snyder. ?The DIG program helps make our
LANSING - As Detroit public pension holders have complained about the cuts they may see in their retirement incomes, an analysis released Monday by a top Wall Street rating agency said Detroit bond holders are being hurt worse than pensioners. The analysis of the city's proposed plan of adjustment done by Moody's Investors Services says
LANSING - The Michigan Senate passed a supplemental appropriations bill Thursday for the current fiscal year addressing funding road maintenance, what is expected to be a major cost after the long hard winter with extreme temperatures. SB 608 cleared the Senate on a 32-6 vote, with Sen. Darwin Booher (R-Evart), Sen. Jack Brandenburg (R-Harrison Township),
LANSING ? Michigan House Speaker Jase Bolger unveiled an auto insurance overhaul on Thursday that would provide 10 percent yearly savings in premiums for two years, a $10 million cap on catastrophic medical benefits and more transparency within the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association. Bolger (R-Marshall) said he has addressed all of the opposition's complaints about
LANSING - The credit ratings agency Moody's called the city of Detroit's decision to sue to invalidate a $1.45 billion certificates of participation pension swaps deal an "extreme act," but also said it is such a rare move it would be unlikely to affect the broader municipal bond market. If the city succeeds in federal