Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville said Wednesday he supports moving all newly hired public school employees into a 401(k)-style retirement plan and closing the pension and health care plan. “Tell the Mackinac Center that, OK?” Richardville quipped to reporters, referencing the Midland-based free market think-tank that has called for ending the traditional defined benefits of … Continue Reading →
Some Michigan Democratic lawmakers were quick to blast presumed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney today in light of revelations that he bullied classmates as a student at Cranbrook School while his father, George Romney, was governor of Michigan. The Washington Post reported Thursday that Romney led a prep school posse in the spring of 1965 … Continue Reading →
Lansing –House Speaker Jase Bolger, R-Marshall, is dismissing suggestions that caps the House put in place on cyber school enrollment could lead to 10 percent of Michigan students enrolling in the online schools. On a 56-54 vote, the House amended Senate Bill 619 last week to include a cap for cyber school enrollment based on … Continue Reading →
Lansing — The state House was poised to vote Wednesday on a bill to authorize Michigan’s first privately-run prison for adult inmates. But the bill sponsors delayed the vote for at least a week to make changes to House Bill 5174, which would authorize the Department of Corrections to farm out operations for one prison … Continue Reading →
Sen. Rick Jones, sponsor of a bill to legalize Tasers for citizens with concealed pistol licenses, emailed The Detroit News feedback on today’s article about the legislation advancing to Gov. Rick Snyder’s desk. Here’s what the Grand Ledge Republican and former Eaton County sheriff had to say about a Michigan State University researcher’s conclusions about … Continue Reading →
Word is members of the state Legislature will sit out this year’s Mackinac Island Policy Conference. Or maybe not. Ari Adler, spokesman for Speaker Jase Bolger, said he doesn’t expect a single member of the House Republican Caucus to show up because 1) it will be held on a Tuesday through Thursday, when they have session, and 2) it’s … Continue Reading →
Following Thursday’s raucous Board of State Canvassers meeting, liberal MSNBC talk show host Rachel Maddow continued to rail against Michigan’s emergency manager law. “This Michigan law is, in my opinion, the single most radical thing done any of the all-red states since 2010,” Maddow told her MSNBC audience. The Rev. David Bullock, a Highland Park … Continue Reading →
Republican who control the Michigan House are dominating the Democrats in fundraising less than seven months before the November general election. The House Republican Campaign Committee on Wednesday reported having more than $1 million in cash on hand after raising $529,909 from Jan. 1 to April 20, according a campaign finance report. The Michigan House … Continue Reading →
In Michigan’s Feb. 28 Republican presidential primary, Secretary of State Ruth Johnson added a check-off for voters to affirm their U.S. citizenship at the polls in effort to stop non-citizens from voting. There are an unknown number of legal permanent residents in the state who are not U.S. citizens but have been registered to vote … Continue Reading →
Former U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz says he hasn’t made up his mind as to whether he’ll leave the Republican Party to become a Democratic candidate for Congress in southern Michigan’s 7th District. But he sure is acting like his mind is made up. Schwarz will be the featured speaker at an Eaton County Democrats meeting … Continue Reading →