LANSING - Five of the six bills creating an electronic filing system for courts and assigning fees were sent to Governor Rick Snyder on Tuesday. SB 531, SB 532 and SB 533 cleared the House 100-6, 97-8 and 98-8, respectively. The Senate then concurred in House changes sending the bills to Snyder. HB 5028, HB
LANSING - After the Michigan House spent more than nine hours gathering the votes to approve sales and use exemptions for collocated data centers in the state, including Nevada-based Switch, which encouraged the Legislature to implement the exemptions so they can open an east coast hub in the Grand Rapids area, the Senate immediately concurred
LANSING - The Michigan Pipeline Safety Advisory Board put most of the final touches Monday on its plan to hire contractors for risk and alternatives analyses on the Line 5 pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac. The board is hoping to issue requests for a proposal in February, said Environmental Quality Director Dan Wyant, who
LANSING - The Michigan Public Service Commission and DTE Electric Company reached an agreement to allow the utility to hike its electric rates by $238.2 million annually - resulting in an increase of $8.22 monthly for residential customers using 500 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month. The new rates are effective Dec. 17. The increase is
LANSING - The Michigan House is "still talking" about legislation that would exempt data centers from sales, use and personal property taxes, but a spokesperson for House Republicans said the chamber is likely to leave the property tax exemption behind. With only one week of session left in the year, the House has to pass
LANSING - Michigan's legislators tend to be older and more predominately male and white than the state's general population, a study by the National Conference of State Legislatures and the Pew Charitable Trusts said. And legislators are far better educated than the general public, with at least 75 percent having a bachelor's degree or higher
BATTLE CREEK - The Battle Creek Air National Guard base will see 70 new jobs with the assignment of a cyber operations squadron to the base. Battle Creek will house one of the four new squadrons intended to defend the nation against computer-based attacks. The base has housed a cyber range hub, part of the
LANSING - The Michigan House continues to work with its members to get the votes needed to pass legislation that would provide sales, use and property tax exemptions for data centers in the state, something inspired by Switch, a Nevada-based center looking to move into West Michigan. The House Tax Policy Committee on Wednesday reported
LANSING - The Michigan House narrowly approved a bill to eliminate straight-ticket voting Wednesday and also cleared legislation establishing "secure" no-reason absentee voting with Democrats mostly in staunch opposition to both during a long and contentious session. Seven hours passed with the House mostly at a standstill before it finally took up SB 13 to
LANSING - Students in online programs are more likely to fail a course than are students in a traditional classroom, a report by the Michigan Virtual University released Tuesday said. The report found that the number of virtual education programs is expanding in the state, but there are still disparities in the numbers of students
