MACKINAC ISLAND – Amid a jubilant bipartisan moment of unity, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed significant auto insurance changes into law Thursday following a round of negotiations leaders said could prove to be a roadmap for resolving other policy debates and the budget. The remarks came during a crowded, euphoric gathering on the Grand Hotel porch in which
MACKINAC ISLAND - An umbrella organization representing most of the state's top environmental organizations in efforts to shut down Enbridge Energy's Line 5 oil pipeline at the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac put the choice facing Governor Gretchen Whitmer, seen as an ally of the environmental movement, in stark terms Friday. Whitmer is in
LANSING - Lawmakers will have a slight cushion of revenue to complete budget work in the weeks ahead for the current fiscal year and fiscal year 2019-20, according to the numbers agreed upon Friday by the state's Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference. Economists and state budget officials delivering presentations before conference members Friday in the Capitol
LANSING - While those studying the state and national economy remain optimistic regarding growth, the growing uncertainty on federal trade policy has everyone worried, officials said Friday at the Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference. In presentations Friday, Gabriel Ehrlich and Daniil Manaenkov with the Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics at the University of Michigan had mostly
LANSING - Michigan Republicans have asked the three-judge panel that ruled last week the Legislature must redraw maps for Michigan's 14 U.S. House seats, the Michigan Senate and the Michigan House for an emergency stay of the ruling. The motion for an emergency stay and immediate consideration was filed Friday by most of the state's
LANSING - Even with the 2015 road funding plan fully implemented, no "appreciable improvement" is expected in the state's roads and bridges during the next 12 years, with 41 percent of all paved federal-aid roads in poor condition currently, the Michigan Transportation Asset Management Council said Friday. The report was submitted to the Legislature, State Transportation Commission
LANSING - Scholarship program plans unveiled last month by Governor Gretchen Whitmer in her State of the State address for increasing access to postsecondary education picked up the backing of multiple business groups Thursday. Business Leaders for Michigan, the Detroit Regional Chamber, the Grand Rapids Chamber and the Small Business Association of Michigan announced they supported the
LANSING - The saga of unlicensed medical marijuana facilities continues this week as a judge blocked the state's upcoming March 31 deadline for an estimated 50 provisioning centers to close. At least six provisioning centers, some of which were denied licenses by the Medical Marihuana Licensing Board and are going through or plan to go
LANSING - Though insurance rates in Detroit have long been a target of reform proponents, nearly the entire state faces rates deemed unaffordable under federal standards, a report from the University of Michigan Poverty Solutions said. The U.S. Department of Treasury Insurance Office says insurance rates of more than 2 percent of median annual income for a
LANSING - The much-criticized Medical Marihuana Licensing Board's days are numbered after an executive order Governor Gretchen Whitmersigned Friday eliminating it and creating the Marijuana Regulatory Agency to handle medical and recreational pot moving forward. Through the order, Whitmer eliminates the Bureau of Marijuana Regulation and replaces it with the Marijuana Regulatory Agency to handle both
