LANSING - Critics have said Governor Rick Snyder undermined his trustworthiness when he agreed to support making Michigan a right-to-work state after nearly two years of disdaining the proposal as not on his agenda, but Snyder disputed such accusations Monday. "Trust is a perception. I think, factually, I was fairly clear this whole process," he
LANSING ? MGTV, which provides video access to state government, will transition from a part-time cable TV show to a web portal starting New Year?s Day, the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget and Michigan Government Television announced Friday. MGTV has served as the part-time, non-commercial cable channel providing programming from 10 a.m. to
LANSING - The state will soon have a new law to address financially troubled local governments and school districts with the Senate on Thursday giving final approval to what amounts to a "replacement emergency manager law" after voters repealed PA 4 of 2011 in November. The Senate passed SB 865 on a largely party-line vote,
LANSING - Governor Rick Snyder will get the personal property tax phase-out he wanted, but only if voters approve it as the administration won a hard-fought effort for legislative passage. Thursday was a wild day for the personal property tax legislation as it emerged that the plan had serious problems in the House, resulting in
GRAND RAPIDS ? West Michigan will see a 1.2 percent bump in employment growth in 2013 followed by another 1.6 percent in 2014, lead by manufacturing and service jobs, so says economist George Erickcek in his annual forecast he prepared for the Right Place 2013 Economic Outlook for West Michigan. Goods producings jobs, which include
LANSING - A strong majority of Michigan adults believe that a college education is important for a successful career, according to the latest State of the State Survey from Michigan State University. ?About 72 percent of those questioned in the phone survey said that a college education is very important for Michigan?s young people to
HOLLAND - Information technology workers remain in high demand in West Michigan. About 60 percent of responding companies plan to hire tech staffers in the next six months, continuing at the level of the past twelve months. Over two-thirds of small companies (fewer than 50 employees) will add IT staff. There will be three times
LANSING - Whether it's called right-to-work, right-to-work-for-less or freedom to work, becoming the 24th state in the union to have a law barring workers with unionized employers from having to pay union dues or a fee unleashed about as many opinions as the crowd that rallied outside the Capitol on Tuesday. Not surprisingly, many non-union,
LANSING - They protested. They chanted. They nearly stormed the Romney Building, held by back by State Police troopers in full riot gear. But in the end, a coalition of unions, liberal activists and Democrats failed, as expected, to stop Michigan from becoming the 24th right-to-work state. No amount of anger could prevent the inevitable
DETROIT ? More Midwest residents are planning vacations and spending on home improvements in 2013 than did in 2012, says Huntington Bank's first Midwest Economic Index. Nearly half said the U.S. economy will improve. A majority also plans to spend more on gifts this holiday season than they spent in 2011. "This survey confirms our