LANSING - Michigan corn farmers today applauded the work of the U.S. House of Representatives for quickly approving the 2014 Farm Bill, the Agricultural Act of 2014, with a 251-166 vote. The legislation now moves to the Senate for consideration. Scott Lonier, President of the Michigan Corn Growers Association, said the efforts of Michigan Senator
LANSING - State Rep. Kevin Daley has been recognized with a Friend of Corn Award by the Michigan Corn Growers Association to honor him for his efforts in supporting our state?s corn industry. ?As a farmer himself, Rep. Daley brings a unique, firsthand understanding of Michigan?s agriculture industry to the Legislature,? said Scott Lonier, President
LANSING - Governor Rick Snyder's proposal to help protect Detroit pension holders by using $350 million in state funds over 20 years was criticized Monday by a top Wall Street rating agency as not showing enough protection towards bondholders and creating an "us versus them" attitude in terms of repaying debt. The short assessment by
DETROIT - Governor Rick Snyder is seeking federal approval of 50,000 employment-based visas over a five year period in hopes of bringing immigrants to live and work in Detroit. If approved by the federal government, and Snyder was headed to Washington after Thursday's announcement to lobby for the approval, immigrants receiving an EB-2 visa under
LANSING - Another new poll shows a statistical tie between Republican senatorial candidate Terri Land and the presumptive Democratic nominee U.S. Rep. Gary Peters. In Rasmussen Reports' first poll of the race, Land had 37 percent to 35 percent for Peters. The poll of 500 likely voters was conducted January 14-15 via automated telephone interviews
LANSING - The early line among legislators and lobbyists on the chances Governor Rick Snyder can win approval for his plan to have the state commit $350 million over 20 years to help bring the city of Detroit out of bankruptcy is uphill, but doable. As reported Wednesday by Gongwer News Service, Snyder floated the
LANSING - The new Office of New Americans will allow the state to develop coordinated policies that could attract immigrants to the state, and becoming an EB-5 visa center could allow the state to seek out immigrants, administration officials said. Immigration was a major emphasis in Governor Rick Snyder's State of the State address. He
EAST LANSING - Rob Fowler, the chair of the Health Endowment Fund Board created with the conversion of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan into a nonprofit mutual company, said Tuesday the board would likely spend the first half of 2014 working to understand its role and would be ready to start allocating funds in
LANSING - Governor Rick Snyder announced Tuesday that he has named Jarrod Agen, a veteran of communications shops in both the government and elections, as his new communications director. Agen comes to Snyder from Empowered-U in California, where he was vice president for marketing and communications. The co-founder of Empowered, Steve Poizner, had hired Agen
LANSING - The next Legislature will come into office with some new ideas on how the state should structure and fund schools. The State Board of Education laid out a schedule to develop the policy proposals at its meeting Tuesday, with the goal of having a report completed in November 2014. While the board wants