LANSING - Legislation that would guarantee health care access to all Michigan residents by preventing insurers from cherry-picking consumers and rejecting those with pre-existing health conditions was announced Monday by House Democrats. Senate Republicans, who have held task force meetings on the issue of health care, are scheduled to announce their own initiative on Thursday.
LANSING - A measure that would allow Michigan to draw down $139 million more in federal stimulus dollars for unemployment benefits, but would require the state to offer those benefits to people seeking part-time work or those who are ineligible for further benefits, but are enrolled in a job training program, is set to be
LANSING - With the state's fiscal year now more than half-over, legislative leaders and their caucuses are working as quickly as they can to develop proposals to bring to Governor Jennifer Granholm later this week to solve an estimated $785 million budget deficit. Officials are also hopeful Granholm will soon issue a budget-cutting executive order
LANSING - Unemployed persons in Michigan will qualify for jobless benefits for as long as 79 weeks under three bills signed Monday by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who also called on the Legislature to pass two other bills to give benefits to people who do not qualify under current law, a move that would bring another
LANSING - A battle looms over how much of the federal stimulus funds to use to plug holes in the budget, but even if all of it were to be tapped. Gov, Jennifer Granholm said Monday deep spending cuts would still be needed to bring the budget into balance. The governor did not say she
WASHINGTON DC - After months of secrecy that has rankled public interest groups, the Obama administration is revealing limited information regarding a multilateral anti-counterfeiting treaty currently under negotiation. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Monday released a summary of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a treaty for which negotiations began in 2006 with the
LANSING - An effort by Senate Democrats to discharge the "Hire Michigan First" package for fast action fell short on Wednesday as majority Republicans rebuffed the attempt on a 16-21 vote. The bid to put HB 4083, HB 4084, HB 4085, HB 4086, HB 4087, HB 4088, HB 4089, HB 4090, HB 4091, HB 4092,
LANSING - In unanimously approving an income tax credit for persons buying a house in the state, the Senate last week apparently unwittingly approved a total tax cut of better than $2.6 billion for the current and next two fiscal years. An analysis of the passed version of SB 346 , now in the House,
LANSING - School districts across the state could expand the use of sinking funds to cover their bus and technology purchases under legislation that cleared the House Tuesday. HB 4313 passed the chamber on a 74-35 vote after House Republicans challenged that the bill increases the statutory limits on ad valorem property taxes levied for
LANSING - Who Michigan voters want to pick for governor in 19 months appears to be pretty open, but a new poll out Friday shows Republican primary voters favor Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, while Democratic primary voters like Lt. Governor John Cherry. The poll, conducted by Marketing Research Group for Inside Michigan Politics,