Insider Intelligence

This week, House Democratic Leader Sam Singh (D-East Lansing), Representative Andy Schor (D-Lansing), and Representative Kim LaSata (R-Bainbridge Township) introduced legislation with the goal of preventing courtroom assaults.  Under the bills as introduced, “attempted assault” would be added to the section of law that criminalizes assault on personnel in courtrooms, it would increase the penalties […]

This week, Governor Rick Snyder announced the initial appointments to the Michigan Council on Future Mobility.  The twenty-one-member council was created through legislation in 2016.  Housed within the Department of Transportation, the council will provide the Governor and the Legislature with recommendations regarding changes to state policy to ensure Michigan continues to be a leader […]

This week, State Elections Director Christopher Thomas announced that he will retire in June.  In 1981, then-Secretary of State Richard Austin (D), appointed Mr. Thomas as the state’s elections director, a position he has held since the initial appointment.  He began his career in elections administration in 1974 by working for the United States House […]

It was announced this week that Colleen Pero will be resigning as deputy director of the Department of Civil Rights after being hired as Chief of Staff for the Michigan Republican Party.  Throughout her career, she has worked on numerous campaigns and in many different roles within state government.  In addition to her work at […]

Below is a snapshot of some of the legislation that was introduced this week. HB 4276 – Creates a commission to hear Freedom of Information Act complaints HB 4279 – Prohibits increases to auto insurance due to claims caused by a pothole HB 4284 – Mandates the department to create a controlled substance prescription drug […]

The House and Senate are scheduled to hold session Tuesday – Thursday. On Tuesday, March 7, the House Workforce and Talent Development Committee will hear a presentation by the director of the Department of Talent and Economic Development. On Thursday, March 9, the Appropriations Subcommittee on Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and Insurance and Financial Services […]

Representative Curt VanderWall (R-Ludington) was first elected to the House of Representatives in November 2016.  He represents the 101st House District, which includes the counties of Benzie, Leelanau, Manistee, and Mason. Representative VanderWall is the owner of Turf Care Mole Man in Ludington.  He’s served on the boards of Old Kent Bank, Mason County Growth […]

Below are some of the articles that the MLC lobby team has been reading this past week.  We hope you find them as interesting and useful as we do. Is Trump Already Messing with Government Data? – An outline of recent policy developments from the administration and can data be altered to point to the […]