Insider Intelligence

The House and Senate begin their annual two week in-district work period, session is not scheduled to be held during this time.  The next scheduled session day for both chambers is April 12. The Joint Select Committee on the Flint Water Public Health Emergency will hold a hearing on Tuesday, March 29 at the Northbank […]

As we’re getting closer to the state and federal general election, the MLC team is often asked a considerable number of campaign finance and election law questions.  Over the past two years, and even the past two months for that matter, there have been significant changes in both areas of law.  In an effort to […]

This week, a bipartisan coalition of House members introduced a package of legislation creating the Legislative Open Records Act (LORA).  The legislation would subject the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor, and the legislature to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).  “The package was introduced to coincide with Sunshine Week, which promotes public access to […]

This week, the House passed a two-bill package providing a $48.7 million appropriation for the Detroit Public Schools (DPS), using funds from the tobacco settlement money.  Without the supplemental, Judge Steven Rhodes, DPS’ transition manager, testified that the district wouldn’t have funding to pay teachers after April 8, 2016.  The appropriation was tie-barred to legislation […]

This week, Governor Rick Snyder signed an extension of the sunset on the Health Insurance Claims Assessment (HICA).  First enacted in 2011, HICA is a tax paid on health claims and is used to support state match dollars for the Medicaid program.  This is the third extension to the tax.  As first enacted, HICA was […]

This week, the non-partisan Senate Fiscal Agency released their monthly revenue report for February 2016.  Revenue for the General Fund and School Aid Fund totaled $1.0 billion for the month, a decrease of 1.3% from February 2015.  Revenue to the General Fund was $38.8 million below estimates, while the School Aid Fund collections were $30.8 […]

Last Friday, Governor Rick Snyder called for an immediate and full joint investigation of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) by the state’s Auditor General and the DHHS Inspector General, to be completed as soon as possible.  The investigation will look at the way the department handled public health issues related to […]

On Monday, Governor Rick Snyder appointed Judge Ronald Schafer to the 8th Circuit Court, filling the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge David Hoort.  Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Schafer served as the Ionia County Prosecutor since his election in 2005.  Additionally, he is an adjunct professor at Michigan State University […]