NITC Announcement Expected Today

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has a news conference scheduled for today in Detroit where it is expected he will announce that US President Barack Obama has issued the necessary permit to allow the joint US/Canadian authority to begin construction.

Although no official word has come from either Washington or Lansing, and the news conference is officially a message about jobs and the economy, the event is planned on Fort Street in Detroit at the James Group International near the site of the new span.

Efforts to obtain the presidential permit have been underway for almost a year with comment periods extended during the process. The Ambassador Bridge Company has filed suit in Federal Court to block construction on the new bridge, claiming the right to a monopoly.

Since the project involves two sovereign nations, the official announcement of the presidential permit will need to come from the US Department of State.

posted by PAA Online , Friday, April 12, 2013 10:40 AM
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Senate and House Appropriations See Differently on RTW Penalties in Budget Bill

The Senate Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee voted 2-1 in favor of a proposed budget, Senate Bill 193, that did not penalize any university for extending a contract with its current workers before the Right-To-Work laws went into effect. The $1.43 billion budget matches the dollar amount recommended by Governor Snyder and will be moved on to the full Senate Appropriations Committee. The proposed budget does scrap the $6.2 million tuition restraint incentive proposed by Mr. Snyder and will receive funds from both the General Fund ($1.13 billion) and the School Aid Fund ($200.6 million).

Conversely, House Republicans on the full House Appropriations Committee strongly support the idea of penalizing universities that entered into or extended a contract with workers prior to the effective date of the Right-To-Work laws. Senate Subcommittee Chair Senator Tonya Schuitmaker (R-Lawton) understands the intent of the House Republican’s actions but believes that cutting funds to penalize schools would only result in hurting the students at those schools. However, Representative Joe Haveman (R-Holland) and other House Republicans would like to see the provisions remain in the proposed budgets.

An identical amendment was offered in both the Senate and House panels to require any School Aid Funds in the Higher Education budget to be replaced with General Funds. The rationale is that funding intended for K-12 schools, School Aid Funds, should not be used on Higher Education. However, both identical amendments were rejected in the House and Senate.

posted by PAA Online , 10:40 AM
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Senate Panel Modifies and Approves General Government Budget

The Senate Appropriations General Government Subcommittee reported, on a 3-1 party line vote, an approved budget of $4.42 billion for next year, which is a 2.4 percent increase. The Senate Subcommittee made alterations and reductions to the Governor’s budget proposal, amounting in total to $9.2 million less than proposed. According to the approved budget (Senate Bill 194), economic development will receive fewer funds while counties will see more due to the additional revenue sharing.

All of the reductions came from the General Fund, with the greatest cut coming from the Strategic Fund to the tune of $25 million. Governor Snyder proposed reducing the film incentive from $50 million to $25 million, which was approved. However, that $25 million will not be retained within the Strategic Fund as Mr. Snyder had asked for and will be removed entirely. In total, the Strategic Fund will be budgeted for just over $1 billion.

The Senate Subcommittee did add funds to revenue sharing, which is housed in the Treasury Department, and will receive a total of $1.14 billion. Counties will see a 4.8 percent increase in funding due to the cut from the Strategic Fund. The increase will be provided by the allocation of additional General Funds to revenue sharing, the County Incentive Program, and the Economic Vitality Incentive Program.

The Subcommittee did provide another $1.2 million General Funds to the Office of the Auditor General to hire 15 information technology auditors.

posted by PAA Online , 10:39 AM
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April 5th Survey Results

In the March 29^th edition of PAAdvisory, readers were asked, “The Democratic minority in the State Senate will be back to 12 members when presumptive Senator-elect Jim Ananich takes office. With House members beginning to position themselves for the few open Senate seats in 2014, do you believe the balance of power in the Senate will:”

· Remain exactly the same

· Remain GOP controlled with a greater majority

· Remain GOP controlled with a smaller majority

· Switch to Democratic majority

· Be split power

45 percent of respondents believe the GOP will remain in control and will have a greater majority and an equal 45 percent believe their majority will decrease while they stay in power. ten percent believe the Democrats will take over the Senate.

posted by PAA Online , 10:38 AM
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PAAdvisory Briefs

Michigan’s Health Care Costs Lower than National Average

Michigan’s health care costs in many categories were lower than the national averages based on statistics from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Most notably, Michigan was lower than the national average in per capita health care costs ($6,618 compared to $6,815) and per capita physician costs ($1,366 compared to $1,650). Additionally, Michigan had the lowest per capita health care costs in comparison to any of the other Great Lakes states. Unfortunately, not every health care cost in Michigan was below the national average as the state’s durable medical equipment spending per capita was $189 compared to $114.

House Passes Mixed Martial Arts Bills in Response to Death of Fighter

The recent death of an amateur mixed martial arts fighter from Port Huron has led to rapid approval in the House for legislation designed to regulate the fast-growing sport. The bills are designed to regulate amateur mixed martial arts by requiring both an ambulance to be present at all fighting events and also a doctor to be ringside. Furthermore, House Bill 4166 and House Bill 4167 establish baseline requirements that promoters must meet while also creating a licensure fee promoters will have to pay. The bills were passed with bipartisan support in the House and are sponsored primarily by Representative Harvey Santana (D-Detroit).

US Representative Fred Upton Announces Appointments

United States Representative Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) has named his former St. Joseph District Representative Clay McCausland to be his current District Director. He has also named Lynn Turner as his Community and Media Liaison.

March Revenues Up

The Senate Fiscal Agency released a report showing a 9.4 percent increase in revenue to the General Fund and School Aid Fund in March over the same month a year ago. Year-to-date for the fiscal year, General Fund revenues are $119.6 over projections and School Aid Fund revenues are $22.1 million over projections. Individual income revenues were $13.7 million higher than estimates, bringing in $288.2 million for the month. This is despite income tax refunds being more than projected.

posted by PAA Online , 10:36 AM
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Question of the Week 4-12-13

posted by PAA Online , 10:02 AM
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