In line with expectations, the governor’s formal budget proposal for fiscal year 2013 (which begins Oct. 1) and budget outline for fiscal 2014 is a quiet document. “Quiet” in that it shouldn’t engender shouts of excitement or opposition from the various special interests that bid for state funding. Gov. Rick Snyder is pushing money into […]
Michigan Government
Citizens cannot do their job of running their government if they don’t know what their public servants are doing.
Posted inMichigan Government
Bridge reports, budgets rise
After years of being ignored, the Michigan State Police forensics lab got a $3.1 million big, wet kiss from Gov. Rick Snyder today. And the lab may have Bridge Magazine to thank. In Snyder’s annual budget proposal presented today, the governor proposes $3 million for additional staffing for the lab that tests alcohol and drug […]
Posted inMichigan Government
DOC doesn't know if prisoner release effort works
A new Auditor General report is going to cause some heartburn in the Michigan Department of Corrections and in the Legislature. It says that DOC has spent about $130 million on a prisoner re-entry program — and has no clue whether the program actually works. The Michigan Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative was a centerpiece of the […]
Posted inMichigan Government
This man has power over 1 in 5 Mich. lives
Stephen Fitton has a corner office on the top floor of a state office building in Lansing, which is perhaps fitting for the person who directs the second-most expensive program in Michigan government To be clear, the corner office, like the man who inhabits it, is far from ostentatious. Fitton has plenty of windows — […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Warm weather kindles MDOT hopes
The unseasonably temperate winter in most o fMichigan– to date — is being blamed for woes among ski resorts, motels that cater to snowmobilers and other businesses whose fate rests on the falling of the snowflakes. As this recent Michigan Radio report notes, this could be a record year in northern Michigan for a lack […]
Posted inMichigan Government
AG office offers details on '4 strikes' thinking
As readers of this post know, Attorney General Bill Schuette’s proposal to add a “four strikes” provision to Michigan sentencing law has folks in Lansing doing some quick calculations on what this would mean for prisons and prison costs. Today, Rusty Hills of Schuette’s staff outlined what the AG’s Office did prior to the proposal’s […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Capitol vote won't guarantee lower auto insure rates
An array of groups allied to defend Michigan’s “no-fault” system of auto insurance claims and payments for catastrophic injuries resulting from auto accidents has filed a lawsuit against the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association. This quasi-public entity calculates the projected costs of paying for catastrophic care and levies an annual fee against auto insurers — which […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Schuette may need big taxpayer bucks to get tougher on crime
Editor’s Note: This post, originally published at 8 a.m. on Jan. 26, was updated at 1 p.m. the same day, 10 minutes after Bridge received new estimates from the Michigan Department of Corrections. A summary of the original estimates provided by MDOC are in this updated post. “AG asks Michigan to spend big to get tougher […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Feeling unloved, skilled public employees are hitting the exit
Michele Glinn loved her job, and she was good at it. As the only Ph.D toxicologist working in the Michigan State Police toxicology unit, she analyzed blood samples for alcohol and other drugs — and crisscrossed the state testifying in court. Frustrated by unpaid furlough days, a shrinking staff and a negative public perception of […]
Posted inMichigan Government
An 'eye-opening experience'
As readers of Bridge Magazine today may know, the last Ph.D toxicologist working for the Michigan State Police resigned in November, leaving the state with no one who can offer expert testimony interpreting the results of alcohol and drug tests. That’s bad news for the state, but it could be good news for Rep. Bob […]