A trio of Democratic lawmakers are seeking to update the state’s anti-hate crime law with an expanded definition of hate crime and enhanced penalties. The law has not been updated since its establishment in 1988.
Michigan Attorney General
Posted inTalent & Education
Michigan State to raise room and board; still won’t release Nassar docs
First-year MSU students will have to pay nearly 7 percent more for dorm rooms and meals than current first-year students, based on rising food and energy costs. MSU continues to withhold records on serial sexual abuser Larry Nassar, citing attorney-client privilege.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
New appeal of $626 million Flint water deal in dispute over lawyer fees
A legal group is asking a federal appeals court to reconsider the amount of the settlement that will go to lawyers representing Flint residents. The group argues that giving the lawyers a quarter of the recovery is excessive.
Posted inMichigan Government
A hero to election deniers, Michigan clerk has a new fight: keeping her job
Adams Township Clerk Stephanie Scott is on the front lines of the doomed fight over the 2020 election. She’s lauded by conspiracy theorists. Closer to home, some residents are tired of her antics.
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan income tax rate to drop to 4.05 percent, but just for one year
Michigan’s soaring revenues mean the state income tax rate will fall from 4.25 to 4.05 percent in 2023 tax year, according to the state treasury. The rate will go back up the next year following a legal opinion from Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel.
Posted inMichigan Government
Dana Nessel calls income tax cut temporary. Republicans express fury
Soaring state revenues will likely force the Whitmer administration to reduce Michigan’s personal income tax rate. But that cut is only for one year, the Democrat Attorney General contends. Republicans excoriated that legal interpretation.
Posted inMichigan Government
Can ‘deradicalization’ reform extremists? Michigan program to find out in limbo
Michigan inked a contract to try to help young people accused of extremism avoid violence. But the future is uncertain after a deal fell through for a Traverse City man accused of threatening a mass shooting.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Michigan judge approves $626 million Flint water crisis settlement
Approval by a Genesee County judge is among the final procedural steps needed before Flint residents can start collecting on claims from lead infiltrating city drinking water. Lawyers say payouts could begin this fall.
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan AG Dana Nessel keeps Chatfield, Whitmer kidnapping records secret
Attorney General Dana Nessel has repeatedly called for greater government transparency. But in high-profile criminal cases in her own office she has successfully fought to keep records on government searches hidden, even after they are introduced in court.
Posted inMichigan Government
Whitmer signs anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ residents in Michigan into law
The new law includes sexual orientation and gender identity as classes protected against discrimination under the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, codifying a series of court orders and interpretive statements that have extended similar rights to Michigan’s LGBTQ community.