Tag: Governor Snyder (page 3)

Thanks to Sens. David Robertson, James Marleau, David Hildenbrand, Howard Walker, Patrick Colbeck, Michael Kowall, Michael Green, Rick Jones, Joseph Hune, Tory Rocca, Tupac Hunter for cosponsoring.

State House Speaker Jase Bolger, R-Marshall, said Friday that the House wants to wait until after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on President Barack Obama's federal health reforms to decide its next steps on the exchange.

"The governor and I are not in agreement on this issue," he said. "The rights of our citizens to control their own health care is more important than an IT (information technology) deadline."

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette is supporting the legal effort to get the federal reforms declared unconstitutional.

State Rep. Chuck Moss, R-Birmingham, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, also said the GOP caucus doesn't want to act unless it has to.

"We don't like Obamacare; we don't like national health care. We don't think it's good for the country; we don't think it's good for Michigan," Moss said. "We don't want to be early adopters and go down that road if we don't have to."

Could we be witnessing Speaker Bolger growing into a leader within the Republican Party?

There is much to say about Michigan as it begins the second year under governor Rick Snyder. But one cannot say that "nothing has been done."

To be sure, there are disagreements with the priorities the nerd governor has gone after.  This site, and many conservatives, question his desire to [effectively] relinquish the private property of one particular bridge owner.  We often have commentary that questions the new taxes on seniors and other adjustments which seem to be readjusting burdens instead of reducing real spending.  THOSE concerns looking at the disparate income levels of unionized public workers to the private ones of similar tasks, who pay the bill ultimately.  And those unfortunately, not addressed and considered taboo so far, such as right to work, or the more pressing need to reign in the forced unionism debacle perpetrated on home health care workers.

Snyder has hit the ground running with regard to school reform however, and the state had a budget in record time with the new legislative body in place as well.  A couple of key appointments, Maura Corrigan to head human services, and the good choice of Brian Zahra to replace her ion the supreme court has turned out to be an excellent allocation of resources.  The EFM framework is something that was desperately needed, and it too can be seen as a positive step forward.

Tonight he will undoubtedly bring a positive focus to many of those things we can agree upon, and maybe a little spin on our issues of disagreement.

Apparently however, he is expected to mention the high crime rates that were likely exacerbated by policies of the previous administration, and an increased attempt to curb its effect.

City Council President Charles Pugh is facing foreclosure and says he likely will abandon his $385,000 Brush Park condominium.

His personal financial struggles come as he and council colleagues fight to bail Detroit out of its own fiscal crisis.

On Friday, Pugh said he can't afford to pay his mortgage after taking a pay cut and leaving a high-paying TV career to run for the City Council.

"Making my mortgage payments has been a struggle for me," Pugh wrote in an email. "I fought hard to stay in my condo because I had an attachment to it, but I can no longer afford to do so."

The mortgage issue is the latest financial problem facing Pugh, 40, a former Fox 2 television anchor and radio show host who was the top vote-getter in the 2009 election. He is paid $76,500 as council president.

"I am devoted to this city and helping us to move forward despite wage cuts and personal sacrifices such as foreclosing on my own home," Pugh said. "These are the tough choices Detroiters make every day, and I am no different."

Pugh is still living in the condo and would like to keep it, but he needs a "substantial decrease" in the mortgage, spokeswoman Kirsten Ussery said.

As the city nears financial collapse, owners erased at least $4.7 million in property taxes and liens this fall on more than 400 properties Wayne County appeared to sell back to them for pennies on the dollar, according to a Detroit News analysis.

That's double the number of buybacks found at 2010's Wayne County tax foreclosure auction. In many cases, no one else bids other than the former property owners, who can reclaim the properties for as little as $500 apiece.

The increase has a top aide to Mayor Dave Bing and others calling on Wayne County Treasurer Raymond Wojtowicz or the state Legislature to crack down.

"Unfortunately, some laws have loopholes, and in this case results in others exploiting matters for their personal advantage at the expense of responsible taxpayers and the city," Kirk Lewis, Bing's chief of staff, said in a statement.

"Legislative remedies must address and prevent the myriad of ways these property owners can scam the system for their personal gain."

State law allows Wojtowicz to ban owners from buying back their foreclosed properties. Macomb County officials did so this year, but Wojtowicz said it would be too hard to police in Detroit, where he sold a record 5,200 properties at October's auction.

MI reps engage in scuffle in Capitol: woodtv.com

Michigan Public Radio's Rick Pluta was at the Capitol and reports:

Representative Harvey Santana lunged at fellow Detroit Democrat David Nathan during a heated discussion at Nathan's desk. State Representative Roy Schmidt got between the two and was knocked about. A staffer was also accidentally pushed to the floor as House security rushed to break up the altercation. Santana was escorted out of the room by the House sergeant at arms, but was later allowed to return to his seat to vote.

Gov. Rick Snyder and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing met Monday for an hour with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to discuss efforts to improve regional transit in Metro Detroit.

"Secretary LaHood is committed to working with Gov. Snyder and Mayor Bing to help find safe and reliable solutions to the transit challenges facing the residents of the greater Detroit region," the department said in a statement. LaHood "applauds their efforts to work together on a regional transit solution that will offer residents safe, cost-effective ways to reach their schools, jobs, and churches."

Snyder spokeswoman Geralyn Lasher said the meeting stemmed from a confab the three had in Dearborn in October.

"This is a continuation of the task force Secretary LaHood asked the governor and the mayor to chair following his last trip to the Henry Ford," said Lasher, the Republican governor's communications director.

The task force includes Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties working on regional transit issues.

It's unknown whether Snyder and Bing discussed Detroit's finances on the trip. On Friday, the state announced it would conduct a review of Detroit's finances, the first step in evaluating whether the city should be run by an emergency manager to get its finances under control. The city could run out of money by April, according to a financial report.