This morning the Detroit News broke the story that Kevyn Orr, Gov Snyder’s appointee as Detroit’s Emergency Manager, was hit with four tax liens in four years for unpaid unemployment and income taxes. When he was shown copies of the liens Friday, the News reported he “didn’t know anything about” them. To make matters worse, it…
The only national political news big enough to overcome today’s CPAC vacuum was an op-ed written by Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman, in which he announced an evolution in his position on marriage equality. His decision was lauded as “courageous” by David Axelrod. He credited his son coming out as gay to him and his…
Last night’s announcement of Senator Carl Levin’s retirement was notable for the vitriol it inspired among Michigan’s right-wing. Not all of them – Attorney General Bill Schuette praised Sen. Levin’s “distinguished and honorable career,” and Gov. Snyder said “his service on behalf of Michigan and America is commendable.” But the statement from the Michigan Republican…
Rep. Lisa Lyons, no stranger to hypocrisy, is at it again. She last made national news in December for proposing an amendment that would have exempted her husband, who works as a corrections officer, from the “right-to-work” law. She did so while declaring on the House floor that “all people should have the freedom to…
Sen. Patrick Colbeck has been a particularly entertaining member of the legislature since starting his political career in January 2011. Unfortunately for his constituents, that doesn’t always result in the best policy outcomes. But Progress Michigan is committed to holding Lansing politicians accountable – so we’ve collected the following list to call out Sen. Colbeck…
Yesterday Speaker Bolger released a video in which he said that, contrary to a recent report in the Detroit News, Gov. Snyder’s budget actually represents an increase in spending on K-12 education. Watch the video: It’s clear that after they were held accountable for their deep education cuts and tax increases on middle-class families in…
Tomorrow the House Insurance Committee will vote on a substitute for the Blue Cross overhaul that will include language banning private insurance companies from covering abortion in normal plans. In other words, forcing women to buy an extra policy or pay out of pocket for abortions. An identical bill was vetoed by Gov. Snyder when…
This morning the President and CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Michael Finney, appeared on Frank Beckmann’s radio show to spend five minutes preaching the virtues of Michigan’s new “right-to-work” law. Finney went so far as to claim that half of all businesses looking to relocate won’t even consider states that are not RTW.…
The following blog is a guest piece from Michael Anderson, who is currently an intern at Progress Michigan. Senate Bill 63, the “Michigan Firearms Freedom Act” passed the Senate Judiciary Committee last Wednesday. The bill would prohibit federal regulation of firearms manufactured and kept in the state of Michigan. It was sponsored by Sen. Phil Pavlov…
As has been reported on multiple times already, the most notable thing about the way Republicans passed so-called “right-to-work” laws in Michigan was the speed and lack of any public input. But as time goes by, giving reporters a chance to examine the law that lawmakers apparently weren’t allowed to examine before voting on it,…