 Around
the Dome
by Del Chenault, Senior Vice President, Government
Affairs
Scofes & Associates
Consulting, Inc. (S&A)
March 10, 2003
GRANHOLM PRESENTS FY ‘04 BUDGET
Governor Jennifer Granholm presented
her budget to a joint session of the House and Senate Appropriations
Committees at noon on Thursday,
March 6, 2003.
Current fiscal estimates place the state’s budget
deficit at nearly $1.9 billion--almost $1 billion less than the state
spent in
FY ‘00-01. Much of the deficit rests in the general fund at almost
$1.5 billion while another $360 million shortfall is expected in the
K-12 school aid fund.
The Governor’s budget addresses the large
anticipated deficit by cutting over $1.7 billion in state spending
on various programs,
grants, and other administrative costs.
Directly impacting BOMA members
are the Governor’s plans for
hikes in various state fees to raise $129 million. Fees targeted for
increase include air and water permits, real estate licensure, drivers
licenses and special insurance assessments.
Also, the Governor proposes
closing $100 million in ‘tax loopholes’ in
areas such as nonresident income taxes and various tax shelters resulting
from LLCs, LLPs, and S corporations.
One of the biggest surprises in
the Governor’s budget is holding
harmless the K-12 per-pupil grants by keeping them at 2003 levels which
are $6,700 per student.
Detailed information on the fee increases and
loophole closures directly affecting BOMA members can be found in the
Lansing Alert sent on Friday, March
7.
DEM LEGISLATORS PUSH FOR WATER POLLUTION FEE
Democratic members of
the Legislature called for Michigan companies that emit waste into
the state's rivers, lakes, and streams to pay
for the program that monitors them. They also called for a new
fee to cover the costs of the program.
The monitoring program currently
is taxpayer-funded out of the state's general fund. The Democratic
lawmakers said businesses should pay for
the monitoring program, similar to the "air fee" that companies
with air pollution emissions pay to fund that monitoring program.
The
proposed fee would be based on a sliding scale depending on the existing
quality of the waterway, the toxicity of the pollution, and
the quantity of the pollution. Lawmakers present at a news conference
were unable to estimate the potential per-company size of the fee,
but said it would be enough overall to pay for what they said is
now a $10 million program.
Sen. Liz Brater said Michigan is one of
just two Great Lakes states and eight in the entire country that
does not charge businesses a
fee to monitor water pollution. According to Sen. Brater, the state
has
4,874 water pollution permit-holders now with about 3,300 of them
municipal governments that have stormwater permits.
Environmental
groups hailed the bills as a long-overdue overhaul to state law governing
water pollution.
Meanwhile, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce said
they would be willing to consider a fee based on the cost of administering
the program
only, not the amount of pollution discharged. The Chamber also
questioned the $10 million program estimate, saying Department
of Environmental
Quality Director Steve Chester has put the cost at $4.9 million.
Proponents of the bill claim to have some Republican co-sponsors.
JOINT COMMITTEE ON COMPETITIVENESS TO MEET
The House and Senate Committee
on Business Competitiveness will hold its first meeting this week
at Novi Expo Center,
43700 Expo
Center
Drive, in Novi.
Chaired by Sen. Alan Sanborn (Richmond)
and Rep. Clark Bisbee (Jackson), the committee is charged with the
responsibility
of making recommendations
to the Legislature on how to maintain current and attract
new business investment as well as increase the number
of
jobs
in Michigan.
Among the issues the committee will examine
are tax structures, tax incentives, technology, international
trade, job
training, and fiscal
discipline.
Before the meeting, the House and Senate
members of the committee will tour a section of Oakland County's
automation
alley.
Other meeting sites include Grand Rapids,
Macomb County, Traverse City, Menominee, Saginaw/Bay City
and Battle
Creek.
Business owners, workers, and the general
public are encouraged to attend.
HOUSE PASSES DETROIT WATER BOARD
BILLS
The House passed legislation creating a regional
authority to oversee rates charged by the
Detroit Water and Sewerage
Department,
and
setting the powers of that authority.
The
legislation was moved to the Senate Local, Urban and State Affairs
Committee
where it
passed on a
3-2 vote along
party
lines. Democrats
and Republicans spent parts of the
meeting accusing the other of turning the controversial
issue
into a partisan
matter. The full Senate is expected to
act on the bills soon; however, there is question
as to the
likelihood of
Governor Granholm
signing the
bills.
Sponsored by Rep. Leon Drolet,
the bill would do nothing to the basic
ownership
of the
system. Instead,
HB 4206
would create
an authority
to oversee and approve the basic
rates charged by the water system
that provides water to over 4.3 million
people in southeast Michigan.
The measure
would not require review of the surcharges local governments
tack onto
the
basic water rates,
surcharges that
Victor Mercado,
Director of the Water and Sewerage
Department, said have run as high
as 336
percent on water rates and 535 percent
on sewer bills. Rep. Drolet said
communities can legally
only add
charges to offset
their
costs for moving water into their
locality.
Proponents said the legislation should
not be seen as an effort to take
control of the
water
system.
PACs RAISE MORE IN 2002
ELECTION
Michigan's biggest political action
committees raised nearly $33
million during the
2002 election cycle,
a more than
30 percent
increase than
the amount raised during the
2000 election cycle.
The two legislative Republican
caucus campaign committees
topped the list
in terms of
fund raising, according
to an analysis
by the Michigan
Campaign Finance Network.
The House Republican Campaign Committee raised more than
$2.1 million and
the Senate Republican
Campaign
Committee
was second,
raising
nearly $1.7 million. Both
committees also ended up
with heavy debts,
with the Senate GOP PAC
owing more than
$900,000 and the House
Republicans owing more
than $850,000.
The figures
on the PACs were taken from reports
due to
the state's
Elections Bureau on January
31, 2003.
The House Democratic
Fund raised $946,430,
placing
seventh on
the list of top
PACs and the Senate
Democratic Fund
placed tenth
by
raising $791,300. The
House Democrats also
showed debts
of $390,000
while the
Senate Democrats had
no debt.
The Campaign
Finance Network also said state
figures
showed that
some of Michigan's
wealthiest
individuals
gave large
amounts and largely
financed a number
of PACs. The biggest of
these were
Detroit Greektown
entrepreneurs Jim Pappas
and Ted
and Maria Gatzaros
who gave $910,000
to the PAC called
Citizens for
Responsible Leadership.
The PAC made a total
of $950,000
in independent
expenditures
to the campaign of
former Governor James
Blanchard in
his failed bid to
win the Democratic
primary.
It was
the fourth
biggest
PAC in
terms
of total funds
raised with nearly
$1.4 million.
Dick
and Betsy DeVos
as well as his parents
and
her mother
gave
$635,000
to the Great
Lakes Education
Project, which
in turn
spent more
than $700,000 on
candidates who
backed greater
school choice or
against candidates
opposed to expanded
school choice.
The GLEP
overall was
fifth in raising
money
with a total
of more than $1.2
million (The Michigan
Education
Association PAC
was third overall
in raising
funds at $1.4 million.
The MEA PAC supported
candidates that
the Great Lakes
group did not favor.)
The
other top 10
PACS in terms of
funds raised
were
The Leadership
Fund, started
by former
Lt. Governor
Dick
Posthumus, in
at sixth place raising
$1.2 million;
the United Auto
Workers PAC
at eighth
place with
$832,915; and
the Michigan Trial
Lawyers Association
PAC at
ninth place with
$822,235.
DEQ,
DCH and MDOT DIRECTORS
CONFIRMED
The Department
of Environmental
Quality
Director, Steven
E. Chester,
and Department
of
Community Health
Director,
Janet
Olszewski,
were both confirmed
by the Senate
with 37-0
votes. Also
confirmed
was Gloria
Jeffs, the
new Director
of
the
Michigan Department
of Transportation.
DID YOU KNOW...?
In England,
the Speaker
of the
House is
not allowed to
speak.
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