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MI Political Week in Review

Submitted by Michigan LCV on Sat, 03/20/2010 - 19:14

Happy March Madness everyone! Here's your overview of Michigan environmental politics to get your tournament time going!

STATE

State Legislature

There are two DNRE “attack bills” on the floor of the House (HB 4898 & HB 4988) that would be costly to state government (during what you may have noticed as terrible economic times) and would do nothing to enhance the ability of the DNRE to perform its most basic duty: protect the health of our nature resources and our citizens.

Accountability – it’s what we do!

Our 2nd target, State Rep. Jeff Mayes, was announced in our ACCOUNTABILITY program on Thursday. Again, the lawmaker du jour was not pleased even though we praised him for some of his good actions in relation to Asian carp and new battery technologies. …read the coverage here:

Pure Michigan

The funding was restored for the Pure Michigan ads in the House using funds from increased rental car fees and other sources. Click here for a pretty good summary of the effort. The ball is now in the Senate's court. Without a move of support the funding for Pure Michigan will not be there for the prime time ad buys in May.

On a Michigan Roadtrip (around the state news):

  • Federal Stimulus Funds Help Scientists Control the Emerald Ash Borer Invasion.  A federal stimulus package has awarded Michigan Technological University $650,000 for a project to reduce ash tree mortality.
  • Generating sustainable solutions: Windquest Group's joint venture brings Green Machine to Michigan.   The Michigan DNRE is offering $1.4 million to several communities to protect Michigan shorelines.
  • Governor’s Race:  This week saw no new entries into the big contest for Governor, but Michigan LCV staff members were out and about, hearing from candidates Dillon and Hoekstra. Michigan LCV has also been tracking the early polling on the race (see below).

Polling

An Inside Michigan Politics poll; conducted 3/10-15 by Marketing Resource Group surveyed 600 RVs; margin of error +/- 4.0%. Subsamples of 175 Dem primary LVs and 245 GOP primary LVs; margins of error +/- 7.4% and 6.3%, respectively (release, 3/18). Tested: Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero (D), state House Speaker Andy Dillon (D), '02 LG candidate/state Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith (D), Oakland Co. Sheriff Mike Bouchard (R), AG Mike Cox (R), state Sen. Tom George (R), Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-02) and ex-business exec. Rick Snyder (R).  Click here to see the full results.

A friendly reminder that our sister organization, the Michigan LCV Education Fund is still taking questions for the candidates for its May 12th Gubernatorial Forum. Remember to save the date. The event is FREE and open to the public. Click here for details.

FEDERAL

Supreme Court:  From our coalition partners @healthylakes twitter feed: the US Supreme Court may reconsider Asian carp case.

US Senate: We’re still tracking Senator Kerry’s re-negotiation of the federal energy bill. Stay tuned here:

US Congress:  Quiz: Did you know that there are two open Congressional seats this year?

Prize: The first person to name the retiring lawmakers (at kerry@michiganlcv.org) gets a Michigan LCV pint glass!

In summary, whom we elect matters. Spread the word!

Want more insider info? Become a member by clicking "donate" at www.MichiganLCV.org. We can't do this work without your support!

PS Mark your calendar for Michigan LCV Ed Fund’s nonpartisan Gubernatorial candidate forum on May 12th! Click here for details or see who plans to attend on our facebook page!