by Gongwer News Service
February 2, 2008

It has been less than a week since Governor Jennifer Granholm, in her sixth State of the State Address, called on the legislature to join her in an “unprecedented era of cooperation,” but behind the applause for that approach there are already issues circling the Capitol that could prove divisive in the upcoming year.

Most people said they believe Ms. Granholm was well-intended in her goals of bi-partisanship, and her hopes for quick across-the-aisle action on mortgage foreclosure bills, tax incentives, a renewable portfolio standard to increase reliance on alternative energy, and expanded promise zones should get a receptive audience in the politically divided legislature.

The governor’s speech focused on school accountability, adding thousands of jobs to the state with a stimulus plan, protecting people from insurance rip offs and balancing the budget, all in “a decade of economic turmoil among the toughest any state (has) had to face in generations.”

The initial signals from Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester Hills) also indicate a less combative approach and an appreciation that the governor embraced some issues the GOP has been pushing. Especially welcome was her opposition to new taxes and fees.

The most debate over the economic agenda items likely will center on the creative financing for supporting smaller high schools, which would provide $300 million in immediate funding by securitizing school aid money over the next 20 years that is no longer needed to pay a lawsuit settlement, and using pension funds to invest in targeted companies with prospects for growth.

Absent from the address was any talk about ergonomic requirements in the workplace. Ergonomics may seem a small matter for the State of the State, but it is a very big issue to businesses across the state.

Ergonomics standards are just as important at attracting, keeping or driving away a company as any of the initiatives the governor hopes to use to lure in new companies, said Charlie Owens from National Federation of Independent Businesses of Michigan. The NFIB has been among the most aggressive organizations challenging the proposed rules which have been years in the development process.

Union groups and many Democrats want the Department of Labor and Economic Growth to make rules that would increase ergonomics standards; most Republicans and business groups want current standards left alone. By a slim, 4-3 party-line vote, SB 843, a bill prohibiting DLEG from making new standards, made it out of a Senate committee the day after the governor’s speech.

Similar legislation made it to Ms. Granholm’s desk more than a year ago when Republicans controlled both chambers, but she promptly vetoed it.

Aside from ergonomics, Ms. Granholm did make one comment in her address that sent one industry scrambling. At first word of Ms. Granholm’s plans to appoint an insurance advocate to “fight for fair and affordable rates for insurance ratepayers,” insurers fought back, slamming the governor’s plans as unnecessary and duplicative. They said the Office of Financial and Insurance Services already provides the type of review Ms. Granholm is seeking.

The insurance industry has defended itself for years against legislation in both houses, introduced by Democrats, to lower auto insurance rates and make rate-setting more transparent. Insurance officials worry that the advocate position created by the governor in an Executive Order on Friday could pile on to force action on the issue.

Meanwhile, as even Ms. Granholm conceded in her speech, nothing caused more “political rancor” last year than the budget — and this upcoming week will mark the start of the 2008-09 budget battle. The governor has already said that colleges and universities can expect an increase, in exchange for controls on tuition, and education generally can expect to see more revenues allocated.

Ms. Granholm has also promised to add 100 new State Police troopers and many officials anticipate modest increases in many line items.

In addition, in the coming months, the newly enacted Michigan Business Tax still requires some clean up, and a few supplemental budgets for the current fiscal year will have to be hashed out.

Add all those factors to the promise of an intense election year campaign, and the test of bipartisanship could well be strained by the end of the year.

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