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 Senate
Proposes Direct Appointment of State Superintendent
Gongwer News Service, February 4, 2004
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The governor
could directly appoint Michigan's superintendent of public
instruction under a proposed constitutional amendment that will
be introduced in the Senate Thursday.
If approved by two-thirds of both the Senate and House, it could
go before the voters in November. But getting to that point may
depend on Governor Jennifer Granholm supporting the proposal.
So far the governor is saying she will not back the proposal if
it requires the Senate to approve the superintendent choice
through the advice and consent process.
The same authority to directly appoint the state's school
superintendent had been sought by former Governor John Engler.
Sen. Wayne Kuipers (R-Holland), chair of the Senate Education
Committee, said the reason the proposal is being introduced now
is because Republicans feel they can get the two-thirds
majority-26 votes in the Senate, 73 in the now 109-member
House-to put the proposal on the ballot.
However, a spokesperson for Senate Democrats said it is likely
the caucus will follow Ms. Granholm's lead on the issue.
Ms. Granholm opposes the advice and consent provision, saying it
would undercut the constitutional independence of the
superintendent by involving the Legislature in the selection
process. "I 'm not interested in that," she said, adding the
approach, if it were taken, should apply to direct appointment
of other constitutional officers.
Liz Boyd, Ms. Granholm's press spokesperson, said the proposal
was not originated by the executive office. If Ms. Granholm were
to have the responsibility to appoint the superintendent then
she should also have the accountability of the person's
performance without advice and consent.
In addition, if she should appoint one additional department
director, why not then also appoint the Natural Resources
director and the Agriculture director.
Mr. Kuipers said those directors are named by boards already
appointed by the governor, and those board members must go
through the advice and consent process.
"To me, it's sort of government 101," Mr. Kuipers said of the
advice and consent provision.
The proposal is being introduced jointly in the Senate and House
by Mr. Kuipers and Re. John Moolenaar (R-Midland).
SUPREME COURT: Sen. Mickey Swiltawski (D-Roseville) introduced a
gubernatorial appointment proposal of his own, Wednesday, when
he introduced SJR G that would call for the governor to appoint
all members of the Supreme Court. The justices are now elected
on a non-partisan ballot after being nominated at partisan
conventions.
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Udow Planning Restructuring of FIA
Gongwer News Service, February 4, 2004
Marianne Udow is already planning some restructuring in the
Department of Human Services, which she took over as director last
month. Ms. Udow told the House Family and Children Services
Committee that she would be able to provide members new
organizational charts of the department in the coming weeks.
A key goal, Ms. Udow said, is trying to remove some of the
stress from caseworkers' jobs. She noted that in most cases
complaints from residents about caseworkers being rude could be
traced back to stress and frustration on the job.
She argued the problem was not a lack of commitment on the part
of employees. "I was told state employees work 8-5 and leave
issues at work. It's a very laid back life," she said. "That's
not true. They're dedicated, committed, passionate for what they
do even though every year their resources get cut back."
Part of that stress reduction effort, she said, will be a
realignment of the department. But she said she is also working
on customer service and leadership training programs,
simplifying policy, as well as improving technology available to
caseworkers, a goal championed by her predecessor.
Ms. Udow is also hoping to bring some additional financial
resources into the department. "We need to partner with
foundations to bring more money in," she said, though not
specifying yet where those funds might go.
Ms. Udow told the committee the directorship was not something
she sought but was the perfect opportunity when it came up. "It
is one of the few things that could make me leave Blue Cross,"
she said. Prior to taking the FIA helm, she was senior vice
president of Health Care Products and Provider Services for Blue
Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
But she said now that she has the reins, she said she is in
charge-and in the line of fire. "I hope you hold me accountable
because I hold myself accountable for improving," she said.
She said, however, that the agency also must be freer to discuss
its shortcomings. "Many employees of the department feel very
beaten up and beleaguered by the press and the public," she
said. "I will be open and will admit when we made mistakes, and
we will make mistakes. We are an agency of 11,000 people."
C.P.S. REPORTING: The FIA would have until September 30 to begin
submitting reports on services provided to category III child
protective services cases under HB 4445 reported from the
committee Wednesday. But department officials said the
information would not actually become available until March
2005.
Though local child protective services offices track the
services provided to these lowest risk cases, CPS Manager Ted
Forest told the committee the department's computer system
cannot currently handle the tracking of these cases beyond some
basic information.
The CPS system current ranks cases in categories I-V. Category I
cases are the most serious where court action is required. In
category III cases potential abuse or neglect has been found,
but the risk to the child is low and the family is referred for
community services.
Mr. Forest said in most of those cases it is not important that
the family even participate in the services as long as future
checks show that the situation in the home has improved. If it
has not improved, the case could be re-categorized.
But Committee Chair Lauren Hager (R-Port Huron Township) said
the tracking information was needed for the department to
determine which services were being helpful to low-risk
families. "We're extending the sunset but we're still not going
to have any information until 2005. That for me is hard to
take," he said.
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Michigan Democrats Unveil Mercury Initiative Package
Gongwer News Service, February 4, 2004
Manufacturers and consumers in the state could face tighter
restrictions on mercury use and disposal, according to a group
of Democrats who unveiled a mercury phase-out package Wednesday.
The package of 15 bills, set to be introduced at the end of
February, were discussed at a press conference as part of a
40-state effort to find solutions to regional toxic mercury
problems.
Mercury is a neurotoxin that attacks the body's central nervous
system, damaging or destroying tissues, including those in the
brain. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate
that 1 in 12 women of childbearing age have unsafe mercury
levels resulting in roughly 400,000 babies born in the U.S.
being at risk of contamination each year.
The initiative's bills will include a phase-out period, during
which time manufacturers and wholesalers would be required to
notify the Department of Environmental Quality of any
mercury-added products produced, and eventually be required to
end the sale of the products, unless exempted by the DEQ.
Blood pressure recording devices, thermostats, thermometers,
toys and light switches are among the items to be targeted by
the legislation.
A second aim of the package is to assure proper disposal of
mercury-added items. Products containing the toxin would be
required to be separated from other waste and labels on products
containing mercury and dental offices would be required to use
dental traps to collect filling materials under a few of the
bills outlined at the press conference.
Rep. Alexander Lipsey (D-Kalamazoo), a sponsor of the
initiative, said the effort to cut down on mercury levels in the
state has been recognized by legislators and manufacturers.
"Automobile manufacturers have already found viable alternatives
to start to eliminate the use of mercury," Mr. Lipsey said. He
named relay devices, which use conductors other than mercury and
the use of digital technology rather than mercury-added
instruments as being among the changes.
However, Mike Johnston, director of regulatory affairs for the
Michigan Manufacturers Association, said the package has a
serious potential to create a freezing effect on manufacturing.
"Our first concern is not making Michigan's standards more
burdensome than other states," he said. "It makes sense to look
for other materials. It's prudent and reasonable for
manufacturers to do so, but not from a regulatory standpoint
that would hinder the creation of manufacturing jobs."
A report released by Environmental Defense, a nonprofit
environmental organization, analyzed Environmental Protection
Agency data to identify the location of potential mercury "hot
spots." Michigan registered highest of the states, with annual
mercury concentrations ranging from 125-127 grams per square
kilometer.
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Michigan Senate to Look at Self-Grading Schools
MIRS, February 4, 2004
A Michigan Senate panel will look into the Department of
Education's decision to base one-third of its school report card
grade on a school's own self-evaluation after a Detroit News
report revealed that several Detroit-area schools gave
themselves As to prevent themselves from failing.
Sen. Wayne Kuipers (R-Holland), chair of the Senate Education
Committee, said he would hold hearings on the situation as soon
as next week, but his initial reaction to the situation is that
self-grading should be eliminated.
Either the self-grading idea is completely ineffective or these
school officials are out of touch with what's going on within
their walls, he said.
"I'm all for giving schools more local control, but they also
have to demonstrate that they're able to handle it," said
Kuipers, who lead a multi-hearing investigation last year on the
botched MEAP grading shake-down. "And that action demonstrates
some concern."
The state's new report card bases one-third of a school's grade
on its performance on the Michigan Education Assessment Program
(MEAP) and another third based on how much these MEAP scores
improved from the year before. The final third was a
self-evaluation grade based on 11 factors.
As far as Kuipers' view on the fact that one out of every four
Michigan schools didn't make annual yearly progress (AYP) as
defined by the federal government, Kuipers said he considered
the first-time marks to be more of a benchmark and that the key
will be on whether schools improve from this point.
"Now that we have got these benchmarks set, we have to focus
much closer on where we are next year," Kuipers said. "Are our
kids learning at the level they should be learning?"
That's why Kuipers will be announcing "education renaissance
zones" within the next couple of months, a plan similar to a
Grand Rapids program in which communities take an active role in
a high-risk school's performance. Kuipers said he doesn't know
what this plan is going to look like, but the goal is for
inner-city areas to "wrap their arms around" their troubled
neighborhood school.
In other education news, Kuipers said the Senate Education
Committee would take up a pair of bills that further stress in
sexual education classes that abstinence is the only 100 percent
way to avoid pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases.
The bills introduced Tuesday, SBs 943 and 944, lay out a fresh
batch of new guidelines for sex ed teachers, including teaching
kids how to "say no" to pre-martial sex and the legal
implications of having a child or having sex with a person under
16.
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