Elections & Politics

Michigan officials seek strategy to encourage voter turnout

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By JOSH THALL
Capital News Service
Lansing — With voter turnout in Michigan steadily declining, some lawmakers and state officials are looking for ways to make voting easier. In the 2014 midterm election, 41.6 percent of Michigan’s voting-age population turned out, according to the Michigan Secretary of State website. That’s a drop from 50.7 percent in the midterm election of 2006 and 42.9 percent in 2010. To help encourage voting, Sen. Steven Bieda, D-Warren, recently introduced an amendment to the Michigan Election Law to allow for no-reason absentee voting. That means voters would no longer need an excuse to get an absentee ballot.

Nonprofits & Social Services

Michigan working to stop disability fraud at the front door

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By JOSH THALL
Capital News Service
Lansing — A new unit investigating disability fraud in Michigan projects that it has already saved taxpayers $700,000. The Cooperative Disabilities Investigations Unit (CDI) is a joint organization of the Social Security Administration and the Michigan Department of Human Services formed last August. Michigan is one of 24 states that now has a branch of the organization since it was created nationally 17 years ago. The Michigan branch has found 50 suspicious applications. Of those, 16 have been investigated further, 10 are still open and the six that have been denied that would have cost the taxpayer $700,000 over the next five years if they went unnoticed, said Bob Wheaton, acting manager of communications and public information officer for the Department of Human Services.

Public Safety

Bills would increase punishments for crimes against the elderly

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By JOSH THALL
Capital News Service
LANSING– As the elder population of Michigan grows, lawmakers and coalitions throughout the state are working to prevent and punish elder abuse. Sen. Virgil Smith, D-Detroit, recently introduced a pair of bills that would redefine certain punishments for crimes committed against elderly or vulnerable adults. “Anytime you can pass legislation that either deters people from committing crimes, especially against seniors, or increases the punishments they face for committing the crimes, I think that’s a good thing to do,” said Derek Sova, chief of staff for Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker R- Lawton, who helped vote the bills through a Senate committee in mid-February. Sova said Smith’s Senate bills do not deal will all forms of crimes against the elderly, but focus on assault and fraud to obtain an elder’s money or property. Sova said under the new bills, some prison sentences and fines could double.

Government

Snyder’s e-cigarette veto makes new legislation unlikely, senator says

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By JOSH THALL
Capital News Service
LANSING — Banning the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors might make sense to a lot of Michigan residents, but one senator said bringing up new legislation this term could be a waste of time. Sen. Rick Jones, a Grand Ledge Republican, said legislation is at a standstill after Gov. Rick Snyder last month vetoed a bill that would have made e-cigarette sales to minors illegal. Snyder wants e-cigarettes to be regulated and taxed as tobacco products. “The governor will not sign a bill that does not make them into tobacco cigarettes, so they get taxed like regular tobacco cigarettes,” Jones said. “And I don’t believe this legislature will pass that.

Business & Economy

Student loan tax credits could keep graduates in Michigan, bill sponsor says

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By JOSH THALL
Capital News Service
LANSING — A bill to provide tuition tax credits for people paying off student loans is designed to keep young graduates in Michigan, but not everyone is convinced the plan will work. Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr., an East Lansing Democrat, has introduced a bill to ease college graduates’ loan burdens for up to five years after graduation if they live and work in Michigan. The bill would give qualifying graduates a tax credit up to 50 percent of the amount paid on student loans — up to $2,150 for an individual, and $4,300 for a married couple per year. “The governor has talked a lot about talent retention,” Hertel said. “I sat down with some of our major universities, and one of the issues we have is the overwhelming number of students that are leaving the state, and not moving into our state.

Agriculture

Fundraising planned for $8 million Blissfield farm museum

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BY JOSH THALL
Capital News Service
LANSING – Efforts to bring a new agricultural museum to the Blissfield area are now focused on the next step in the museum process — fundraising. Pete Durbin, chair of Tri-County Historical Museum, Inc., which owns the farm toy collection that is central to the museum’s conception, said the process began late last year with the hiring of Dwyer Philanthropy from Adrian to run the campaign. According to Frank Baker, a board member of the Tri-County Historical Museum, formal fundraising has not begun, but intensive planning is underway to raise the $7 million to $8 million the museum is expected to cost. The idea for a museum of this size and nature came about after the owner of 6,000 farm toys and more than 360 pedal tractors offered to donate the collection anonymously to a local historical society of which Durbin was a member. Durbin said the historical society turned down the offer because it was a larger project than they wished to be involved in.