Elections & Politics

Fight for press freedom faces privacy advocates

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By ERIC FREEDMAN
Capital News Service
LANSING — Lawmakers are split about what public information should be public and what public meetings should be public. Access to information is essential to press freedom. And with World Press Freedom Day ahead on May 3, the political debate sometimes focuses on conflicting views about personal or business privacy on one side and citizens’ right to know what their government is doing on the other. Several pending proposals would make it easier to find out what state and local agencies do. For example, Rep. Brandon Dillon, D-Grand Rapids, wants the Legislature to obey the Freedom of Information Act – something lawmakers have long resisted.

Elections & Politics

Boy governor, new state faced grown-up politics

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By ERIC FREEDMAN
Capital News Service
LANSING – Politics is a tough business in today’s era of massive campaign spending, instantaneous electronic sliming, dirty tricks, deceptive advertising, bribes and voting fraud. But it also was a dirty, corrosive business in the earliest days of Michigan’s statehood, according to a new biography of its first governor, Stevens T. Mason. When it came to politics, the American frontier was no Eden and politicians were no angels. The Virginia-born Mason moved to Detroit and became secretary of the Michigan Territory when President Andrew Jackson, a fellow Democrat, appointed him at age 19 – too young to vote. He replaced his father in the patronage post.

Elections & Politics

Proposal would make sheriffs, prosecutors nonpartisan

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By ERIC FREEDMAN
Capital News Service
LANSING – Two traditional political battlegrounds could become, well, less bloody, if 83 county prosecutors and 83 county sheriffs were elected without Democratic or Republican affiliations. Four lawmakers led by Rep. Joel Johnson, R-Clare, want to switch those positions from partisan to nonpartisan. The co-sponsors are Reps. Terry Brown, D-Pigeon; Kevin Daley, R-Lum; and Martin Howrylak, R-Troy. Statewide, the GOP holds a majority of both positions.

Business & Economy

Right-to-Work Bills Spark Controversy

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Some have described it as a ‘game changer’ while others have declared it a travesty for Michigan workers. Either way, in a matter days, a GOP majority quickly moved right-to-work legislation through a lame duck session in both the House and Senate. “In the space of 72 hours it went from ‘not on my agenda’ to ‘it’s going be a law in a couple of weeks,’ and that’s a pretty dramatic transition,” said Rick Pluta of Michigan Radio who has been following Lansing politics for more than two decades. It’s a move that marks the end of decades long “closed shop” laws in the state, meaning workers would now no longer be required to join union or pay union dues. For most of his term Gov. Rick Snyder has made it a point to steer clear of such divisive issues.