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recap of recent Lansing issues
I got this email from the governors office and forwarded to me by Karen Gagnon of the Cool Cities Initiative...
Quote:
Details of Jobs Today Initiative Outlined
My administration continues to fight to keep and create jobs in Michigan. Jobs Today is a win-win for Michigan – it will create tens of thousands of jobs that will jumpstart Michigan’s economy this year and clean up our state’s environment, improve nursing home facilities, and speed up road improvement.
Last week, we highlighted the environmental clean-up aspects of Jobs Today. First, we have identified 47 sites where the state will speed the clean-up of pollution that could pose a threat to public health or safety. These sites will share $38 million in funding through the Clean Michigan Initiative bond program. Second, we have identified $75 million for use by communities around the state to fund the accelerated clean-up and redevelopment of brownfield sites. These are sites where, once pollution issues are addressed, can be used in the future for viable development into retail, office or other useful space. Third, we have identified another $124 million in funding from the Refined Petroleum Fund for clean-up of polluted and abandoned gas stations that pose a threat to public safety.
For a listing of sites identified for accelerated clean-up or to find out how a community can apply for funding to cleanup brownfield sites, visit www.michigan.gov/gov.
We also announced last week that the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) will help create some 8,000 jobs and hundreds of affordable housing units by accelerating federal tax credits to for-profit and non-profit developers, and by implementing legislation that allows MSHDA to finance a greater number of low-interest, single-family mortgages. For more information, visit www.michigan.gov/mshda.
As was stated in my 2005 State of the State address, the Jobs Today Initiative will create jobs in seven key areas, including: affordable housing construction and renovation; school improvement and repair; pollution clean-up; road improvements; long-term care facility construction and renovation; downtown development; and university campus improvements. Thanks to this year’s budget agreement, $220 million was approved for projects to upgrade universities and community colleges, and $400 million for road improvement projects that will begin this year.
For more information, visit www.michigan.gov/gov
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Ban on the Sale or Rental of Violent Videos to Children
Senate Democrats and I called for a ban on the sale or rental of ultra violent or sexually explicit video games to children. Currently, there are no state or federal laws that regulate the sale of adult-rated games.
I asked the Legislature to act quickly on a bill introduced by State Senator Hansen Clarke (D-Detroit) which would make selling or renting video games rated “Mature” or “Adults Only” to anyone under the age of 17 a misdemeanor punishable by fine or imprisonment.
Sexual exploitation and graphic violence simply aren’t child’s play. I stand arm in arm with parents who are trying so hard to protect their children from those who would peddle them as entertainment for our kids.
For more information, visit www.legislature.mi.gov/
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Cesar Chavez Day Celebrated
I was privileged in 2003 to sign into law legislation declaring March 31 “Cesar Chavez Day” in Michigan. This year, my husband Dan and I attended several events in honor of Cesar Chavez, including a breakfast that we hosted in our Lansing office building.
In 1962, Mr. Chavez founded the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) as a way to protect and serve farm workers whose poverty and disenfranchisement he had shared. For more than three decades, Chavez worked to highlight the need for respect, fair wages, medical coverage, pension benefits and humane living conditions for hundreds of thousands of farm workers. His service to others and his commitment to uplifting those around him continue to serve as lessons to us today.
Cesar Chavez died on April 23, 1993, at the age of 66. For more information about Cesar Chavez, visit www.cesarechavezfoundation.org.
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News of Note
Shaking off the rust . . .
Feature story in Government Technology magazine. Governor Granholm and Teri Takai talk about their use of technology to optimize state government and stimulate economic growth.
http://www.govtech.net/magazine/cha...nel=17&id=93497
Clean Michigan Grants
http://www.freep.com/voices/editori...0e_20050330.htm
Wooing Toyota
http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosin.../A01-130344.htm
Education Funding
http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...39/1086/opinion
Granholm gives St. Clair County needed help
www.thetimesherald.com/
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Weekly Press Releases
Granholm Details Jobs Today Initiative; Plan Will Put Shovels in Ground This Year
http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,...13919--,00.html
Granholm Details Plan to Speed Job Creation; Highlights Environmental Cleanup Projects
http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,...13978--,00.html
Governor Granholm Appoints MacLeod to Michigan Economic Growth Authority
http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,...13973--,00.html
Governor Granholm Makes Appointments to State Waterways Commission
http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,...14138--,00.html
Governor Granholm to Celebrate Cesar E. Chavez Day in Lansing, Kalamazoo
http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,...14180--,00.html
Governor's Jobs Today Initiative to Create Jobs, Affordable Housing in Michigan
http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,...14153--,00.html
Governor Granholm Appoints Kildee to State Land Bank Fast Track Authority Board of Directors
http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,...14449--,00.html
Patrick Cannon Tapped by Granholm to be Her Designated Pitcher Opening Day
http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,...14382--,00.html
Governor Granholm Announces New Appointments
http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,...14533--,00.html
Governor Granholm Makes Appointments to Michigan Board of Social Work
http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,...14530--,00.html
Governor Granholm Appoints Mitchell to Board of State Canvassers
http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,...14633--,00.html
Governor Granholm's Statement on Passing of Pope John Paul II
http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,...14673--,00.html
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Bill Signings
Governor Granholm signed into law, the following three bills last week:
SB 137 - (PA 2) Polygraph Examiner Background (Cropsey). Requires a criminal background check for applicants for forensic polygraph examiners license.
HB 4210 - (PA 3) Knowledge of Injuries (Stakoe). Eliminates requirement for prosecution to show proof that a driver of a fleeing vehicle has knowledge of injuries.
HB 4413 - (PA 4) Extends the deadline for filing a petition for DNA testing in felony conviction cases.
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"With your feet in the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head will collapse
If there's nothing in it
And you'll ask yourself
Where is my mind"
-pixies
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04-05-05, 3:04 pm
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