I rarely see public officials in any sort of overt panic mode, but in the case of VHS disease, they certainly seem to be. The technical term is viral hemorrhagic septicemia, a deadly infectious fish disease caused by the viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV, or VHS). It afflicts over 50 species of freshwater and marine fish in several parts of the Northern Hemisphere.

And it’s now in the Great Lakes basin. While it hasn’t been detected yet in Lake Superior, it has been found in inland waters in Michigan, and threatens Michigan’s billion dollar-plus fishing industry. With all the other diseases that have threatened wildlife over the years, it’s always seemed that officials felt there was a way to get their arms around it.  I don’t sense that here, as one state official described some individuals in Wisconsin, where it’s been in an inland lake for some time, as “in panic mode.”

As Sen. Patti Birkholz (R-Saugatuck) said, “It gets to the bottom of the food chain … and if we lose the bottom of the food chain … we’re doomed.” The disease first appeared on the Pacific Coast about 20 or so years ago, and scientists believe a mutant strain came to the Great Lakes through oceangoing ships’ ballast water or imported bait.

The state has now implemented a slew of rules and recommendations to stop the spread of any invasive species, and a law prohibiting oceangoing vessels and others from dumping untreated ballast water is on the books and was recently upheld by a federal district judge. But the international shippers (it appears as of this writing) could be ready to appeal that ruling. As a result, that industry is being whacked from all angles in Lansing and Washington.

While both parties have turned the bashing of the easy-target oceangoing shippers into a cottage industry recently (especially as we approach an election year), it should also be noted that the fears about dumping untreated water have been around for some time, with no action having been taken to stop it. So in the long run, there’s the chance that elected officials and nonelected regulators will be blamed for closing the barn door long after the animals have escaped.

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I’m no techie, but should we be just a bit more worried about the future of driver’s license or ID cards that we’re issued? Currently in Michigan, it’s not illegal to put “radio frequency” identification onto the cards. Such tech could allow Big Brother (whomever that is) to track your every move. It could also allow someone within range (and with the right equipment) to steal information from the card without ever touching it.

So state Rep. Paul Opsommer (R-DeWitt) said something should be done about it. He’s proposing to prohibit “RF” tech from being put on the cards. The legislation says nothing, however, about a private company putting the “RF” tech on an ID card. And, of course, electronic chips are already required for cattle in Michigan. Hope we’re not next.

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Some troubling news this past month regarding the welfare of children in Michigan: A new report states that between 2000 and 2005 there was a 36 percent increase in child poverty in Michigan, a much larger increase than the 12 percent increase reported nationwide. The report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation said nearly one-fourth of the children in Michigan lived at or below the poverty level. The report did say that the dropout rate improved and teen birth rate declined in Michigan. But the infant mortality rate in Michigan checked in at its worst ranking ever, 34th out of the 50 states, and the rate for African-American infants was triple that of white infants in the state.

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Currently 19 states and 50 universities in the United States have adopted some sort of policy to divest their pension funds from certain companies doing business with Sudan and Iran. Michigan has no such policy, although there’s a bill currently in the hopper in Lansing to do that. The bill targets the Sudan because of the genocide in the Darfur region, and Iran because of terrorist activities connected to that country. Sponsors say the legislation narrowly targets companies that have a business relationship with the governments of Sudan or Iran, but do not benefit citizens outside the inner circle of government. Many of the firms targeted are foreign-based oil companies.

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Some Democrats admit that in the upcoming elections “just not being a Republican” will not be enough to get elected. That was the subject during a recent National Democratic Leadership Council meeting in Washington, DC. State Rep. Steve Tobocman, (D-Detroit) said they’ve got to come up with a “winning formula” for their party’s presidential nominee. What’s their winning formula? That’s not clear at this point.

As for Republicans, watch for the immigration issue to be their lever this election cycle. U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Michigan) recently told me that immigration could be a key issue that wins them back control of the House.

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When you think about it, we elect state legislators to do only two things: cast votes, and approve a budget, both the total amount spent and what the revenue should be spent on. But lawmakers won’t really decide on the total amount, under a proposed constitutional amendment in Lansing. If approved, the amendment would prohibit any budget that exceeds 96 percent of the estimated revenue for a given budget year. (Estimated revenue, of course, would be decided, as it has been for some time, by a twice-per-year revenue estimating conference.) The idea is to bring government spending “under control,” even though the state constitution already requires a balanced budget. Also under the proposal, any additional spending that may be needed in a given budget year cannot take effect without a two-thirds vote of the Legislature. So far there’s little evidence this idea has any chance of being sent to a statewide vote by the Legislature at least.

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Expect new efforts to get tougher on cemeteries that provide prepaid services. One bill recently introduced prohibits cemeteries, their owners or anyone else closely associated with them, from being trustees of cemetery endowment trusts. It also provides some new business for banks, as it requires all new trustees to be Michigan financial institutions, and prohibits the cemetery owner from controlling the funds. The legislation was inspired by the case of Oklahoma oil prospector Clayton Smart, who the attorney general said ripped off Michigan families to the tune of $70 million in trust funds. That represents a whopping 30 percent of total cemetery trust funds in the state.

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A new report from the Michigan Supreme Court states that Michigan has too many judges, and some judgeships should be eliminated. Want to start a fight in the Capitol?  Just propose to a lawmaker that a local judgeship of his or hers is being wiped out. That’s the reason that Rep. Kevin Elsenheimer (R-Bellaire) said the judgeship decisions should be taken away from the Legislature. He’s proposing some sort of outside nonpartisan panel (is that even possible in Lansing?) to decide on judgeships.

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There’s a proposal in Lansing to create a “bill of rights” for college students and their parents. Among other things, it includes a requirement that state-supported universities in Michigan hold tuition increases to 5 percent or the rate of inflation, or face losing 2 percent in state aid. For years, colleges have argued that they operate above the rate of inflation, because they have to compete like a private company does in the world of competition for good staff and top professors. They also have said that investing in those areas results in more top research grants and the like.

		Rob Baykian is director of news and operations at the 67-station Michigan Radio Network. He has been covering the Capitol since 1981.