They're off to a modest start, but they've got some long-term plans. The Republican Main Street Partnership of Michigan (http://www.rmsp-mi.org) has begun operations, with a goal of "providing balance" in the Republican Party in the state.

Their press materials state they're "increasingly concerned with the direction of the party in Michigan," in that it's become too socially conservative. Its state leaders include former Milliken administration official Bill Lukens, along with GOP activist Susan Steiner Bolhouse, who wants to push the party to a more moderate stance on issues, as well as being more of a "thinking" persons party.

Steiner Bolhouse likens the current trend of party followers to be "lemmings" walking off a cliff, adding that they’re concerned about the “extreme attitudes and policies that were forced down the throats of all Republicans.”

They're hoping for support from current Republicans as well as conservative Democrats. So what are their chances of success? Their prospects may be difficult at best, given the fact that the party in Michigan struggled in the early 1980s until it tapped into the powerful vote of the Christian right, which itself was responsible for shifting the party to the conservative tone it displays today.

With all that success, who would want to change things now? According to Lukens and Bolhouse, many would. They’re confident that a shift in the party is coming. They also note that not everything is hunky-dory within the party. While Republicans may control the Michigan House and Senate they say, the GOP does not hold the governor's office; and, of course the state voted Kerry in the recent presidential contest.


State lawmakers would be prohibited from becoming lobbyists immediately after their term ends under a bill moving through the Legislature in Lansing. As of this writing, the bill bans a lawmaker from the lobbying biz for one year after the legislator’s term is scheduled to end. Supporters say current law at the very least creates a perception of ethical problems, as lawmakers are allowed to jump directly from the chamber to the lobby without taking more than a couple of breaths.

Indeed, many former legislators have become lobbyists; and while I continue to respect many of them, the current policy doesn’t inspire much ethical purity. The most recent high profile jump was former House Speaker Rick Johnson, who switched from lawmaker to lobbyist just weeks after the clock struck midnight on January 31 of last year.

Supporters of the bill say current policy allows legislators to use their power to grease the skids to allow them to slide into their new job (and go from five figures to six, to boot).

Of course, this isn’t the only way legislators could improve their image. They could also vote to require full financial disclosure of a legislator’s personal income and holdings. For years we’ve seen legislators vote on policy that they’re rumored to have a financial stake in. But the financial disclosure legislation has been a tough sell in Lansing (even though many other states require it), and there’s little evidence such a measure has much chance of passage.


Michigan nurses recently testified before a legislative committee, again complaining that hospitals too often force them to work overtime, without adding more staff.

The nurses are hailing a proposal that establishes minimum nurse-patient ratios and limits mandatory overtime. Tom Bissonnette of the Michigan Nurses Association also laments that there are not enough new nurses coming into the system.

He told lawmakers “we must smash the bottleneck at our nursing schools. It’s a tragedy that we have a nurse shortage [and we’re on the brink of a bigger nurse shortage] to be turning away thousands of nursing school applicants because of a lack of capacity [in schools].”


There’s money in manure.

Senate Republicans recently introduced legislation designed to improve rural economies in Michigan, and one way to do that is to promote methane production.

Yup. The same methane that comes from the business end of your good ol’ barnyard animal. Apparently there’s good money in the methane that’s produced by cattle, and state Sen. Gerald Van Woerkom (R-Muskegon) said it’s worth the investment.

Indeed, an Internet search finds plenty of information and activity in this field, as I brought up a lot of technical references (“ecogenics methane digester technology”) and humor (“get the straight poop here on methane digesters”).

Van Woerkom saif many farmers for years have generated electricity from manure, and there’s also a future in selling the methane as well.


State officials continue to fight the spread of the Emerald Ash Borer, that awful pest that’s so far killed 10 million ash trees in Michigan. To be sure, the state jumped on this problem and has fought it for some time.

However, the destructive beetle continues to spread, despite the efforts to stop it. It started in southeastern Michigan, but has recently been confirmed near the Bowers Harbor area, which is way up at Grand Traverse Bay.

Is the battle hopeless? Lawmakers directed that question recently to Michigan Ash Borer task force leader Pat Lockwood. She was quick to say it’s not hopeless, but also made it very clear that their fight is a difficult one, and despite their best efforts, the state could lose up to 700 million trees.

It’s known that the beetle can’t fly very far, so how has it spread hundreds of miles? Apparently it’s us. Unknowingly, we’ve given the beetle a ride by such means as transporting firewood. Currently there’s a major campaign to stop transportation of wood. Officials hope the effort is not too late.


Some odds and ends to watch for in 2005: Homebuilders will push for tougher licensing requirements and higher fees—on themselves. It’s a way, they say, to weed out the fly-by-nighters in the homebuilding industry.

Also look for an effort to ban any landfill dumping of cathode ray tubes in Michigan.

And then there’s another effort to eliminate one house of the Michigan Legislature, creating what is called a “unicameral” legislature. Don’t get too excited about this one. The idea’s been proposed before, and after an initial buzz of publicity, the idea goes away. Who or what party would want to eliminate all those political jobs, anyway?

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