03/27/2006
Quote of the week
"The Michigan Needs a Raise coalition will suspend its signatures campaign at this time." -- Michigan State AFL-CIO President Mark Gaffney in a March 25 press release announcing that efforts to place a minimum-wage increase question on the November ballot will be suspended indefinitely due to the governor’s anticipated signature on a bill recently approved by the Senate and House increasing Michigan’s minimum wage. The ballot proposal was organized and funded by labor unions and the Michigan Democratic Party and supported by the governor. It sought to not only amend the Michigan Constitution to increase the minimum wage, but included an automatic yearly increase in the minimum wage and offered state-funded rewards for those who turned in employers in violation of minimum-wage law.
Issues in play this week
- Regulatory fees
- Unfair competition
- Meeting with Dick DeVos
- Ergonomics regulation
- SUTA dumping
- Candidate meeting
- Workers' compensation
Tuesday
Keith Carey will attend a hearing of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Department of Environmental Quality regarding environmental regulatory fees scheduled to sunset, or end, in 2007 and 2008. NFIB/Michigan remains vigilant in its efforts to oppose the creation and/or continuation of any and all user fees in the state budget process.
NFIB/Michigan will testify before the Senate Committee on Commerce in support of legislation further restricting the sale of products produced in Michigan prisons. Senate Bill 978 restricts the sale of prison-manufactured products to tax-exempt organizations only if similar products are not offered by a private business. Senate Bill 978 also requires the Michigan State Industries Advisory Board to submit an annual report on the activities of Michigan’s correctional industries that year and recommendations on how competition with private enterprise can be minimized. Click here for the status and full text of Senate Bill 978.
Wednesday
Charlie Owens, Carey and Amanda Fisher will attend a meeting with gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos.
Carey will attend a meeting of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Department of Labor and Economic Growth (DLEG). The subcommittee, chaired by state Rep. Jack Brandenburg (Harrison Twp.), has included language in past budgets blocking DLEG from using taxpayer money to fund the Michigan Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s (MIOSHA) efforts to develop a Michigan-specific ergonomics rule.
Charlie Owens will attend a hearing of the House Committee on Employment Relations, Training and Safety, during which representatives of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth (DLEG) and the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency will report state efforts to collect unemployment taxes avoided through SUTA dumping. SUTA dumping is the practice of wrongly manipulating one’s business structure to avoid paying one’s fair share of state unemployment taxes. Many businesses may act under advice from consultants or accountants, not understanding that the tactic may run afoul of state unemployment insurance laws.
Thursday
Carey will meet with candidate Mike Trebish (HD 92).
Friday
Owens and Carey will attend of meeting to discuss the Granholm Administration’s recent administrative, legislative and judicial efforts to make an employer's voluntary payment of workers’ compensation benefits an admission of liability in many instances.
NFIB/Michigan is:
- Charlie Owens, State Director
- Keith Carey, Small-Business Lobbyist/Advocate
- Amanda Fisher, Regional Member Activism Coordinator
- Andrea Conarton, Administrative Assistant
NFIB/Michigan Phone: (517) 485-3409
