Michigan Governor Rick Snyder Signs Unemployment Bill

Gov. Rick Snyder   (WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com)

Updated: Tuesday, 29 Mar 2011, 7:52 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 28 Mar 2011, 10:36 AM EDT

By myFOXDetroit.com Staff

(WJBK) - Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has signed a bill that temporarily continues federal jobless benefits while cutting six weeks of state-level unemployment benefits for new filers starting in 2012.

The measure reduces state jobless benefits from 26 weeks to 20 weeks as of January.

It also allows up to 150,000 Michigan residents to continue receiving extended federal unemployment benefits they otherwise would lose by year's end.

Michigan's two Democratic U.S. senators and six Democratic congressmen sent a letter to the Republican governor Monday asking him to veto the bill because it permanently reduces Michigan's benefits below other states.

Snyder says in a statement he signed it Monday because he didn't want 35,000 jobless workers to abruptly lose their unemployment checks as they would have if the measure wasn't signed by Friday.

Statement from Sander Levin in response to the signing of the bill:

(Washington D.C.) – U.S. Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI) today criticized Gov. Rick Snyder’s signing of a bill that will permanently cut Michigan unemployment insurance from 26 weeks to 20 weeks, giving Michigan the dubious distinction of being the ONLY state in the country that provides fewer than 26 weeks of UI benefits. Snyder, in a news release this morning announcing that he signed HB 4408, failed to even mention the reckless change in the legislation. Instead, he focused on the technical change that could have easily been made without Republicans having to make a permanent cut to unemployment insurance.

“Gov. Snyder’s decision to sign this reckless measure cutting the lifeline for Michigan’s unemployed will reverberate for years in Michigan. In signing this bill, the governor has tried to distract Michiganders from the full story, seeking to portray legislation that includes a drastic and permanent cut as a ‘protection’ for the unemployed. Republicans hijacked a simple technical change to extend 100 percent federally funded benefits this year and gave Michigan the dubious distinction of becoming the only state in the union with 20 weeks of state unemployment insurance. This would affect hundreds and hundreds of thousands of Michiganders in the future.”

Collective bargaining changes pass NH House

By TOM FAHEY
State House Bureau Chief
Thursday, Mar. 31, 2011

CONCORD – The House approved a key piece of its budget package that would make deep cuts to social and health programs, and includes a controversial change to collective bargaining laws.
Republicans rejected a series of attempts by Democrats to lessen the dramatic changes in House Bill 2 (click to see bill text and roll call votes) and passed it, 222-119. The bill would make public workers at-will employees if their contracts end before a new one is in place. The change to collective bargaining, actively opposed by labor, was a late addition to the bill.
The budget, which the House has cut to a nearly $10.2 billion spending package, will be voted on today. The total spending level is $743 million less than the current two-year budget. HB 2 makes the changes in law needed to put the new budget in effect.
HB 2 would eliminate a $7 million program meant to help troubled children in need of services, cut services for the elderly and disabled, cut $115 million in funding to cover hospital charity care, limit the role of the Attorney General's Office, reinforce public pension system changes, freeze school building aid for two years, lock in education aid at this year's level, lock in reduced aid to local government, close the Department of Cultural Resources and require a managed-care system for Medicaid, among other things.
The full bill has 465 sections and covers 136 pages.
Ranks of state workers, firefighters and police listened for nearly an hour late Wednesday as the House debated the change in bargaining laws. The House defeated a move to kill the change, 201-155.

Kensington police Chief Wayne Sheehan, left, was among the municipal employees who were at the State House in protest of anti-union provisions in the House's budget proposal. (THOMAS ROY)

The Senate must approve the provision for it to become law.
Gov. John Lynch opposes the measure. His press secretary, Colin Manning, said it "completely eliminates collective bargaining for public employees, and that's why he opposes it."

More than 400 union members showed up last week when the at-will provision went into the budget. A State House rally today is expected to draw thousands of union members, social service clients, church members and others protesting the budget .
Republicans differed on why the provision was introduced. House Deputy Whip Rep. Shawn Jasper, R-Hudson, said it is needed to make it easier for local government to reach deals with workers. He denied labor's claims that the bill will mean the end of collective bargaining.
Rep. Neal Kurk, R-Weare, who sponsored the change, said it was to make the state budget balance, because the state needs to save $50 million in health benefits for state workers.
"We need to put pressure on state employees' unions for concessions," he said.
Rep. Ben Baroody, D-Manchester, said Republicans short-circuited the legislative process by including a major change to state law in the budget bill at the last minute.
"This is a policy change that shouldn't come in after hours during the budget process when nobody is around. This is wrong. It's not the way we do business," Baroody said.
Union officials said they'll fight the change when it gets to the Senate.
"It's a sad day for workers. It's a sad day for the public sector, but we're certainly not done by any stretch of the imagination," AFL-CIO President Mark MacKenzie said.
David Lang, president of the Professional Firefighters of New Hampshire, said Republicans who spoke on the bill misled listeners on the impact the bill would have on every public worker.
"They should be ashamed of themselves," he said. "This bill will end collective bargaining, and it destroys the public sector."
Democrats tried unsuccessfully to restore $115 million the budget takes from hospitals to provide charity care; to restore the CHINS program for children in need of services; and to protect funding for the 10-year highway plan. The GOP majority rejected them all.
The House easily passed an $89 million capital budget that pays for repairs and upgrades to state buildings and properties, including community colleges and courthouses.
The total is 9 percent below what Gov. Lynch requested, and will leverage up to $78 million in federal funds.
Capital spending will include money that will pay for the E-Court initiative, which would bring electronic filing and access to court documents. It also includes $2 million to purchase 34 or more homes flooded and still threatened by the Suncook River.

Boehner signals compromise in budget talks

'Our goal is to cut spending, not shut down the government'

J. Scott Applewhite  /  AP

Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, and other GOP leaders comment on the Senate Democratic leadership and the problems in passing a long-term spending bill, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday.

By ANDREW TAYLOR

updated 3/31/2011 4:56:17 PM ET

WASHINGTON — Despite fresh pressure from tea party conservatives, House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday that Republicans "can't impose our will" on the White House and Senate Democrats on legislation to cut tens of billions of dollars in federal spending.

At a news conference, Boehner, R-Ohio, denied Democratic suggestions that he has already agreed to jettison nearly half of the $61 billion in cuts passed by the House a month ago.
But as was the case with Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., earlier in the week, he did not say the demand was non-negotiable. "Our goal is to cut spending, not shut down the government," he said.
Story: Where's the spending squabble heading?

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The government is running on the second of two short-term spending bills, and at the insistence of Republicans, a total of $10 billion has been cut so far.
Without action by Congress, the money will run out on April 9. Lawmakers are seeking a compromise that will extend to the Sept. 30 end of the spending year.
House plans symbolic budget vote as pressure on Senate mounts Senior House and Senate aides, experts in the intricacies of spending legislation, met during the day to explore a possible compromise.
Yet officials in both parties said Democrats had not yet provided Republicans with a detailed list of their proposed cuts, an indication that negotiations were not far along.
Tea Party ralliers: 'Shut it down!' Democratic officials added that some of their proposed reductions would cut $3 billion or so from the Pentagon budget. The House-passed legislation calls for an increase in defense spending, and reserves spending cuts for domestic programs.
Boehner spoke as tea party activists demonstrated within shouting distance of the Capitol and a pair of potential GOP presidential contenders injected themselves into the first big test for the GOP majority elected last fall.
Congressional pay during a shutdown? Still looks likely A few hundred protesters bore signs demanding that the Republican majority they helped vote into office remain true to campaign pledges.
"Remember your promises — WE DO," read one. "Extreme spending requires extreme cuts," was another.
They drew encouragement from several Republican lawmakers.
"Stay courageous and I know you will. Don't back down and I know you won't," Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, a potential presidential contender, exhorted on a cold, drizzly day.
"We will stand for cutting the size of government we won't change our principle," she said.
Separately, former Speaker Newt Gingrich, another White House hopeful, met behind closed doors with first-term Republicans.
Story: House, Senate No. 2s battle over federal budget As speaker, Gingrich led the party into twin shutdowns more than a decade ago that wound up damaging the party politically. He has recently written that the confrontation during the Clinton administration paved the way for a balanced budget agreement a few years later. But he leaves out that, as part of the deal, conservative Republicans were forced to create a new government benefit program — health care for millions of lower-income children — that President Bill Clinton demanded.
Boehner was a junior member of the leadership when Gingrich was party leader in the House. Now the leader of a rambunctious majority, his comments marked a public hint of flexibility two days after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid offered one of his own.
On Tuesday, the Nevada Democrat said his side in the talks was willing to consider limitations on government regulators as well as other non-spending items the House seeks. In exchange, Democrats would expect Republicans to scale back on their demands for spending cuts.
He did not identify any, but other officials have said curbs on the Environmental Protection Agency and other government regulators were likely candidates. Another is a proposed ban on the use of government funds to pay for abortions for poor women living in the District of Columbia.
Additionally, Boehner has made a personal priority of a measure the House passed earlier this week to reinstate school vouchers for District of Columbia students. The program is the only one in the country that uses federal tax dollars to subsidize private-school tuition.
While the showdown over spending has dominated Congress in recent days, it is only the first in a series of collisions expected in the coming months as the Republicans push to rein in the size and scope of government.
Story: Poll: Americans souring more on economy House Republicans are expected to unveil a budget for the next fiscal year next week that includes deep spending cuts in domestic programs as well as steps to remake Medicare and Medicaid. Officials have said that in private conversations, Republicans have set an informal target of reducing budget deficits to $1 trillion over 10 years, down from about $1.5 trillion for the current year.
Details unseen, Democrats are already eager to attack it as too harsh. But conservatives in the Republican Study Conference are expected to outline an alternative with even tighter deficit cuts.
The Treasury also has put lawmakers on notice that an increase in the government's borrowing authority will be needed later this spring. Some conservatives have already announced they will oppose any such measure, while others have laid down conditions that appear unlikely to be met.
Boehner and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky have said the GOP will demand changes to rein in future spending before the increase can pass.

Video: Budget fight intensifies on Capitol Hill

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

President Obama's Green Fleet Initiative A Bold Step Forward In US Energy Use

I am one who agrees with the idea of getting off imported oil. But to get our oil production even to where that would help is a good ten years down the line.  And it was said that our domestic oil production is exported, why when we could use it here.  Obama wants clean energy, that is solar, wind, nuclear, but the Republicans in their haste to cut cut cut the budget have cut the programs that would enable us to go forward with those options.  I am not a budget person, I am not a fiscal hawk, I am an everyday citizen who pays taxes and does not understand all this talk. I would love for someone, anyone who could come to the podium and give me straight talk about what the budget is where it needs to go and what we as Americans need to do to help......I am utterly confused. 

Posted by Secretary Ray LaHood on April 01, 2011 at 11:41 AM EDT

Ed. Note: Updated with video and photo.

Read the Transcript  |  Download Video: mp4 (181MB) | mp3 (17MB)

This afternoon, President Obama unveils his green fleet initiative which ensures that by 2015, all new vehicles purchased for Americas's federal agencies will be electric, gas-electric hybrid, or alternatively fueled.

I will stand alongside the President when he makes that announcement because the Department of Transportation will do whatever we can to support this bold new goal.

The transportation sector accounts for two-thirds of the United States’ oil use and contributes one-third of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.  After housing, transportation is the second biggest monthly expense for most American families.  Reducing the gas consumed by our federal fleet will help relieve some of the upward pressure on gas prices.

As the President said earlier this week, “In an economy that relies so heavily on oil, rising prices at the pump affect everybody.”

We have the opportunity, and the obligation, to take action.  We can change both the types and the amounts of energy that our transportation systems use while also creating good, high-paying jobs and easing everyone’s burden at the pump.

The Administration is already leading by example on this one. Since taking office, President Obama has doubled the number of hybrids in the government’s fleet of 600,000 vehicles.

President Obama is also right when he says that electric vehicles offer one solution.  They’re on the market, more are coming, and people are excited to buy them.  DOT has already awarded grants to help develop charging stations for these vehicles, and communities across America--from Baltimore to Houston to Seattle are beginning to have more and more of these stations available.

Through historic fuel economy standards, we’ve also made sure the gasoline-powered vehicles purchased by the federal government prior to President Obama's 2015 deadline will also run more efficiently and use less gas.

Reducing the amount of gas consumed by our federal fleet and by America's private vehicles will lower overall fuel demand, helping to keep gas prices lower than they would otherwise be, and save all of us from spending a fortune to fill up. This comprehensive national program is also projected to save 500 million barrels of oil over the lives of the vehicles produced within the first five years of these new standards.

DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration explores the full range of alternative fuels needed to meet our energy sustainability goals.  Their researchers are investigating hydrogen fuel-cell and biofuel transportation technologies that could someday greatly reduce or eliminate our dependence on foreign oil sources.  Already hydrogen refueling stations are popping up to serve the growing number of fuel-cell vehicles on our roadways.

Now, we can’t just wave a magic wand and end our reliance on oil overnight. But under President Obama’s leadership, we are progressing down the path toward sustainability, a cleaner environment, and more livable communities.

President Barack Obama delivers remarks following a tour of the United Parcel Service (UPS) facility in Landover, Md., April 1, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)