Tagged: michigan legislature

Republican leaders at the state Capitol say the recall of Representative Paul Scott will not change their approach to education or economic policy.

State Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville stated:

“You’re not going to see a loss of momentum here. I see just the opposite, that we’re going to continue – we’re not going to slow down. We’re going to keep up the same pace. Nothing is going to change about what we’re doing or how we’re going to do it.”

The election for southern Genesee County voters to choose Scott’s replacement will be February 28th of next year. The winner will serve the final seven months of Scott’s House term.

House Speaker Jase Bolger said Republicans will mount a strong effort to keep the seat.

“The voters have a chance to speak in February in a different opportunity than they had this time,” Bolger said. “This time, they had to say yes or no to recalling one person. In February, they’ll have two cases presented to them on how they want to see the future of the state go. So, they’ll have that opportunity in February and we look forward to them expressing their voice.”

The local Republican and Democratic parties must choose their candidates for the special election no more 15 days after the results of the recall are certified.

The vote was close, but it was not close enough to rescue Representative Paul Scott (R-Grand Blanc) from losing his job. Scott is 29 years old and once was pegged as a rising Republican star. He told a group of supporters that he and Republican reformers in Lansing are the targets of special interests.

“We took the state by storm and we made fundamental changes and we had the establishment government unions living in our community, trying to overturn the will of the voters and we just came up a little bit short in that fight,” said Scott.

All told, $225,000 or more was spent by both sides in the campaign, making this a very expensive legislative race. South Genesee County residents were bombarded since August with TV and radio ads, brochures stuffed in doors, and mailings.

Governor Snyder put forth a bold new message on infrastructure a couple days ago. What he said immediately won praise from columnists and editorial pages across the state.

As a matter of fact, the governor’s plan is being enthusiastically supported by nearly everybody who understands how desperate a shape Michigan’s roads and bridges are in.

I looked at the details of the governor’s proposal when it was unveiled, but deliberately decided to refrain from saying anything about it until it was clear what the reaction would be.

There now seems to be an increasing likelihood that Governor Snyder may bypass the legislature and find another way to build a new bridge across the Detroit River. Late last week, a spokesman for the Ambassador Bridge Company said that would be outrageous.

He said it would be a perversion of the process to build a new bridge after the legislature said no. If that were the case, he might have a point. But that’s not at all what happened.

So, who is Rick Snyder, really? I spent a half hour talking to the governor yesterday, the first long conversation I’ve had with him since he took office exactly eight months ago.

Since then, he’s gotten more through the legislature than the last governor did in eight years. He’s also been the subject of nasty criticism and a recall attempt.

I was curious about a lot of things, one of which being whether he still likes this job he worked so hard at winning a year ago.

Since taking office Governor Snyder has proposed many new education reform proposals, including mandatory Schools of Choice, which would allow students throughout the state to attend schools outside of their district.

In this weeks political roundup we take a look at Schools of Choice with Susan Demas, political analyst for Michigan Information and Research Service, and Ken Sikkema, former Senate Majority Leader and senior policy fellow for Public Sector Consultants.