Politics & Government

Michigan's four new legislative leaders all sat down together yesterday for an interview.  The four include Republican Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, Republican Speaker of the House Jase Bolger and Democratic House Minority Leader Rich Hammel.  The four are known as "The Quadrant."

In an interview on the public television program "Off the Record," the Legislature’s new Republican leaders said public employees and local governments will have to share in the pain of budget cuts to help address Michigan’s fiscal problems.

As Rick Pluta reports:

Richardville and Bolger said state employees will likely see reductions in their paychecks and benefits. The Democratic leaders said they want to work with Republicans, but will fight efforts to impose more cuts on public employees and local governments.

To find out more about the state's four new Legislative leaders check out Dome Magazine where columnist Susan Demas has a great profile of The Quadrant.

Governor Rick Snyder says he'll name a new justice to the state Supreme Court by January 14th.  Whomever he picks will replace state Supreme Court Justice Maura Corrigan.  Snyder announced yesterday that he is appointing Justice Corrigan to head the state Department of Human Services.

Corrigan is one of four Republican justices on the seven-member state Supreme Court.  She has served on the court since 1999.

Michigan Public Radio's Rick Pluta sent this report detailing the announcement of Corrigan's new job:

Corrigan says serving on the court is a “dream job.” But she says she could not resist the chance to work on improving services for children and others in need.

We must leave no one behind. That includes the most-vulnerable among us – children who are abused and neglected, the poor, the disaffected.

One of Corrigan’s first jobs will be to bring Michigan into compliance with a court order that settles a lawsuit against the state’s foster care system.

The start of the new year often brings in a lot of talk of good will. For those in politics, it's talk of bipartisanship.

In Michigan, that spirit is likely to dissolve quickly as the state faces a $1.8 billion budget deficit in the next fiscal year (the state's next fiscal year will start October 1st, 2011).

Peter Luke on MLive.com highlights the discussion beginning to take shape among the leaders in the state legislature.

Republicans pretty much control everything in Lansing now, and the first item they say they plan to cut are salaries and benefits for state employees.

Jase Bolger, the new Speaker in the State House of Representatives, said state employee benefits are definitely on the table if the state is going to close the enormous budget deficit gap:

"There are significant dollars that need to be saved through our compensation models, not just salaries, but the entire compensation."

In his recent piece on the looming budget deficit, Michigan Radio's Lester Graham points out that slashing state employee salaries and benefits only gets them a small percentage of their overall $1.8 billion dollar goal.

Every culture and civilization has a set of myths which are sometimes partly true, but which are exaggerated out of proportion.

For example, they say any child in America can grow up to be president. That was made more believable when Barack Obama won. But for too many children today, a decent education, let alone the White House, is an impossible dream.

We take other things on faith too. These days, something most people seem to believe is that we have too many public sector employees, that they are paid too much, and that the cost of their pensions and benefits are killing us.

As a result, it is widely expected that Governor Snyder will seek deep cuts in public sector benefits to help close a nearly two billion dollar hole in next year’s state budget.

Governor Rick Snyder will name Michigan Supreme Court Justice Maura Corrigan as head of the state Department of Human Services today. The appointment will open a vacancy on the state Supreme Court for the new governor to fill.

The Associated Press reports:

It's not immediately clear how quickly Snyder will replace Corrigan on the court. Corrigan was part of the court's new 4-3 conservative majority... The department has been under pressure in recent years as more Michigan residents hurt by the recession seek public assistance. The department is under a 2008 consent decree to improve the state's foster care system but received poor marks in the latest report.

The Detroit Free Press reports:

Corrigan reportedly is eager to lead the DHS because of her long involvement in child protection issues, such as foster care and abuse prevention, said those close to the decision.

Corrigan has served on Michigan's highest court since 1999.