Tagged: right to work

House and Senate plans for Department of Human Services differ

Republicans in the state Senate have approved a budget which would cut about 270 jobs from the Michigan Department of Human Services. This plan contrasts a more drastic budget cut passed by a House subcommittee yesterday which proposes eliminating more than 1,000 jobs from the agency. The Department of Human Services handles things like the state's child welfare, juvenile justice, and food assistance programs.

Governor Snyder hoping for a bipartisan solution to fixing state roads

Governor Rick Snyder is looking to Democrats to help design a bipartisan solution for fixing the state’s roads.

“Republicans control the House and Senate, but have not reached a consensus on how to raise the needed money. The governor says he’s asking Democrats as well as Republicans to put their ideas on the table in hopes of forging a deal,” Rick Pluta reports.

Disagreements over right-to-work sanctions

Sanctions for schools and colleges that ratified new union contracts were not included in state Senate budgets passed yesterday.

“Republicans in the state House want to punish schools for signing long-term contracts that would get around the state’s new right-to-work law. A Senate budget subcommittee on community colleges left the plan out of its recommendation,” reports Jake Neher.

If you are a working woman in Michigan, you will average 73 cents for every dollar made by a man, according to a study recently released by the American Association of University Women. 

Michigan women rank seventh among the states and Washington D.C. in the wage gap between men and women, but what does that mean? What is it about Michigan that might lead to this gap?

And, as Michigan becomes a Right to Work state, what effect will that have on the wage gap?

Michigan Radio's Cynthia Canty was joined by the President of the American Association of University Women in Michigan, Janet Watkins.

Watkins explained the study, and addressed the effect of the gender wage gap among varying industries and ethnicities throughout the state of Michigan. 

You can get more information about Equal Pay Day at www.aauwmi.org.

To hear the full story, click the link above. 

One thing was clear from the moment right to work was rammed through the legislature in a single day. Lawsuits were inevitable. Not just because of the controversial nature of the law, but the way in which it happened. And yesterday, opponents won their first small, but potentially significant victory.

The ACLU, joined by a number of Democratic legislators and others, sued the state, saying the right to work law should be declared null and void because the way in which the law was passed violated the state Open Meetings Act.

Michigan Supreme Court to consider city ban on medical marijuana

The Michigan Supreme Court will consider the legality of a zoning ordinance that prohibits the use, manufacture or cultivation of medical marijuana in the city of Wyoming.

“Justices want to know if the zoning ordinance is superseded by Michigan's 2008 voter-approved medical marijuana law,” according to the Associated Press.

Right to work lawsuit allowed to move forward

“An Ingham County judge says a lawsuit seeking to repeal the state’s new right-to-work law can proceed. The suit says the Legislature violated the Open Meetings Act when it closed the Capitol as the bills were debated,” Jake Neher reports.

Lawsuit over criminal defense system proceeds

The Michigan Court of Appeals will allow a long-running lawsuit challenging the system of appointing lawyers for poor criminal defendants to continue.  

“In a 2-1 decision released Wednesday, the court says a lower judge was okay to reject the state's contention that the case shouldn't be granted class-action status. The suit says the rights of poor people have been violated because of the paltry pay for court-appointed lawyers,” the Associated Press reports.

An Ingham County judge says groups hoping to repeal Michigan’s new right-to-work law can move forward with their lawsuit. Judge William Collette today rejected the state’s request to dismiss the case.

Collette had tough questions for state officials at the hearing. But he also told the ACLU of Michigan and union groups they have an “uphill battle” going forward in the case.

ACLU Attorney Michael Pitt says that doesn’t worry him a bit.

“I’ve heard that from judges for 39 years as a lawyer, and somehow I’ve been able to climb uphill and win the cases.”

Update 11:45 a.m:

An Ingham County judge says a lawsuit aimed at repealing the state’s new right-to-work law can proceed. This morning, Judge William Collette rejected a motion by the state to have the lawsuit immediately dismissed.

The lawsuit says the Legislature violated the state’s Open Meetings Act when it shut members of the public out of the Capitol as right-to-work bills were debated and passed.

ACLU of Michigan Attorney Michael Pitt says the ruling means they can now gather more information to build a case.

"So that the public will understand once and for all what happened, and how the Legislature conducted itself in a highly inappropriate way on December 6."

State Attorney General Bill Schuette says hundreds of citizens were in the House and Senate chambers as lawmakers took up the bills.

Joy Yearout is a spokesperson for Schuette. She says the judge’s decision is not a major setback.

"He has every right to lay out the parameters as to what evidence he needs before he can make a decision. That being said, we’re fully confident that after he reviews the evidence, which at this point we don’t expect there is much evidence to suggest violation, that he’ll uphold the law."

Judge Collette did dismiss from the case the Michigan State Police Captain who ordered the doors of the Capitol closed.

There are at least two other lawsuits seeking to repeal the new law in state and federal court.

10:50 a.m.

An Ingham County Circuit Court judge has denied the state attorney general's request to immediately dismiss a lawsuit to repeal the state's new right-to-work law.

The ACLU of Michigan says the new state law should be tossed out because it was passed in violation of the Open Meetings Act. The suit says lawmakers deliberately locked members of the public out of the state Capitol as the legislation was introduced and passed in December.

State Attorney General Bill Schuette says police stopped letting more people into the building due to safety concerns.

Jake Neher will have more on this story soon.