They’ve pretty much villified and demonized the unionized teachers in Michigan and taken every available step to stripping them of any ability to bargain for and/or receive decent labor agreements. So who is next on the Michigan Republican’s hitlist? Police and firefighters, of course. Police and fire unions are opposing a bill they said would limit compensation and suitable health […]

Yesterday, Senate Majority Floor Leader Arlan Meekhof introduced SB 729. This bill makes Michigan a “Right to Work (for Less)” state BUT ONLY FOR TEACHERS. This is the concept first floated by Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville last month. To remind you, here’s a transcript from the Off the Record show where he first floated it: Tim Skubick: Right to […]

As I have written about before, tomorrow, October 1st, over 41,000 Michiganders will be thrown off the welfare rolls in Michigan. Nearly 30,000 children are affected by this. Over half of these families live in Detroit where, as reported by the Detroit News, 21,000 families will now be without benefits. In Part 1 of a 2 part MLive series, there […]

You know what I hate? I positively detest the phrase “union thugs” or “union goons”. It implies this organized group of people willing to harm others to make sure they get their way. When you look at what Republicans are doing to unionized teachers in Michigan, you realize that when Senate Majority Floor Leader Arlan Meekhof says making our state […]

On Mackinac Island at the GOP Leadership Conference this week, Governor Rick Snyder got a frigid reception from tea party types on his position on a new bridge to Canada, Right to Work for Less bills, and a new proposal for doctors to report children’s body mass indices in an effort to curb childhood obesity. The question, at this point, […]

Can something be “more illegal” than it already is? I guess it can if you are a Michigan Republican. Yesterday, the Michigan state House and Senate both passed bills that outlaw so-called “partial birth abortions”. Problem is, these types of abortions are already illegal under a federal law passed eight years ago. Thankfully they aren’t wasting their time worrying about […]

Not that this is any surprise but Michigan Republicans are poised to make sure that schools, counties, cities and the state itself do not offer domestic partner benefits to their employees. Michigan cities, counties, schools, universities and the state itself would be prohibited from offering domestic partner benefits to the live-in companions of their employees under legislation narrowly approved by […]

I have a new piece up at A2Politico where I look at the Michigan Republicans attacks on teachers in our state. I also look at how, although teachers are fighting back, politically-speaking, they are also working hard to make things better for our schools, particularly the ones facing the biggest challenges. Teachers unions are also working to help poorly-performing districts […]

Last week, Michigan governor Rick Snyder signed into law a bill that ends welfare benefits for 41,000 Michiganders. Until then, there was no limit to how long poor people in Michigan could receive benefits. The law ends payments after four years. Nearly 30,000 children are affected by this axe which will save the state $77.4 million annually, according to the […]

In a somewhat surprising move given the majority Republican make-up of the Michigan Supreme Court, they have decided not to hear an appeal of a lower court decision brought to them by Republican Paul Scott. Scott is the Republican most responsible for most of the anti-teacher legislation to come before the state legislature. He was challenging the clarity of the […]

Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville said yesterday on the news talk program “Off the Record” that he won’t pursue so-called “Right to Work” laws for Michigan EXCEPT FOR TEACHERS. These laws, often called “Right-to-Work-for-LESS”, remove the requirement for employees at a union shop to join the union. RTWFL laws are used to reduce the power held by unions and allow […]