KEY
LEGISLATION:
Water Regulation
Bills Sent to Governor
After months of workgroups and negotiations, a package of bills designed
to
provide Michigan with a regulatory environment for certification of
large
water withdrawals passed both the House and Senate. The bills were presented
to the governor on February 14, and she is expected to sign them.
The bills don’t have a huge impact on normal business operations
outside of
manufacturing and industries that rely heavily on water usage. Businesses
such as golf courses could have been severely impacted by this package,
but
lobbying efforts successfully limited permit fees to new users over
a
certain capacity. Golf courses already report their water usage and,
therefore, should not be greatly affected unless they are within a
quarter-mile of a designated trout stream.
The concept of “capacity” nearly caused problems for numerous
businesses
that use a well, but that hurdle was avoided by basing regulation on
actual
usage rather than capacity. The bills originally said that anyone with
the
capacity to use over 100,000 gallons a day would have to place a monitoring
device on their pumps and report that usage to the state.
Youth Employment
Bill Faces Uncertain Future
A bill seeking to clarify how many hours per week a student under 18
can
work is heading to the governor. SB 179, sponsored by Sen. Tony Stamas
(R-Midland), seeks to simplify the way student work hours are calculated
and
limit the number of hours a student can work to 20 hours per week when
school is in session.
Current state law, which limits the total number of hours of work and
classes to 48, presents numerous challenges for employers when attempting
to
determine who may work how many hours, especially when students from
multiple school districts with different hours of instruction are involved.
Stamas’ legislation would make it clear how many hours each student
may
work.
Governor Jennifer Granholm opposed the idea last session and vetoed
similar
legislation in 2004. Granholm reportedly favors reducing the number
of hours
of work to 18 instead of 20. The bill passed the Senate, passed the
House
and will be enrolled in the Senate as early as today. Granholm then
has 14
days to determine if she will veto it again or simply ignore the bill
and
allow it to become law without her signature.
Energy Workgroup
to Draft Long-Term Plan
Sen. Bruce Patterson (R-Canton) recently announced the formation of
an
energy workgroup to formulate a long-range energy plan for the state.
The
workgroup will produce within 40 days a report intended to help determine
the best response to a Michigan Public Service Commission presentation
about
how to maintain the state’s electricity needs.
Reportedly, the panel’s work will include regulated and non-regulated
commodities, identify all existing and future fuel and energy options,
assess the pros and cons of these options, weigh the reliability of
the
options and look at costs of programs.
MRA is not part of the workgroup, and some have expressed concerns that
not
nearly enough consumer groups are represented, especially when compared
to
the number of manufacturers and utility representatives.
Attorney General
Wants More Drug Pricing Information
Attorney General Mike Cox held a press conference calling for measures
that
would make it easier for consumers to comparison shop for prescription
drugs—the result of an investigation launched by his office. Cox
would like
information available via a website run by the Michigan Department of
Community Health informing customers about the prices of the 150 most
commonly prescribed drugs by zip code.
Cox is also investigating 17 pharmacies for price gouging. MRA has requested
a meeting with him to show how the investigation was flawed and the
pharmacies were not negligent in their behavior.
KEY BILL INTRODUCTIONS:
No new key bill introductions to report
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would like to receive
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kawilson@retailers.com.
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Specific comments or questions regarding this bulletin
should be directed to:
Kathleen Wilson, Administrative Assistant to the Governmental Affairs
Office at
kawilson@retailers.com.
Michigan Retailers Association
603 South Washington Avenue
Lansing, MI 48933
517.372.5656
Toll-Free: 800.366.3699
Fax: 517.372.1303
govt_affairs@retailers.com
www.retailers.com
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