Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in Lansing are working to reign in so-called “robocalls” — unsolicited and automated phone communications, typically from political campaigns — in the lead up to the 2012 election cycle. A pair of proposals released on the same day — House Bill (HB) 5254, sponsored by state Rep. Steven Lindberg (D-Marquette); and Senate Bill (SB) 896, sponsored by state Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker (R-Antwerp Township) — would institute a “do [...]

Milford Democrat Tom Crawford is making a run for the state House of Representatives. Crawford filed candidate paperwork with the Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds Elections Division last week to seek the Democratic Party’s nomination to represent it in the general election for the new state House of Representatives 44th District seat, which covers the southwest portion of Waterford Township, along with all of White Lake, Highland, and Milford townships. As of the 2010 U.S. [...]

Now that the Oakland County Board of Commissioners Human Resources Committee has unanimously reported out a measure to revamp the county’s 20-year-old ethics policy, the 25-member Board of Commissioners is slated to consider the proposed changes today, Wednesday, Feb. 1. “The new ethics policy will help ensure that elected officials and other county employees perform their duties with integrity,” said Commissioner Tim Greimel (D-Auburn Hills), who is running for a state House of Representatives seat [...]

With announcements by Brenda Lawrence and Mary Waters stating they will seek the Democratic nomination for the new 14th U.S. House District seat, which will represent a portion of West Bloomfield Township and the entirety of Orchard Lake Village, the field of candidates has doubled to four. U.S. Reps. Gary Peters (D-Orchard Lake, Waterford, West Bloomfield) and Hansen Clarke (D-Detroit) last year made it know that they are seeking the party’s nomination for that district, [...]

Jackson After an unsuccessful bid for the state Senate in 2010, Commerce Township Democrat Pam Jackson now has her eyes on a new state House district that includes Commerce, Wolverine Lake, Wixom, and the western half of West Bloomfield Township. Jackson, who has been working and teaching in schools for 35 years and used to own her own construction company, said that many issues at the state level have prompted her current run for a [...]

Oakland County Commissioner David Potts (R-Birmingham) is running for a newly-drawn state House of Representatives district seat that will represent a part of west Oakland County. Potts, an attorney and the husband of Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Wendy Potts, announced his candidacy yesterday, Tuesday, Jan. 24, for the new 40th state House District, which includes the eastern portion of West Bloomfield Township, in addition to Birmingham, Bloomfield Township and Bloomfield Hills. “I am proud [...]

A group looking to amend the Michigan Constitution to legalize marijuana in the state has received approval from the state Board of Canvassers to collect signatures to get the measure on the Nov. 7 general election ballot. The Detroit-based Committee for a Safer Michigan — which touts itself on its website, repealtoday.org, as “a coalition of Michigan parents, teachers, attorneys, physicians, health professionals, law enforcers and many others with a wide range of backgrounds and [...]

In the ongoing saga over whose Board of Commissioners district lines — Democrats’ or Republicans’ — are used for the next 10 years in Oakland County, Democrats have filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking documents related to internal discussions at the county level on the process. In the meantime, Republicans have put forth the guidelines by which the district boundaries are expected to be redrawn in light of a new state law [...]

Now that there is a renewed push for a repeal of the state’s personal property tax (PPT) that is imposed on business equipment, lawmakers are again being asked to consider legislation that would eliminate the levy that generates billions of dollars for local governments and the state. Senate Bill 883, introduced last month by state Sen. Dave Hildenbrand (R-Lowell) and co-sponsored by state Sen. David Robertson (R-Waterford), would eliminate the personal property tax on new [...]

A group claiming that $10 billion in investment could be created in Michigan by requiring that 25 percent of the state’s energy come from sources such as wind, solar, biomass and hydropower by 2025 has received the approval of the state Board of Canvassers to collect petition signatures for the November general election ballot. Michigan Energy, Michigan Jobs — the Detroit-based coalition that received the board’s blessing on Friday, Jan. 20 — also claims that [...]