Legislature names its new leaders: Tough issues ahead in Lansing
BYLINE: Chris Christoff and Dawson Bell, Detroit Free Press
Nov. 15--Democrats completed their House takeover Tuesday, choosing Redford Township Rep. Andy Dillon as House speaker with a new Legislature poised to act on Gov. Jennifer Granholm's plans for health care, taxes, education and economic growth when it convenes in January.
Dillon, who turns 45 next week, is considered a conservative Democrat who's pro-business and anti-abortion. He works well with Republicans. But now, the University of Notre Dame law school graduate will be point man in a House suddenly aligned with the Democratic governor after voters gave the party a 58-52 advantage over the previously controlling GOP.
Current House Speaker Craig DeRoche, R-Novi, was named minority leader by House Republicans.
Meanwhile, in the Senate -- still controlled by Republicans -- Sen. Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, was named majority leader and pledged to advocate a GOP agenda without being an obstructionist.
Control of the House adds punch to Democrats' efforts to expand state-paid health insurance, curb Canadian trash imports and repeal immunity from lawsuits for pharmaceutical companies.
Dillon, who'll begin his third and final House term in January, called revamping business taxes his priority. The Single Business Tax is set to expire at the end of 2007, and its replacement is likely the most nettlesome issue for Granholm and lawmakers to resolve.
The SBT accounts for nearly $2 billion in state revenue. Granholm insists the revenue should be replaced entirely, while business groups and Republicans have called for a net tax cut with less revenue.
Bishop's Senate leadership could prove even more significant for Granholm. Republicans will control the Senate, 21-17, and could quash the governor's proposal to make up the money.
Granholm has frequently blamed Republican lawmakers for blocking her initiatives, such as a plan to boost the Michigan Merit Award scholarship for college-bound high school seniors to $4,000 from $2,500, by adding more requirements.
Bishop, 39, has been a relatively low profile legislator in both the House and Senate since 1999, however. As chairman of the Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee, he pursued -- but rarely found -- common ground with Democrats on banking regulation and insurance reform.
His most publicized achievement was passage of a bill to end the standoff between Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills over a dirt pile that had blocked Tienken Road. Granholm vetoed it.
Tuesday, Bishop promised to cooperate with Granholm.
"We have a clear mission, and that is to be proactive with our own message," he said. "There will be times when we disagree with each other. We can do it without being disagreeable."
Dillon said he'll create a task force to draft a catastrophic health insurance plan for uninsured Michigan residents, as well as an expanded prescription drug plan.
Dillon opposes abortion and embryonic stem cell research. But he said he would not block a House vote to loosen Michigan's laws that prohibit the use of embryonic stem cells for medical research, which Granholm and others promote as a way to attract more research-related jobs to Michigan.
Another leading advocate for broadened stem cell research is Rep. Andy Meisner, D-Ferndale, whom Dillon defeated for the speaker's job.
Dillon was pivotal in the passage of the 21st Century Jobs Fund that Granholm touted in her re-election campaign -- a $2-billion state pool to help innovative businesses start up in Michigan. The fund consists mostly of money paid from tobacco companies to settle a national lawsuit over health problems caused by smoking.
Dillon was president of DSC Ltd., which took over McLouth Steel, and has been involved in other turnaround ventures. He has worked for former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley, D-N.J., in Washington, D.C., and was a district court magistrate.
Dillon and Bishop represent not only a change in partisan control in the Capitol, but also a power base shift to southeast Michigan from west Michigan, which produced the House and Senate top leaders for the past eight years.
The only west Michigan lawmaker in a top leadership role will be Sen. Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek, as Senate minority leader.
Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson welcomed the leadership roles of Bishop and DeRoche, who both represent Oakland County.
"You've got a friend in high places, and that friend will be watching out for you so you don't get beat up too bad in the legislative process," Patterson said.
Contact CHRIS CHRISTOFF at 517-372-8660 or christoff@freepress.com.
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