Friday, December 29, 2006

Michigan Legislature officially adjourns for the year

"My fellow Michiganders, our long nightmare is over".



LANSING, Mich. (AP) — State lawmakers officially closed up shop Friday.



They adjourned the legislative session sine die, Latin for "without day." It marked the official last day of the Legislature.



Though largely a formality, sine die is important in one way because some new laws will take effect 90 days after the session's end. Legislation that was not passed died Friday and has to be reintroduced next session.


And I hope this was wrapped with a big red bow and sent directly to DeRoche-



LANSING -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm has vetoed a bill passed by state lawmakers to change Michigan's child protection system following the death of 7 year-old Ricky Holland.



Lawmakers learned this afternoon of the veto on the bill that would have transferred control of the state Office of the Children's Ombudsman from the governor to the Legislature. The law was approved by the Senate and sent to the governor's office for Granholm's signature on Dec. 13.



In a letter to lawmakers dated Thursday, Granholm said the legislation she signed into law two years ago increased the authority, autonomy and accountability of the Office of the Children's Ombudsman, and does not need to be changed.



"Transfer of the Office of the Children's Ombudsman to the legislative branch …would strip civil service protections from the dedicated career professionals working in the Office," Granholm said. "Moreover, further aligning the agency with one branch of state government or another could easily and unfortunately politicize investigations that ought to be pursued with one purpose: the protection of children."


And let's hope we don't have to cut more in that area, but I'm sure the Republicans would be more than willing to toss some more kids into the street if that means they can get their precious tax cuts.



And so we bid adieu to the lawmakers for this year. All I can say is- Door. Ass. You know the rest. Buh-bye.