Today on Stateside, the newly-appointed chair of the House Appropriations Committee discusses today's Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference and how it will affect the state budget. Plus, a Michigan brewer on how the partial government shutdown is affecting his business.
Listen to the full show above or find individual segments below.
New House Appropriations chair mum about budget priorities
- State officials gathered for the Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference today. Chair of the House Appropriations Committee Rep. Shane Hernandez joined Stateside to discuss how the numbers from the conference affects how his committee will decide what will fit in the state’s budget, but declined to specify what the committee’s priorities are.
How important is the Revenue Estimating Conference in creating the Governor’s budget plan?
- Former Snyder budget director and former House budget committee chair Al Pscholka explains how the Revenue Estimating Conference fits into the budget-making process, and discusses the highlights of the projections, including wage growth.
Buzzkill: Partial government shutdown restrains Michigan beer industry
- Craft brewers need federal approval for labels, recipes, and to ship across state lines. But with the partial government shutdown, there’s no one at the treasury department doing that. Travis Fritts is the co-owner of the Old Nation Brewing Company in Williamston. He explains how the shutdown has affected his business and the craft beer industry as a whole.
UM researcher named Saudi Arabia’s first Rhodes Scholar
- For the first time, a citizen of Saudi Arabia will be going to the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Right now, Majd Abdulghani researches genetics at the University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute. She joined Stateside to discuss the honor, as well as her past experience with public radio.
Lawmakers considering revamping Michigan's civil asset forfeiture law
- There is bipartisan support for legislation that would try to rein in Michigan’s civil asset forfeiture law, which currently allows police to seize property from people suspected of crimes, even if they’re never convicted of committing a crime. Jarrett Skorup is the director of marketing and communications at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a think tank that promotes free markets and limited government.
Political Roundup: What’s the best way to ensure something like the Flint water crisis never happens again?
- This week, our analysts discuss comments made by Noah Hall, special assistant attorney general for the Flint water investigation. Hall said there are others higher up in the state government who should be held accountable for the crisis. He also called for the creation of an independent citizens' commission to oversee the daily operations of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
- Vicki Barnett is the former mayor of Farmington Hills and a former Democratic legislator. Ken Sikkema is Senior Policy Fellow at Public Sector Consultants and a former Republican leader of the state Senate.
