MIRS Monday Podcast

MIRS Monday, Oct. 19, 2015

Tennessee's executive director for the Board of Education, Sara Heyburn, said her state's education system is on the upswing after years of being in the bottom nationally. What role did a new teacher evaluation system play in that comeback? Heyburn and Marc Hill, the chief policy officer at the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, share their state's story on this week's edition.

Also, does the House Democrats really want a road funding deal to materialize? Does Gov. Rick Snyder really want an income tax cut to be part of a road funding deal? And should Michigan taxpayers be on the hook every time a state-appointed EM doesn't work out? The MIRS team poses these questions and more.

MIRS Monday, Oct. 12, 2015

Rep. Mike Callton opposed the legalization of medical marijuana in 2008, but what two events happened that have turned the chiropractor from a skeptic to a believer in the medical powers of the drug? Callton also talks about the change he saw in his legislative colleagues and whether he supports legalized recreational marijuana.

Also, who had a worst week last week, Attorney General Bill Schuette or Gov. Rick Snyder? The MIRS team kicks around that question as well as why legislators are hesitant about debating Sen. Patrick Colbeck on the road funding issue. This and more on the five-year anniversary of the MIRS Monday podcast.

MIRS Monday, Oct. 5, 2015

If the same municipal water problems Flint residents are experiencing were happening in West Bloomfield or Birmingham would they have been taken care of long ago? Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich answers that question and shares his thoughts that he's getting the feeling from the state that, "These are poor folks, well, we'll get to it when we get to it."

MIRS Editor Kyle Melinn shares his takeaways from Friday's Lapeer Tea Party debate of 82nd House District candidates, the Michigan Freedom Fund hits Rep. Alberta Tinsley-Talabi and how is an empty bowl of stew analogous to the state's road funding talks? This and much more in this week's edition.

MIRS Monday, Sept. 28, 2015

What are the odds former Rep. Todd Courser wins his seat back? MIRS Editor Kyle Melinn puts a percentage number on his chances. If not Courser, who are the front-runners in the now-open 82nd District House seat? MIRS gets an update from former Rep. Cindy Gamrat from the campaign trail. Why is it important lawmakers finish a road deal by the end of October?

Did Lance Binoniemi from the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association (MITA) really believe the road funding question, Proposal 1, was going to pass on May 5? What was the MITA office like on May 6? And does he believe legislative leaders are finally moving forward on a final solution?

MIRS Monday, Sept. 14, 2015

Former Reps. Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat could file to run in the now-open 82^nd and 80^th House seats, but for the good of the Michigan Republican Party (MRP), should they do so? MRP Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel gives her opinion. The Chair also says comments GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump made about Carly Fiorina and FOX Commentator Megyn Kelly are not appropriate as she talks about the coming weekend's GOP Leadership Conference on Mackinac Island.

 

Also, the MIRS team kicks around the following questions on the Courser-Gamrat scandal: Does it matter that the Speaker's staff met with Courser and Gamrat's staff before the scandal broke in the media? Will the Attorney General and the Michigan State Police question the Speaker about this? And if the joint investigation comes up with no criminal charges can either former House member feel vindicated?

Todd Courser After Resignation

Now former Rep. Todd Courser talks to the media seconds after being escorted off the House floor, having resigned from office at 3:12 a.m. Friday.

MIRS Monday, Sept. 7, 2015

New AFL-CIO President Ron Bieber has tough words for legislative leaders who attended a Right to Work event in Missouri this week and gives his perspectives on how organized labor has been impacted by Michigan's RTW law passed in 2012. Why has the AFL-CIO not signed on to the citizens initiative to hike the Corporate Income Tax from 6 to 11 percent? Has relations between unions and business gotten better over the years?

Also, the MIRS team offers a primer to the coming week's hearings on Rep. Todd Courser and Rep. Cindy Gamrat. Could Gamrat's different approach to the ongoing scandal yield her a different result than Courser? How far will Courser's argument about politics taking place in the House get him? Answers to these questions and more.

MIRS Monday, August 31, 2015

T.J. Bucholz, president of Vanguard Public Affairs, challenges the capitol press corps and the media, in general, to stop covering the Rep. Cindy Gamrat (R-Plainwell) and Rep. Todd Courser (R-Lapeer). Why? Also why is House Speaker Kevin Cotter acting quickly with the House Business Office investigation?

Will Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump make a stop at the Michigan Republican Party's Mackinac Conference later in September? Why would he want to come to Mackinac or why would he not consider it a good use of his time? And what does Bucholz mean when he says Trump has tapped into a public vein that "isn't good."

MIRS Monday, August 24, 2015

If the state dumped $400 million from the General Fund into long-term road funding for the coming fiscal year, why can't the Governor and lawmakers just count on doing that every year going forward? Why does the condition of the state budget play a role in the road funding debate? Budget Director John Roberts answers these and other questions in this week's edition.

Also, will the House forward the content of Business Office Director Tim Bowlin's investigation on Rep. Cindy Gamrat and Rep. Todd Courser to the criminal authorities? Can either of these two expect to get the benefit of the doubt from House Republican leadership? Why not? This and much more in this week's edition of MIRS Monday.

Joshua Cline Press Conference 8/17/15

The following is an unedited audio from a press conference featuring Joshua Cline, the former staffer for Rep. Todd Courser and Rep. Cindy Gamrat. The press conference took place at the Dailey Law Firm in Royal Oak.