W. F. DAIRD, PresidentA. A. MILLER, ManagerL. P. LEE, Editor

MICHIGAN REPORTS Snformalfon PerIin.nt to L.gistaIiv. ond Siege Departm.nt Aciiviiies Since 1906

916 Michigan National Tower Lansing, Michigan 48933 Telephone 517 489-4327

REPORT NO- 129, VOLUME 17 MONDAY, JULY 10, 1978

VOUCHER SYSTEM PETITIONS, TAX CUT PETITIONS FILED

Petitions signed by some 300,000 people were filed Monday to put a proposed vouchersystem of education on the ballot, a system its supporters claim will foster "competitionfor excellence" among schools, That, and one for a tax cut also filed Monday, are amongnine constitutional issues that appear headed for the ballot.

But its detractors claim the voucher system which will allow students to attend theschools of their choice, is nothing more than parochiaid and will adversely affectintegration programs,

Public mone’ wUl support education in private and parochial schools under the plan andit could dismanti.e school busing programs, its supporters admitted. But its real purposeis to create equality between the affluent and the lower-income families by lettingstudents go to better schools than may be in their districts.

"If this were simply parochiald I would be opposed to it," said John Dodge, of theCitizens for more senshle Financing of Education. The group conducted the drive toput the proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot. Parochial schoolinterests were instrumental in aiding the drive, but he said he expects a broader baseof support in the campaign

The amendment will eliminate property taxes as the major source of education funding,cutting the taxes therefore by 65 percent, or $1.8 billion. To make up the lost revenuethe group proposes increases in the income nuisance and property transfer taxesMr. Dodge said a 23 percent increase in the income taxes rate will raise an additional$920 million and an 175 percent increase in the single business tax rate will raise$600 million.

The increases only accoc.nt for replacement revenue, not the additional cost of supportingthe education of the 240,000 students in non public schools.

The group has designe a proposed implementation plan, but tr. Dodge said there willprobably be some experimentation for the first few years under the system. He also saidhe expects the Legislature to create a special committee to investigate this plan beforethe election

The group’s model plan requires that vouchers not be used for religious education, BobLytle, who helped draft the plan, said. Religious schools will have to charge extratuition for religious education and keep an account of that

The plan is constitutional, Mr Dodge said. A study by attorneys showed it will notviolate federal constituional standards for separation of church and state, he said.

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Last week the Council Against Parochiaid said it would oppose the plan because it isnothing more than parochiaid in a different form. In 1970 the state voted againstparochiald

The Council Against Parochjaid also claimed the plan will wreck integration programs andMr. Lyt]e admitted that it could dismantle busing programs, and that could be a sellingpoint for the plan.

"I dont know what the federal court will do, but this thing about putting children on abus and sending them to some other school seems to me to be nonsense," he said.

Mt. Lytle also vehemently denied a claim that the program could wreck a school’s abilityto plan programs, Under their suggested implementation plan all parents will have untilMay 15 to tell a school their children will attenth That will give the schools allsummer to plan their programs.

Thrce is no conflict between the voucher plan and the "Headlee" tax limitation plan,Mn Dodge said. The group hasn’t studied the impact the "Tisch" tax cut could have onthe plan because the petitions haven’t been filed yet,

The Headlee amendment, named for Richard Headlee, head of the tax limitation group, limitsstate spending to actual increases in personal income, The Tisch amendment, named forRobert Tisch, Shiawassee County drain commissioner, would cut property taxes in half, andlimit increases in the income tax to 1 percent.

David Ruhala of the Michigan Association of School Boards, said the plan is not very wellthought out and would result in a fragmentation of society. "Over a decade, we feel wewould see a massive turnaround in people going to private schools. And each ethnic groupwould want to have their own schools," he said,

And, he said public schools will be able to compete fairly only if the participatingprivate schools are required to provide services such as remedial reading and specialeducation for the developmentally disabled and have the same admissions policies.Otherwise, Mr. Ruhala said, the public schools will become the repositories of thosenobody else wants, He predicted the requirements would put more burdens on the privateschools than they would want to endure.

TISCH AMENDMENT. Surrounded by cheering and applauding supporters, Shiawassee DrainCommissioner Robert Tisch filed petitions with 327,585 signatures with the state ot puta proposed property tax cut on the November ballot.

The filing seems to be a victory of sorts for the proposal, which would cut property taxassessments in half and limit the rate at which assessments could increase, which wasvirtually unknown until early June.

Mr. Tisch called the drive to collect the signatures "historic" and promised hissupporters that the campaign to get it passed will the "the damnest political fight youhave ever seen I’ve never lost an election and I don’t plan on losing this one. We’refighting so we are once again ruled by our own self-determination," Mr. Tisch said,

Late last week Mr. Tisch had there was a good chance they would be unable to get the neededsignatures. In an effort to drum up support Howard Jarvis, engineer of California’ssuccessful tax cut, came to Michigan last c’zeek and stumped on behalf of the amendment.The Tisch amendment is modeled after the California tax cut.

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Another proposal, the "Headlee" tax ltmi.tation proposal, was blasted by Mr. Tisch. Thetax limitation proposal, named for Richard Headlee, limits state spending increases toincreases in personal income. More than 400,000 signatures to put the Headlee amendmenton the ballot have been filed.

"Iyr, Headlee is a deceptive devil, he’s cunning. He’s the biggest liar in the State ofMichigan. People aren’t going to take his crap," Mr. Tisch said.

The Tisch amendment also puts limits on the Legislature, prohibiting it from raising theincome tax rate by more than 1 percent. The amendment also allows local income taxes of1 percent for schools.

DEATH PENALTY. A movement to restore capital punishment in Michigan fell short of theneeded 266,000 signatures to put the question on the November ballot.

Rep. Kirby Holmes CR-Utica, leader of the petition drive, said the movement fell 10,000signatures short,

Despite that, Nr, Holmes said he still believes that one day Michigan will restore thedeath penalty.

Michigan abolished the death penalty in the 1840’s. A previous petition drive in 1973-74collected only 168,000 signatures,

In the last 10 days the drive collected 45,000 signatures, Mr. Holmes said.

The tax cut drive was one reason the issue failed, Mr. Holmes said, because people weremore interested in cutting taxes than they were in the death penalty.

A lack of money also hurt the movement, he said. The drive’s backers spent some $12,000he said.

Mr. Holmes also said he would not lead another petition drive to put the issue on the ballotthough he said he would be involved in any issue,

The initiative petitions need about 266,000 valid signatures to make it on the ballot.The Elections Division must certify the issues for the ballot, after checking for thevalidity of the signatures filed. Most campaigns allow a 12 percent margin for invalidsignatures.

The proposals that will be on the ballot or have been filed for positions on the ballotinclude:

--BAIL BONDS--adopted by the Legislature; authorizes judges to deny bail bonds to accusedfelons with at least three other serious felony convictions on their records and forcertain violent felonies.

--INVESTMENTS--adopted by the Legislature; authorizes the state to deposit its funds incredit unions, savings and loan associations or banks.

--CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION--required by the constitution; asks whether a convention shouldbe called to propose a new constitution,

--TAX LIMITATION--initiative petition promoted by Richard Headlee; limits the growth instate taxes to the growth in personal income; limits increases of property taxes in ataxing jurisdiction to the growth of inflation.

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---TAX CUT-- initiative petition promoted by Robert Tisch; cuts property assessments inhalf; limits future increases to 2.5 percent a year; limits further increases in theincome tax to an additional 1 percent on the rate; provides for Optional local schoolincome tax.

--POLICE BARGAINING--initiative petition promoted by the Michigan State Police TroopersAssociation: authorizes collective bargaining by State Police troopers; provides forbinding arbitration for unresolved disputes.

--EDUCATION VOUCHERS-- initiative petition promoted by a citizens group; eliminates propertytaxes that support schools; requires state to establish vouchers for use by students atthe schools of their choice.

--DRINKING AGE-- initiative petition promoted by the Coalition for 21; raises legaldrinking age to 21.

--PAROLE--initiative petition promoted by Oakland County Prosecutor L, Brooks Patterson;requires persons convicted of violent crimes to serve at least the minimum term beforebeing eligible for parole.

CONSUMER HOTLINE, MANHOLE SAFETY, MORAL CHARACTER BILLS SIGNED BY GOVERNOR

Governor Milliken has signed legislatibn creating a consumer hotline, providing forsurveillance at manholes, and a series of bills redefining good moral character for thepurposes of occupational licensing.

The manhole measure HE 5142, PA 287, immediate effect is a reworking of an idea vetoedin a different form last year. It requires a person to provide surveillance when anotheris inside a manhole working. The second person may be in or outside the manhole and mayperform other duties, as long as the primary function is surveillance.

The bill permits a worker to enter a hole without surveillance only for work that can becompleted in 20 mintues, Exempt from the requirement are new manholes under constructionthat have adequate safety canditions,

The worker providing surveillance must be trained in first aid.

The tolifree consumer hotline HB 4239, PA 286, immediate effect would set up five linesto the Consumers Council and cost an estimated $90,000 to set up and $150,000 to operateeach year. the council would provide five persons to take the calls on consumercomplaints, and suggest appropriate federal, state, local or private agencies that couldhandle the problem.

The good moral character bills prohibit licensing boards or agencies from using a judgmentof guilt in a criminal or civil matter as the sole proof in determining fitness underthe moral test, If the conviction is used, the licensing applicant would have to benotified, under the definitions of RB 5213 CPA 294, immediate effect. The provisionsapply to applications, revocations, suspensions and censure.

Criminal records that would be prohibited from use in licensing matters include arrestsnot leading to conviction, convictions that have been reversed or vacated and arrestsleading to those convictions, arrests and convictions for misdemeanors and felonies thatare unrelated to the person’s ability to service, and arrests or convictions for misdemeanors for which prison may not be imposed.

The specific bills all with immediate effect conforming each licensing act to that billare:

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--RB 5215 PA 288 for adult foster care professionals.--RB 5216 PA 289 for attorneys--HE 5218 PA 290 for cemetery owners.--HE 5219 PA 291 for collection agencies.--RB 5220 PA 292 for community planners.--RB 5214 PA 295 for public accountants.--HE 5221 PA 296 for cosmetologists.--RB 5222 PA 297 for dentists.--RB 5226 PA 298 for watchmakers.---RB 5227 PA 299 for landscape architects.--RB 5228 PA 300 for marriage counselors.--RB 5233 PA 301 for physical therapists.--RB 5236 PA 302 for private employment bureaus.--HE 5240 P 303 for animal research facilities and dealers.--HE 5242 PA 304 for social workers.--RB 5243 PA 305 for veterinanrians.--RB 5623 PA 306 for hearing aid dealers.---RB 5626 PA 307 for sanitarians.--RB 5726 PA 308 for plunthers--RB 5728 PA 309 for child care organizations:--RB 5730 PA 310 for masseurs/masseuses.--RB 5731 PA 311 for private detectives.--RB 5229 PA 313 for morticians.--HE 5232 PA 314 for pharmacists.--HB 5241 PA 315 for residential builders.

Also signed wereg

--RB 5042 PA 285, immediate effect deleting the $250,000 limit on the amount of contractsa municipality can make for the purchase of property.

--RB 5463 PA 293, immediate effect permitting state banks to charge up to 15 percentinterest on loans other than first mortgage loans; deletes reference to first mortgage inbanking code’s authorization for real estate loans; limits total loans to 80 percent ofappraised value.

--HE 5546 PA 312, immediate effect creating a critical health problems reporting actas a replacement to one on lead poisoning in minors. Requires reporting of a criticalhealth problem like lead poisonang, Reye’s Syndrome, or other disease of particularconcern to the Department of Public Health within 10 days of diagnosis or confirmation.The report would contain information needed to identify, locate and investigate theoccurrence, frequency, incidence, cause, effect and prognosis of the problem.

P.SC, OKAYS INTERIM RATE HIKE FOR CONSUMERS

A 2.8 percent interim rate hike was approved Monday for the Consumers Power Company gascustomers, netting the company an additional $19.9 million a year, by the PublicService Commission,

The increase, which will cost the average residential customer approximately $10.73 ayear, was ordered because Consumers "is indeed experiencing a revenue deficiency... It isalso clear that Consumers is not earning its authorized rate of return and the Consumerswill experience some difficulty in carrying out its 1978 financing program."

Commissioner Willa Mae King dissented from the order. Consumers had asked for an interimincrease of $373 million as part of its request of a final increase of $87.8 million.

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The commission also increased Consumer’s authorized rate of return on common stock from12.12 percent to 12.75 percent. The increased rate of return is an unusual move forthe Commission to take on an interim rate hike, Commission officials said, but Consumers’circumstances were unusual.

The 12.12 percent rate of return was the lowest set on stock and had been in effect foralmost nine years, the Commission said. To continue the rate of return until a finaldecision is reached on the gas rates would be extremely unfair.

REPORT NO, 129, VOLUME 17 Page 6 MONDAY, JULY 10, 1978