Government

The latest news on laws and lawmakers from around the Midwest region.

Who’s Powerful In Chicago? One Mayor, Two Sports Figures, And Lots of Others

Who really runs Chicago? According to Chicago Magazine, it is a collection of leaders in politics, business, sports and food.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel

Earlier this month, the magazine came out with its list of the city’s 100 most powerful people. It’s a surprisingly diverse list, with some very familiar and not so familiar faces. (Oprah, whose Chicago-based show ended last year, is no longer on it.)

Steve Edwards at our partner station WBEZ recently talked about the list with Chicago Magazine editors David Bernstein and Marcia Froelke Coburn.

We broke down the Top 10 into four categories.

Politics: In a city where politics is in everyone’s DNA, it’s no surprise that Mayor Rahm Emanuel is the most powerful person in Chicago. He’s joined in the top 10 by three other politicians: U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, and President Obama’s campaign strategist, David Axelrod. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Communities, Government, Industry, Politics, Chicago Magazine, most powerful, Rahm Emanuel

February 16, 2012 | 1:17 PM | By Micki Maynard

GM’s Record Year Is Overshadowed By European Woes

Normally, everyone at GM would be celebrating. The automaker said Thursday that it earned $7.6 billion last year, the most ever, less than three years after receiving a federal bailout and going through bankruptcy protection.

GM is once again the world's biggest carmaker. Photo by Chris via Flickr.

But the 2011 performance masked a disappointing fourth quarter for the Detroit-based auto company. GM’S fourth-quarter profit was flat with 2010. It earned about $500 million, or 28 cents per share before special items.

With those charges accounted for, GM earned 40 cents per share, two cents below what analysts forecast. And the worst headache for GM came in Europe.

It lost more than half a billion dollars during the fourth quarter on its European operations, bringing their loss for the year to more than $700 million. The crisis is escalating: as recently as November, GM was saying it might break even in Europe. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Government, Industry, General Motors

February 15, 2012 | 5:00 AM | By Dustin Dwyer

Why More Leaders In The Midwest Are Looking To Immigrants To Rebuild Our Economy

Dustin Dwyer

Bing Goei came to the United States as a child. Now he runs a company with 60 employees and more than $5 million in annual revenue.

In many ways, the headquarters for Eastern Floral in Grand Rapids, Mich. is like a factory. It’s in an old building with brick walls. The floor is smooth, cold concrete. A noisy printer rattles off new orders.

But of course, it smells amazing in here. Designers stand at long wooden tables, primping and pruning flowers. Red tulips. White daisies. Yellow roses. And just about any other flower you can imagine.

Bing Goei, the owner, says this work is more like artistry.

“I think you have to be born with that.” he says. “I was not. I admit it.”

Goei says this with a laugh.

But he was born with something else that turned out to be its own asset. He was born with a foreign birth certificate. His parents were Chinese. He was born in Indonesia, then moved to the Netherlands. From there, they moved to Grand Rapids, like a lot of Dutch people before them. Except, they have a Chinese name.

And like many of those immigrants before him, Goei worked hard. He started in the flower business in high school. Now, Eastern Floral has seven locations, about 60 year-round employees – twice that around Valentine’s Day – and the company has over $5 million in annual revenue.

Goei says being an immigrant, and being an entrepreneur, there’s a connection there.
Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Communities, Government, Innovation, Jobs, Bing Goei, Eastern Floral, entrepreneur, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, Immigrant Inc., immigration, Kauffman Foundation, MEDC, Michael Finney, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Richard T. Herman

February 15, 2012 | 12:38 PM | By Micki Maynard

An Indiana Political Legend May Face A Tough Re-Election Race

Although the political spotlight is on Michigan’s Feb. 28 primary right now, there’s another good political story bubbling in the Great Lakes states.

Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar

Richard Lugar, who turns 80 in April, has been one of Indiana’s U.S. senators as long as a lot of people have been alive. He was first elected to the Senate in 1977, and he’s served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee twice. Before he was elected to the Senate, he was mayor of Indianapolis.

But Lugar, a Republican, may face a stiff challenge from within his own party. The Chicago Tribune reports that the Club for Growth, an influential conservative group, is endorsing Lugar’s primary opponent, Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock.

The Club’s president, Chris Chocola, questioned some of the votes that Lugar has taken on fiscal issues in Washington.

Lugar voted in favor of a Congressional bailout for Detroit automakers, and more recently, the Indiana senator opposed a ban on earmarks that was pushed for by Republicans in the Senate.

Lugar’s internal polling shows him well ahead in the Indiana race, according to the Tribune. But if he were to face a tough challenge, or even lose the Senate race, it could be a blow to President Barack Obama. He has cited Lugar as one of his good friends when he was in the Senate, even though the pair are from different parties.

FILED UNDER: Government, Politics, Indiana, Republican Party, Richard Lugar, Richard Mourlock

February 14, 2012 | 9:43 AM | By Micki Maynard

3 Things To Know About Mitt Romney’s Latest Op-Ed

Yesterday, we told you that Michigan’s native son, Mitt Romney, has fallen behind former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum in two pre-primary polls. Now, Romney is firing back in the Detroit News. not at his rival, but at union leaders and Obama administration officials.

Romney touches on many themes about the 2009 auto industry bailout. You can read the entire op-ed here. We picked out three things and provide some context.

1) The UAW. Instead of standing up to union officials, Romney says President Obama “rewarded them” with stakes in General Motors and Chrysler.

The stakes he refers to are held by the health care trust fund that administers benefits for UAW members. But the UAW did not get the terms it wanted. The union originally sought a greater share of GM, only to accept a counter offer from the Treasury Department.

Meanwhile, the Treasury also owns about 33 percent of GM, out of an original 61 percent stake. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Government, Industry, Politics, Chrysler, General Motors, Michigan, Mitt Romney, Primary, Republican

February 8, 2012 | 11:45 AM | By Micki Maynard

Cue The Music For The Indiana-Michigan Right to Work Dance Off

In a Michael Jackson music video, or an episode of Soul Train, Michigan governor Rick Snyder and Indiana’s Mitch Daniels might challenge each other to a dance off over Right to Work.

Michael Jackson in "Bad"

Instead, we have Snyder’s latest interview, in which he says Indiana ought to be worrying more about Michigan’s comeback.

Some context: Indiana and Michigan have been competing for years to land factories and convince businesses to locate in each state.

One of the biggest reasons why Snyder sought reform of Michigan’s business taxes in 2011 was so that the state could be on a more level playing field. It didn’t help that Indiana won a corporate headquarters formerly located in Michigan right after the state’s tax package was signed.

Now, Daniels has upped the ante by signing Right to Work legislation, which prevents unions from charging mandatory dues even if they represent a workforce. Many experts have said Michigan could be the next state to get such a law.

But Daniels, in an interview with Stateline.org, continues to oppose Right to Work for Michigan — and gives his neighboring state an elbow. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Government, Politics, Indiana, Michael Jackson, Michigan, Mitch Daniels, Rick Snyder

February 8, 2012 | 5:06 AM | By Niala Boodhoo

Originally Exempt From State Cuts, Wisconsin Police And Firefighters Now Face Changes Too

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This is the second in a two-part series about what’s changed for public workers in Wisconsin, one year after labor protests gripped the state (part one is here).

Brian Austin is a Madison police detective. When he's not working, he's been active in protests against Gov. Scott Walker (Niala Boodhoo)

The Capitol building in Madison is amazing – anyone can just walk in. And in Madison, people often do just visit, like Brian Austin, who often brings his children here.

Austin is a detective with the City of Madison’s police department. He was also one of the tens of thousands who packed this building in protest when Gov. Walker proposed limiting union rights for public workers. The law – Act 10 – passed anyway. So Austin says when he goes into the building now, he can’t help think of it as a “completely different” building – and he means that in both a positive and a negative way.

His ambivalence is because he says Walker has brought the Wisconsin workers together – even though they’re suffering now.

The Wisconsin state worker’s union estimates that some 22,000 public employees are taking home 13 percent less pay since the law has taken effect. As it was written, public safety workers like police officers were supposed to be exempt.

But now, police and firefighters are finding, they, too, are facing increased pension and health care costs.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Communities, Government, Industry, Politics, Act 10, budget, Public employees, recall, Scott Walker, Wisconsin

February 7, 2012 | 10:15 AM | By Micki Maynard

Weigh In: Should Cities Cut Tax Deals To Save Homes?

Yesterday, we told you about a program in Detroit that’s meant to keep homes occupied.

Now we’d like to know how you feel about it. Should cities cut deals in order to keep homes occupied?

Vacant homes in Detroit. Photo: Mary's Detroit Photoblog

We’re especially interested in views from home owners all over the Great Lakes.

Some people have struggled during the to pay their taxes (or have stopped paying them completely). Others dutifully write their checks.

If you don’t own a home, we’d like to hear your views. Would you be inclined to buy a property if you could get it for a super-low price, like Detroit’s $500 deals?

Please weigh in with your thoughts, and we’ll summarize them in a future story.

FILED UNDER: Communities, Government, Your Story, Detroit, homes, neighborhoods, taxes

February 6, 2012 | 11:47 AM | By Micki Maynard

Canada’s Caterpillar Loss Appears to Be Indiana’s Gain

On Friday, Caterpillar’s Progress Rail Services said it was closing its 62-year-old Electro-Motive Canada operation in London, Ontario, the subject of a union lock out since the beginning of the year. Now, it looks like some of the plant’s 475 jobs could be headed for Indiana, reports the Globe and Mail in Toronto.

Caterpillar held a jobs fair in Muncie, Ind., over the weekend, that drew thousands of applicants. Some job seekers showed up at 4 a.m., five hours before the company began letting people in the door. In all, about 3,000 people turned out, according to the Muncie Free Press.

The Muncie plant, which assembles locomotives, underwent a $50 million renovation last year and became the first new locomotive plant in the United States in years.

The New Year’s lock out of the Canadian Auto Workers union came after the CAW refused to accept deep concessions that would have cut hourly pay in half.

The move comes just as Indiana is implementing its new Right to Work law, signed by Gov. Mitch Daniels last week. The law prevents unions from charging mandatory dues, even if they represent a workforce.

In explaining the shutdown, Billy Ainsworth, the CEO of Progress Rail, said in a letter to employees that all the company’s facilities “must achieve competitive costs, quality and operating flexibility to compete and win in the global marketplace, and expectations at the London plant were no different.”

FILED UNDER: Government, Industry, Jobs, canada, Caterpillar, jobs, Right to Work

February 3, 2012 | 3:30 PM | By Micki Maynard

5 Top Midwest Stories This Week From Changing Gears

Politics is front of mind here in the Midwest. We’re also thinking about what to wear, watch, and where our friends went. Here’s a roundup of our top Changing Gears stories this week.

WiSCONSIN: Niala Boodhoo went to Madison, where she showed us how union members are still protesting a year after Gov. Scott Walker eliminated public employee collective bargaining rights. She reported on how they’re faring.

RIGHT TO WORK: Indiana is now the nation’s 23rd Right to Work state, only two months after Gov. Mitch Daniels made the legislation one of his top priorities. Will Michigan be next?

MIDWEST MIGRATION: Our Public Insight team has been tracking the stories of people who’ve left our states. There’s still time for our exiles to call us and leave messages for the folks back home. Meanwhile, read much more on our dedicated page.

T-SHIRTS: If you seek a Midwest t-shirt, look about you. Dustin Dwyer found our states are chock full of small companies making t-shirts that represent our region.

DIY DETROIT: Have you found that all those documentary films about Detroit are starting to look the same? Dustin offers you a how-to kit for making your own Detroit documentary.

Finally, a shout out to Troy “Trombone Shorty,” who sings the Changing Gears theme. He’s been immortalized by the New Orleans Jazz Fest.