Of all the legislative reforms adopted by the Michigan Legislature over the past 50 years, the complete revision of public education funding and financing, as reflected in voter approval of Proposal A in 1994, is probably the most significant.
Covering Michigan politics has changed dramatically in recent years. For one thing, the level of vitriol aimed at political journalists today is more intense than it was “back in the day,” although hostility toward the media by politicians and even parts of the general public has always been with us.
The political landscape can look pretty depressing these days. A veteran of 40 years in Lansing, John Cherry looks at history and then the next generation to find some optimism.
Too often in today’s politics we hear insults and harsh words – the kind that make comity difficult. A Republican executive with a Democrat-controlled Michigan Legislature, Bill Milliken took a different approach and found results.
I’m often asked how a liberal Democrat like me could for years play Sancho Panza to a Republican Don Quixote like Joe Schwarz? To some degree the answer is simple. We share a love of history, political history in particular. He’s fun to be around, has a great sense of humor that is complemented by a hearty, guttural laugh. He refuses to sacrifice good public policy on the altar of partisanship. He possesses a rare sense of loyalty not readily seen in political circles.
Title IX was major civil rights legislation approved by the U.S. Congress that continues to have a significant impact on women and girls in the United States. But even years after the federal law passed, major challenges were still being pushed to limit Title IX’s effect. You might be surprised who worked together in the U.S. Congress to protect Title IX when some special interest groups wanted it abolished or weakened.
