Gaylord/Otsego County Chamber of Commerce

Government Relations Update from Jamie Callahan

May 19, 2008

Candidates Set for August Primary

As the May 13^th filing deadline has passed, the slate of candidates to face off for state office in the August primary then November general election are set.Below is the list of regional state house candidates (there are no state senate or statewide positions up for election this year) along with a listing of federal candidates for the region.

Michigan Legislature

101^st District – open seat due to term limits (currently held by Rep. Palsrok)

Republican:Greg Ferguson (Manistee); Ray Franz (Onekema); Janice McCraner (Arcadia);

Mike McManus (Lake Leelanau)

Democrat:Dan Scripps (Northport)

102^nd District

Republican:Darwin Booher (Evart) – incumbent

Democrat:Nate Heffron (Cadillac)

103^rd District

Democrat:Joel Sheltrown (West Branch) - incumbent

Republican:Dave Ryan (Alger); Steve Yantiss (East Tawas)

104^th District – open seat due to term limits (currently held by Rep. Walker)

Republican:Wayne Schmidt (Traverse City); Tony Hefner (Rapid City)

Democrat:Roman Grucz (Traverse City)

105^th District

Republican:Kevin Elsenheimer (Kewadin) – incumbent

Democrat:Connie Saltonstall (Charlevoix)

107^th District

Democrat:Gary McDowell (Rudyard) – incumbent

Republican:Alex Strobehn (Sault Ste. Marie)

Federal positions

U.S. Senate

Democrat:Carl Levin (Southfield) – incumbent

Republican:Jack Hoogendyk (Texas Township)

U.S. House

1^st District

Democrat:Bart Stupak (Menominee) – incumbent

Republican:Tom Casperson (Escanaba); Linda Goldthorpe (McMillan); Don Hooper (Iron

River)

2^nd District

Republican:Pete Hoekstra (Holland) – incumbent

Democrat:Fred Johnson (Holland)

4^th District

Republican:Dave Camp (Midland) – incumbent

Democrat:Andrew Concannon (Saginaw)

Water Bills Move

A compromise seems to be close at hande, as the Great Lakes Compact and additional water use legislation saw action last week in both chambers.The House and Senate adopted language to adopt the Great Lakes Compact, a formal multi-state agreement to prevent diversion of water outside the Great Lakes basin.Though both versions of the Compact bill need to be addressed by the opposing chamber, it is likely that efforts will be made to expedite the process.With Michigan agreeing to the Compact, only two states remain to approve the agreement before it heads to Congress for final approval.

Adoption of the Great Lakes Compact was a top legislative priority of the Chamber and the Northwest Michigan Regional Chamber Alliance.

Movement was seen on a number of the other water use bills that have become tied to the Compact, including Senate Bill 860, which includes provisions regulating water withdrawal from private property and the use of a science based water assessment tool.The Senate passed bill keeps current property rights provisions for water located under personal property, versus designating it as a public trust.The water assessment tool created in the bill will calculate, based on certain entered data, whether a proposed large scale withdrawal will have an adverse impact on the state’s water levels in that area.

SB 860 will very likely head to a conference committee for final negotiations after the House reviews the bill, as an amendment was added which eliminated the Department of Environmental Quality’s ability to pass fees or make rules regarding the legislation.

The additional Senate bills (SB 723, 727, 858-860) will now be considered by the House.