(MPRN-Lansing) Former state House Speaker Curtis Hertel has died at the age of 63. He is remembered by Democrats and Republicans as a leader willing to compromise to make government work.
The Detroit Democrat was co-speaker during the historic 1993-1994 legislative session when there was an evenly divided state House.
Hertel helped to ensure there wasn’t gridlock between Republicans and Democrats during the power-sharing arrangement. That session produced a widely hailed revamping of Michigan’s system for funding schools.
Once Democrats won control of the state House in 1996, Hertel helped push through a minimum wage hike and a gas tax increase that helped raise more money for roads.