Unemployment rates in the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek labor markets are up slightly from a year ago. A deadline looms for the Legislature to approve a proposal for legalizing marijuana, otherwise it goes on the November ballot. Backers of an initiative to change Michigan's redistricting process go to court to get a state board to put the issue before voters.
Unemployment rates in April were up slightly in the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek labor markets, compared to this time last year. The Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget says the seasonally unadjusted jobless rate for the Kalamazoo Metropolitan Service Area, which includes Kalamazoo and Van Buren Counties, was 3.8% in April. That’s up .2% from a year ago. Unemployment in the Battle Creek labor market, was 4.4% last month. It was 4.2% in Calhoun County in April of 2017.
Republicans in the Michigan Legislature are considering whether they want to pass a voter initiated law to legalize marijuana in the state. Supporters gathered enough signatures to send the law to the Legislature. Lawmakers have until June 5th to approve the proposal, or it goes on the November ballot. Republican Senator Mike Shirkey said during an interview on the Michigan Public Television program Off the Recordthat lawmakers could approve legalizing marijuana, but then delay its implementation until the federal government reclassified pot, which is currently a schedule one controlled substance. Senate Democratic Leader Jim Ananich tells theDetroit News that Shirkey’s comments show a willingness to deny the will of the people. While Republicans are reluctant to approve legalizing marijuana, some GOP lawmakers say the law would be easier to amend if approved by the Legislature, rather than voters. It’s also believed that a marijuana legalization proposal on the ballot could drive up Democratic turnout in November.
A campaign to amend the Michigan constitution is asking a judge to order a state board to do its job and put the question on the November ballot. The amendment would create an independent commission to handle the job of drawing legislative and congressional district lines. The campaign says that would take partisan politics out of the re-districting process. Republicans don’t like the proposal. And last week, the Republican chair of the Board of State Canvassers abruptly canceled a meeting to certify the campaign had gathered enough petition signatures to qualify for the ballot. Katie Fahey of Voters Not Politicians says the delaying tactic isn’t fair. The board chair says he wants to see how legal challenges to the proposal play out. Fahey says those challenges have nothing to do with the board’s job of certifying whether the campaign gathered enough signatures.