A Lesson In Lawmaking

G

etting acclimated to a new job in the
state Senate was the easy part for
Gary Peters.
The harder part was learning
just how political politics can be.
"One thing I've learned is you can have
good policy and good politics and the two
are not the same," he said.
Sen. Peters, a freshman Democrat from
Pontiac who represents the newly drawn
14th District and its large Jewish con-
stituency, said orientation programs
taught the fundamentals of lawmaking,
including the basics of introducing legis-
lation, and the necessary procedures.
Senate sessions confirmed what he al-
ready knew to expect: parties vote in blocks
and the Republicans outnumber the De-
mocrats by six seats.
"My victories are confined to the fact
that I'm making good arguments," Sen.
Peters said. "In the short run, I haven't
seen them translated into policy because
we don't have the votes. If we keep talk-
ing about issues, eventually we will im-
pact policy."
One area of policy Sen. Peters and
the other Democrats had no control over
was the package of tax bills Gov. John En-
gler recently signed into law. The new leg-
islation lowers the personal income tax

and the business tax and cuts and phas-
es out the intangibles tax on investment
income.
While critical of the cuts and eventu-
al phasing out of the intangibles tax, Sen.
Peters was less judgmental of the legis-
lation which raised the personal exemp-
tion from $2,100 to $2,400 beginning with
the 1995 tax year.
"It's not a good deal of money but it's a
fair way of providing some tax relief," he
said of the cuts that will save taxpayers
an average of $13 per person.
`There is a lot of uncertainty out there,"
said Sen. Peters, who serves on the Fi-
nance Committee. "People are insecure
about their jobs and although they hear
about tax cuts, most people don't see tax
relief."
As a member of the Education
Committee, Sen. Peters will be involved
in debate on a resolution that seeks to
delete the prohibition against providing
public funding to private schools.
He also may vote on a resolution that
calls for a constitutional amendment to al-
low prayer in public school.
"There is movement in the Legislature
to direct funds to private schools," said
Sen. Peters, who thinks such efforts are
an attempt to dismantle public education.

The senator also will take part in a se- trict," he said. "This presents an oppor-
ries of hearings on repealing the school tunity to find a commonality."
code, which mandates parts of schools'
curricula. "There is no question things
should be fixed," he said. "The governor
wants to throw it out and start over."
Sen. Peters would like to see the code
fine-tuned so it's more up to date, but
he is against scrapping the code.
"He's been good on our issues, said
Cindy Hughey, director of the Michigan
Jewish Conference in Lansing, who re-
cently discussed education at length
with the Pontiac Democrat. "He was
very interested in talking about some
of the issues of concern to the Jewish
community and he is earnest about
wanting to reach out to the communi-
ty."
Representing such a diverse con-
stituency can present a dilemma for
Sen. Peters, especially on education is-
sues, because his district's per pupil
spending hits the higher and lower ends
of the spectrum.
The district covers Pontiac, South-
field, Bloomfield Township, Oak Park,
Berkley, Franklin, Bingham Farms and
Bloomfield Hills.
"I used to be an arbitrator. Those
skills could come in handy with this dis- Freshman lawmaker Gary Peters

Political Miscellaneous

p

arents complained. The Jewish
Community Council and the
Michigan Jewish Conference
lobbied. And the state responded.
The 1995-96 school year's
Michigan Educational
Assessment Program
(MEAP) tests admin-
istered to students
statewide were
originally sched-
uled to overlap
Rosh Hashanah
on Sept. 25. The
..•
tests will now be
to
given to students * e
in October.
44,
"This time peri-
od...is as significant to
Jews as Christmas is to
Christians. ...We urge you
to revise the testing calendar...
avoiding conflicts with the Jewish High
Holy Days," wrote Council President
Allen Zemmol in his plea to have test
dates moved.

m si

Speaking of lobbying, circle April 26
on the calendar. It's Jewish Communi-

ty Advocacy Day and the official State of
Michigan Holocaust Commemoration.
The event, sponsored by the Michigan
Jewish Conference, will bring Jews from
around the state to Lansing for
a commemoration ceremony,
if briefings on critical legisla-
tion, meetings with law-
makers and a legislative
reception.
For information, call
the MJC at (517) 485-
9199.

promotion, immunization pro-
grams, nutrition, family planning,
environmental health and health
access.

Dennis Aaron, the late Oakland
county commissioner, will be hon-
ored posthumously for a lifetime of
community activism by the Demo-
cratic Party.
On Sunday, April 23, the Oak-
land County Democratic Party
is honoring the late Mr. Aaron
as well as Duane Lamoreaux,
Oakland County Corn- a longtime county party officer,
missioner Lawrence during its 35th annual Phil Hart
4 444.
R. Pernick will chair Dinner at Adat Shalom Synagogue.
041
the public health commit-
Mr. Aaron, who was elected to
* tee of the Michigan Associ- the commission in 1968 and served
ation of Counties. All 83 consecutively until his death for
of Michigan's counties belong all but one term, died last July dur-
to MAC.
ing his reelection campaign. He was
Mr. Pernick, Oakland County's 63.
longest-serving commissioner, was re-
Proceeds from the event will be
cently appointed to the post by MAC used to fund 1996 Democratic re-
president Betty Witt.
election campaigns.
The committee addresses all public
For information, call (810) 435-
health matters, including substance 4044 or (810) 334-0971.
abuse, disease prevention, health

*

❑

Lawrence Pernick