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Page 10-Wednesday, October 19, 1977'-The Michigan Daily
Pregnancy
bill approved by
State House
" "
Hurry, For My Wednesday
Only Bonanza, 11 Big Hours
To Grab These Bonus Items!
LANSING (UPI} - The state
House yesterday approved legisla-
tion guaranteeing that working wo-
men covered by disability insurance
programs will not be denied pregpan-
cy benefits.
The measure, sent to the Senate on
an 89-7 vote, is designed to clarify
Michigan law in the wake of a U.S.
Supreme Court decision that employ-
ers are not required by the Constitu-
tion to cover pregnancy in their
insurance plans.t
THE BILL ALSO outlaws discrim-
ination in pension plans. It is specifi-
cally aimed at pension plans which
pay lower monthly benefits to women
because they generally live longer
than men.
, Rep. Barbara-Rose Collins, spon-
sor of the pregnancy benefits bill,
said the proposal is necessary to pro-
tect the household income of families
with working mothers.
The bill does not require all em-
ployers to offer medical insurance
programs to their workers. It does,
however, stipulate that those who do
must offer pregnancy benefits as
well as coverage for other medical
conditions..
IN OTHER ACTION, the House re-
jected a bill which would have
restricted the number of new bar
licenses issued by the state and a
measure designed to protect home-
owners from unwanted solicitations
by real estate agents.
The bar license bill, defeated on a
57-38 vote, would have changed com-
munities' quotas from one license for
every 1,500 persons to one for every
3,000. The effect would have been to
drastically limikt the number of -new
licenses being issued.
Proponents said the measure was
needed to deal with a glut of bar
licenses that threatens the stability
of some cities.
OPPONENTS SAID the bill would
only benefit those who have licenses
now by making them more valuable.
Rep. Gerrit Hasper (D-Muskegon)
said the effect of the bill would be to
"give everybody in the state who has
alicense a $100,000 bill."
"It's scarcity and the limit on the
number of licenses that makes the
value," he said.
THE REAL ESTATE solicitation
bill, defeated 50-43, is one of a num-
ber of measures being pushed bya
coalition of officials seeking to stem
the tide of decay in urban neighbor-
hoods.
It would have given cities the
option of establishing a list of home-
owners who did not want real estate
agents to solicit the sale or listing of
their property.
Realtors would have been re-
quired to abide by the wishes of those
on the list and could have lost their
licenses if they failed to do so.
The bill was designed to stop mass
solicitations which can lead to panic
selling. Proponents said the bill may
have been hurt by the controversy
surrounding other measures which
would ban the practice. of steering
real estate clients to or away from
certain neighborhoods on the basis of
race.
Energy
chief must
(Continued from Page 1)
wide differences in how to meet that
goal and said they see a need for
major compromises on tough issues.
"WE'RE GOING TO have some
difficulties, but I'm sure that men of
good will can work out their prob-
lems," said Rep. Harley Staggers
(D-W. Va.), picked by unanimous
vote to head the panel of 25 House
members and 18 senators.
"We come into this conference in a
compromising mood. Almost a com-
pliant mood," said Sen. Bennett
Johnston (D-La.), speaking on behalf
of Senate members of the panel.
The Senate rejected or modified
most of President Carter's major
energy recommendations, proposals
that had been approved nearly intact
by the House.
REP. JOHN Anderson (R-Ill.),
said Republicans will "try to be as
cooperative as we can in moving
toward a compromise that obviotisly
has to be achieved."
I
I
In a national survey ranking the en-
gineering schools, New Engineer mag-
azine rated the University top in gradu-
ate-level academics in three of seven
fields: industrial engineering, engi-
neering science, and "others."