LOCAL/STATE
Senate rejects Granholm's

The Michiaan Daily - Thursday. Sentember 25. 2003 - 5A

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.new department proposal
LANSING (AP) - The state Sen- Michigan Chamber of Commerce, said
ate yesterday rejected Gov. Jennifer the new appeals process will favor labor "This has not been a
Granholm's order creating the new if contentious cases are decided by an .
state Department of Labor and Eco- appointee of a Democratic governor. fair process and
nomic Growth. Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema perha thepin
The Republican-controlled Senate (R-Wyoming) asked Granholm to with- ps process
voted 22-16 along party lines to reject draw the executive order to address sena- the House will be
the new department that would combine tors' concerns. He said the Granholmoert
the functions of the Department of Con- administration should have worked with more delberative.
sumer and Industry Services and the lawmakers to come up with an executive - Liz Boyd
Department of Career Development. order they could support. Granholm spokeswoman
Several Republican senators said "I truly am sad that we have come
they don't like the way the executive to this point today," Sikkema said. consideration," Boyd said about the
order changes the workers' compensa- "I felt the path of cooperation was order. "This has not been a fair
tion appeals process. better than the path of confronta- process and perhaps the process in the
The Worker's Compensation tion. ... She has chosen this path and House will be more deliberative."
Appellate Commission board would the Senate will rise to meet its con- The measure now goes to the House,
be eliminated under the order. stitutional obligation." but it was unclear yesterday whether the
Instead, worker's compensation Granholm, a Democrat, signed the Republican-controlled House would
appeals would be considered by two executive order on Sept. 17. It will take take up the Senate resolution or vote on
appellate magistrates - one repre- effect in 60 days unless it is rejected by its own measure to reject the order.
senting workers and one represent- both chambers of the state Legislature. Matt Resch, spokesman for House
ing employers. If the two Liz Boyd, spokeswoman for Speaker Rick Johnson (R-LeRoy) said
magistrates don't agree on a case, Granholm, said the governor is House Commerce Committee Chairman
the tiebreaker is the chairman of the standing by her executive order. Clark Bisbee will continue to hold hear-
Board of Magistrates, who is "The Senate made up its mind ings on the executive order. Bisbee, R-
appointed by the governor. before this was ever issued and before Jackson, has introduced a similar
A few business groups, including the they had opportunity to give it fair resolution in the House.
New Mich. bill prevents sex
offenders from adopting kids

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EMCEES: Alma Wheeler Smith

LANSING (AP) - A state House committee yester-
day unanimously approved legislation that would pro-
hibit convicted sex offenders from adopting children.
The bill was prompted by the case of an Oakland
County man who served 11 years in prison for raping a
woman and then was allowed to adopt children. He was
charged with sexually assaulting his adopted daughter.
State Sen. Gilda Jacobs (D-Huntington Woods) said
she introduced the legislation to fix a loophole in the
current law.
The law now prohibits people who are convicted of
sexually assaulting a minor from adopting children.
Jacobs' bill would also prohibit those convicted of sex-
ually assaulting an adult from adopting children.
Barb Lambourne, of Grand Haven, organized a support
group called Citizens for Second Chances for families
with relatives charged with criminal sexual conduct.

Lambourne told the House Family and Children Ser-
vices Committee that the legislation could prohibit sex
offenders charged as young adults from ever adopting a
child.
Decisions about whether a person is fit to adopt a
child should be left up to caseworkers and attorneys,
not state lawmakers, she said.
"Please give the discretion back to the people trained
to make these decisions," she said.
Jacobs said it's important to have high standards for
adoption.
"I'm one who believes in second chances," she said.
"But sometimes safety of kids has to trump other
issues."
The House Family and Children Services Committee
voted 9-0 to send the bill to the full House. The Senate
approved the bill in June.

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