Politics & Government

Update 5:07 p.m.

The Michigan Public Radio Network's Laura Weber reports that most Republicans voted against the change, but Republican House Speaker Jase Bolger was not among them.

He voted for the measure, which passed by a narrow margin:

"I think for a healthy Michigan we have to have a healthy Detroit, so House Republicans put up enough votes for passage and we advance this bill forward today," said Bolger. "But at the same time, we are certainly concerned about containing their expenses and not looking for additional revenue."

Weber reported that changes to the population requirement now goes to the State Senate, where Democrats hope to have them approved in the next week.

1:23 p.m.

State law stipulates that a city must have a population of at least 750,000 people in order to tax at certain rates.

In the last census, Detroit's population fell below that threshold and now stands at 713,777 according to official U.S. Census statistics (that number is being challenged).

The city could stand to lose $100 million if it had to lower it's income tax rate.

Losing this much revenue in Detroit would hurt, so lawmakers in Lansing are working to pass legislation that will allow the city to keep taxing at current rates.

The Michigan State House approved a measure today that would allow the city to continue levying taxes on income and utilities by lowering the population threshold to 600,000.

The Michigan Public Radio Network's Laura Weber reported on this last night. Weber spoke with State Senator Bert Johnson (D - Detroit) about the bill. From Weber's report:

He says he thinks that 600,000 is a safe and low-enough number.

“You know, I think Detroit’s days of really hemorrhaging people are probably behind us. We’ll lose a few more along the way, but not in the significant numbers that we’ve seen over the past decade,” Johnson said.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said the city would likely face a financial emergency without changes to the law.

I’ve just arrived here on Mackinac Island with Tracy Samilton and Lester Graham for the 2011 Mackinac Policy Conference. Governor Rick Snyder welcomed guests to the conference earlier this afternoon. Snyder used the address to talk about what he believes is the need to build a second bridge span between Detroit and Canada. Last month, Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley said the administration will push the legislature to approve a second bridge as soon as this month. Calley said the state needs to create competition with the Ambassador Bridge Company and its monopoly at the crossing.

“The takeaway of Snyder’s speech is that he is going to use the conference to push his goal of getting the legislature to approve the bridge,” Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta says.

Not all Republicans are on-board with the idea of building a second bridge. As Pluta explains, “this isn’t the first intra-party fight that he [Snyder] has had.”

Pluta is referring to the controversial tax on some retiree pensions that was part of Snyder’s budget proposal. Pluta predicts the battle over a second bridge will be bigger than the fight Snyder had over the pension tax.

Legislation to create an authority to build a new international bridge in Detroit has been introduced in the state Senate.

Governor Rick Snyder is using a conference on Mackinac Island to sell the idea to lawmakers and business people.

He still has to win over skeptical Republicans in the Legislature who are not convinced there is no risk to taxpayers in the deal.

The bridge fight could pose his biggest intra-party squabble yet. It's a debate that’s expected to last through much if June.

The governor says the bridge is necessary to support Michigan’s growing export trade, saying the entire state benefits from the growth in exports:

"We had a big bounce back from 2009," Snyder said. "The jump this year has been very large and Canada is our biggest trading partner. We did over $44 billion in exports last year…and 49% of that was with Canada."

The governor says that includes agriculture products and manufactured goods from every corner of Michigan. Supporters of the bridge say there will be even more benefits if Canada and Mexico approve a free trade deal.

The owners of the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit are putting up a fierce fight including a statewide ad campaign to stop the bridge project.

They say there won’t be enough traffic to justify a second bridge.

The governor calls those claims "false."