Tagged: Michigan

Michigan begins the first work week of 2011 with a new governor in charge. He’s a man whose name most of us didn’t know a year ago, but whom we elected by a landslide in November.

We still don’t know exactly how Richard D. Snyder plans to make this state competitive again. But we do know this:

Everyone in Michigan - liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats and independents -- needs to hope his administration is an amazing success.

Well, we finally have the official census figures, and for the first time in history, Michigan lost people in the course of a decade. Worse, we’ll have fewer members of Congress.

Over the last thirty years, we’ve lost five seats in the House of Representatives. That’s equivalent to losing the voting power of the entire state of Connecticut. Put another way, we’re now back to having only one more representative than a century ago.

Governor Jennifer Granholm has less than 10 days left in office.  The term-limited Democrat spoke with Michigan Radio's Morning Edition host Christina Shockley this morning about her 8 years in office and what she hopes for the future of the state.

It's Wednesday, the day we speak with Michigan Radio's Political Analyst Jack Lessenberry about what's going on in state politics. On tap for today: Michigan gets hit hard by bad news from the census and Governor-elect Rick Snyder says he wants a 2-year budget plan for the state.

Governor-elect Rick Snyder has appointed Olga Dazzo to head the state's Department of Community Health. The Associated Press reports that Dazzo is:

...a veteran of the health insurance industry, most recently working as president of a company called Health Reform Innovations LLC in the Miami area. Dazzo previously worked in Michigan and is a past president of Physicians Health Plan.

In a written statement released today, Snyder said:

“There is an attitude that the only way to lower costs is to reduce the level of care.  I reject that premise. Olga understands that the decisions she makes will directly impact the wellbeing of Michigan’s most vulnerable citizens, and she will always have an eye toward delivering services more efficiently so those who need treatment are able to get it.”

Dazzo's bio says she received a bachelors degree in accounting and a masters degree in finance from Michigan State University.