Politics & Government

Michigan’s workers’ compensation laws are under review in Lansing.

Some business groups told the House Commerce Committee that changes are needed in the workers’ compensation program because of medical advances.

They used examples of shorter recovery times for knee and hip replacements.

Democratic State Rep. Vicki Barnett says there could also be a requirement for some people to take other work while they’re healing.

DETROIT (AP) - Volkswagen is recalling more than 168,000 cars with diesel engines because a defect in the fuel injectors that could cause fires.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says on its website that the recall affects some 2010 to 2012 Volkswagen Golf and 2009 to 2012 Jetta models. Also affected are some Audi A3 models from the 2010 through 2012 model years.

Volkswagen says cracks can develop in the fuel injectors of 2-liter diesel engines. Fuel can leak and could cause a fire.

But the company says it doesn't know of any fires or injuries from the problem.

Volkswagen will replace the fuel injector line on one of the cylinders free of charge.

Governor Rick Snyder has laid to rest speculation that he might not seek a second term. The governor told a collection of local government officials his plan is to serve eight years, if voters let him.

"I'm not announcing my candidacy yet, but as a practical matter I do intend to be around for eight years, assuming the voters go along with that and the family is supportive, which they have been consistently," said Snyder.

There was speculation the governor would choose to serve only one term based on remarks he made last month on Mackinac Island.

The governor said he would consider serving a single term if he accomplished his entire agenda in four years. Snyder said today those remarks were "misinterpreted."

The revelation that Wayne County paid its former economic development chief a $200,000 “severance package” to take another, better-paying county job has raised a lot of eyebrows.

It’s also raised questions about whether the payment to now-Metro Airport CEO Turkia Awada Mullin violated the law.

Genesee County officials have changed a rule that restricted political activities in its parks.

A ranger in Genesee County’s Linden Park told members of a group circulating petitions to recall Governor Snyder that they’d have to get a permit first.

So they did, but then they were told they’d have to stand in a nine-square-foot space while asking for signatures.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan filed a federal lawsuit against the county.

This week's court ruling ordering the state to reinstate welfare benefits until recipients get adequate notice of termination has re-ignited the fight over whether the state should have approved new limits on the cash assistance.

 “We have the chance to right one of the wrongs committed by this body, and to save thousands of children from starvation and homelessness,” said Sen. Coleman Young (D-Detroit).

The Michigan Supreme Court Thursday will hear the case of a mentally ill woman who was sent to jail because she could not pay her child support.

Selesa Likine  is divorced, has children, and worked as a realtor.

Likine suffers from schizoaffective disorder. She was hospitalized several times, lost her job, and was declared totally disabled by the Social Security Administration.

But the jury wasn’t allowed to hear about that, so Likine spent 43 days in Oakland County Jail after she was convicted of failure to pay child support.

The state Senate has approved a measure that would end lifetime benefits for incoming state lawmakers.

Fewer than half of current lawmakers would be exempt from the change. But all but two sitting senators would still get their retirements. No incoming lawmakers would be offered the retirement benefits.

The Detroit Free Press reports:

The Senate voted 37-1 on the measure, with Sen. Coleman Young Jr., D-Detroit, voting against the bill.

The House passed a bill that would have ended retiree health benefits for legislators who took office after Jan. 1, 2007. But the Senate version puts that date at Jan. 1, 2013.

The difference means that while some sitting legislators would have been eligible for the benefits under the House plan, many more sitting legislators will be eligible under the Senate plan.

Members of the House and Senate need only serve six years to be 100% vested in the retiree health care benefits. But members who don't have six years in by 2013, which mean members in tbe House who were elected in 2008 and 2010, and two state Senators - Patrick Colbeck, R-Canton and Vince Gregory, D-Southfield - would be ineligible for the benefits. All the rest of the Senators and third termers in the House will get the retiree health benefits.

The measure now goes back to the House for final approval.

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case between the Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School in Redford, Michigan and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

At issue, according to the SCOTUS blog (SCOTUS stands for the Supreme Court of the United States) is whether the U.S. government can be involved in church activities. From the blog:

Courts have generally believed that federal employment discrimination statutes do not apply to church employees performing religious functions. The question is whether this ministerial exception applies not simply to religious leaders, but also to teachers at a religious elementary school.

The Associated Press has more on the arguments from the church school employee:

Cheryl Perich got sick, then tried to return to work. Still, the school, now closed, fired her. She complained to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which sued the church.

Religious groups say the case should be thrown out. The Americans With Disabilities Act has an exception to prevent government involvement between churches and ministerial employees.

But a federal appeals court said Perich’s job as a teacher was secular, not religious, so the exception blocking the lawsuit didn’t count.