Michigan

Miller Canfield attorney Michael McGee has been tapped to serve on the board of the Citizens Research Council of Michigan, an independent research group, for the 2011-12 term, the firm announced Monday.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder last week signed into law a measure that will allow Highland Park to refinance and provide additional security for its outstanding financial recovery bonds.

CHICAGO - Ann Arbor in on track to become the first city in Michigan to launch a bond-backed energy efficiency program authorized in state legislation adopted last year.

CHICAGO - A new independent study on a controversial plan to build a publicly funded bridge in Michigan says proposed bond covenants would protect state taxpayers if toll revenues fall short of expectations, but that interest rate costs could push the price tag past $4 billion.

U.S. Rep. Hansen Clarke last week offered a bill that would require all federal taxes paid in Detroit to be reinvested back into the city for the next five years.

Members of the Michigan Legislature’s Senate Economic Development Committee said they would extend a series of hearings on whether to advance a plan to build a $3.8 billion, publicly funded bridge spanning the busy trade route between Detroit and Canada.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing is expected to hand over management of a high-profile, $528 million light-rail project to the Detroit Economic Growth Corp.

CHICAGO - In another move aimed at helping fiscally stressed municipalities enter the bond market, Michigan lawmakers have sent Gov. Rick Snyder legislation that would allow them to refinance outstanding financial recovery debt.

CHICAGO - Detroit Public Schools hopes to enter the market in the next two weeks to float a deficit bond issue that would eliminate two-thirds of its red ink.

Wayne County officials will break ground Thursday morning on a new $300 million, mostly bond-financed lockup in downtown Detroit.

Chicago-based Mercy Hospital is discussing some form of a union with Novi, Mich.-based Trinity Health Corp., according to published reports.

CHICAGO - Michael Stampfler, the emergency manager of Pontiac, Mich., resigned Friday after 14 months, calling the job a "sad and almost hopeless endeavor" and warning that bankruptcy or merger are the only real solutions for the troubled Detroit suburb.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announced last week that a former superintendent of the Kansas City school system will be in charge of a new system that will operate the state’s lowest performing schools.

The Michigan Legislature last week approved a bill to require public employees to contribute to their health care benefits.

Michigan Monday launched a preliminary financial review of Flint, making the long-struggling city the first to undergo such a review since the state passed a new, broader emergency management law.

CHICAGO — The emergency manager of Pontiac, Mich., said his plan to raise new money for the cash-strapped Detroit suburb relies on a court-ordered property tax increase.

Moody's Investors Service this week affirmed its Aaa rating on Livingston County's $78.2 million of outstanding general obligation debt.

Gov. Rick Snyder last week asked the Michigan Supreme Court to rule on a lawsuit that targets the state's controversial emergency-management law.

CHICAGO - The emergency manager of struggling Pontiac, Mich., last week unveiled a package of tax increases and spending cuts that he said is the only option the city has to avoid going broke by next spring or sooner.

The Detroit Charter Revision Commission is working to meet an Aug. 30 deadline to place a revised charter on the fall ballot.