From Tuesday, August 25, 2009 Gongwer

PACE OF BUDGET TALKS TO QUICKEN

With less than 40 days to go before the start of the new fiscal year, key lawmakers and the administration are speeding up the pace of budget negotiations, sources said Tuesday.

Meetings were held on Tuesday, with more scheduled through Wednesday, but sources say they expect legislative leadership and the administration will meet more often in the next two weeks than they have earlier in the month.

Both chambers have session scheduled for a couple days before Labor Day, but regular session days will pick up after the holiday.

Sources, who would speak only condition they not be named because of the sensitivity of the budget talks, said Tuesday that targets still have not been set for the 2009-10 appropriations, but negotiations are ongoing.

There was some talk that key lawmakers and the governor were discussing expansion of gaming at horse race tracks as a way to continue supporting the industry when stimulus dollars run out in two years, but a House source said that is not under serious examination.

Any changes to the state's gaming law would require two public votes - one in the municipality where the gaming would take place and one among all state voters.

DATA INDICATES ECONOMIC IMPROVEMENTS

Economic indicators for July, kept by the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank, showed overall improvements in manufacturing in the Midwest and in the overall national economy.

Particularly important to Michigan, the Chicago Fed's index of manufacturing activity in the automotive sector showed a significant improvement in July compared to June, though the sector is still at less than half its most recent historical high.

The data is compiled and released by the Chicago Fed, which is the federal reserve bank that oversees Michigan's main population centers (the Upper Peninsula is overseen by the federal reserve bank in Minneapolis).

The national economic data for July showed that while the country is still in a recession, the decline is slowing in pace compared to earlier in the year. Although the country continued to lose jobs in the month, it did so at a lower rate that in June. Consumption also showed some improvement during the month, the Chicago Fed reported, while overall production and income also improved during the month.

Meanwhile, in July, the Chicago Fed's Midwest Manufacturing Index increased for the first time in a year, rising by 2.6 percent up to a level of 79.7. When the index began falling in late 2007 it stood at about 105 and fell to a low of 77.7 in June.

Auto sector production in the region jumped by 16.3 percent in the month and stood at 44.2 on its own index level. In late 2007, the auto index stood at 85 and in 2001 was at approximately 115.

The index also showed that machinery production picked up during the month, though steel production was down slightly.

Pamela Ann Martell

Higher Education Consultant

King-Chavez-Parks (KCP) Initiative

Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth

201 N. Washington Square

Victor Office Center, 3rd Floor

Lansing, MI 48913

Direct Line: (517) 335-3009

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