Granholm Signs Final Bills As Michigan Governor
Jennifer Granholm has signed her last bills as Michigan's governor, including measures to limit advertising for adult businesses and create income tax form check-offs for Girls Scout fundraising, her office confirmed Monday.
The term-limited Democratic governor and the Legislature finished 2010 with 383 new public acts, 166 of them signed into law this month. Granholm wrapped up her bill signing duties before Christmas, clearing the way for Republican Gov.-elect Rick Snyder, who takes the oath of office on Jan. 1.
Here's a look at some of the bills signed within the last week:
-Signs and billboards that advertise the adult entertainment or other sexually oriented businesses will face tighter restrictions starting in January. Billboards and signs visible from outside an adult business can only display words, numbers and trademarks.
The goal is to crack down on the public display of sexual images that some find offensive.
``These images are not the kind that we want to see in our community because they send the wrong message to our children, our visitors and our residents,'' Sen. Tupac Hunter, the legislation's sponsor and a Democrat from Detroit, said in a statement.
-Residents will be able to donate to a fund supporting the Girl Scouts of Michigan by checking off a box on their state income tax forms. The option starts with the 2011 tax year. Michigan has many other similar check-off options on income tax returns, including for cancer research and child welfare projects.
-The Michigan Film Office will have more requirements for public disclosure related to the state's film incentives program. Among them is a requirement to twice a year post detailed reports on the office's web site.
-A capital outlay bill will help pay for construction projects worth an estimated $968 million across the state. Most of the projects are at public universities and community colleges, but the legislation also contains money for a crime lab in Detroit. The state's share of the cost is $383 million, and it will sell bonds to raise the money. Repaying the debt on those bonds could cost the state more than $30 million a year for roughly 15 years.
-Local health departments will have more power to help regulate ``body art'' establishments such as tattoo and body-piercing parlors, strengthening a 2007 state law.
The number of public acts signed by Granholm this year is not out of the ordinary. The number of annual public acts during her eight years as governor ranged from 221 in 2007 to 682 in 2006.
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The adult business signage legislation is Senate Bill 266 and 879; the Girl Scouts bill is Senate Bill 1409; the film incentive legislation is Senate Bill 796 and 889; the construction project bill is House Bill 5858; the body art legislation is Senate Bill 1486.
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