A group pushing to repeal Michigan's law that requires higher "prevailing" wages on state-financed construction projects wants the state to certify its petitions without pulling a larger sample to review. The Board of State Canvassers will meet Tuesday to discuss the request. Earlier this month, the elections bureau said it would move to a second stage of sampling because of 535 signatures reviewed, 370 were valid. That is just shy of the 373 required by a statistical model to automatically be recommended for approval.
A ballot committee backed by the nonunion Associated Builders and Contractors of Michigan says it turned in more than 380,000 signatures for the veto-proof legislation. About 252,000 signatures must be valid. The elections bureau says Protecting Michigan Taxpayers' request to bypass the larger sample is "unprecedented."
