Editing Complete - Almost Ready

Good news! The book is done being edited. The cover is being designed, and I should have everything in my hands for review within the next week. Thanks, everyone for being so patient. This has been a long process, from waiting for me to finish it, to waiting for the process of editing and publishing. It won't be long now. Happy Thanksgiving to all. I'll post when the next step is complete.

Excerpt from "Under Color of Law"

It's hard to believe it's been a month since I posted something. Haven't heard from the publisher yet, so the book is still at the editor's as far as I know. On October 24, I attended the Women2Women Michigan Expo at the Birch Run Expo Center and handed out my first media kit at their booth. I hope to get the opportunity to be one of their featured authors in an upcoming publication. Besides that, I have made a listing of public policy groups in Michigan, including some student run groups that might be interested in researching and addressing the unanswered questions and questionable issues regarding the passage of P.A. 495. Below is an excerpt from "Under Color of Law" pertaining to these:

"We began making trips to our state capitol, an hour’s drive away to observe legislative sessions and attend committee meetings to become educated in how business is conducted. We researched procedural rules and the State constitution to try to understand how 495 could have been passed without any fiscal impact studies to determine the impact it would have on the businesses being regulated, or how an amendment could have been made to it at the last minute that so totally changed it without any roadblocks.

I began asking questions of the legislators, themselves and their staffs. One Senator told me that impact studies are required when rules are changed because rules can be changed in a short period of time, whereas it takes a long time for statutes to be changed. It seemed illogical that they would not want to know the impact of what they were doing, whether it took a short period of time or a long period of time to do. Just because something took a long time to accomplish would not lessen the impact that it would have. I poured over the House and Senate procedural rules, joint rules, and the legislative manual. I read over every rule I could find, and found none that even remotely through any stretch of the imagination referred to anything which would directly or indirectly affect small businesses. I asked staffers to identify what rules, which if changed, would require impact studies to be done, and none seemed to be able to provide any answers.

I asked what is meant by the term, “on its passage” since the Michigan Constitution says that no bill can be changed on its passage so as to change its original purpose as determined by its total content. What were the parameters of a bill’s passage, and if 495 had not been changed on its passage, then what did that mean? And how would one determine a bill’s original purpose if not by a stated government purpose or by its subject matter? We requested any and all documents, including a tape of testimony given on Bill 4231 from the committees it went through during its development. All documentation dealt with the process of dealing with abandoned cars by the public. Nothing, not one word, was uttered regarding businesses or licensing of dealers. It certainly appeared as though 4231 had been changed on its passage from its original purpose, although, in light of the evidence we had indicating a different purpose, we questioned whether the abandoned car issue had simply been a ruse, and put in place to appear to the uninformed to be the perceived original purpose. Though possibly unknown but to only a few, it certainly seemed that we had been victims of a very intentional, calculated, and well-planned attack with the sole purpose of eliminating the competition right from the start."

If anyone has any input into these issues, we sure would like to hear it. Feel free to post a comment, and thanks.