Karoub Associates was distinguished as a top-tier firm in the Capital Insiders Survey. Every two years, MIRS News and EPIC-MRA commission a survey of capital insiders, which include lobbyists, lawmakers, legislative staff, department directors, and various others who actively participate in the legislative process in Lansing. With 520 respondents to this year’s survey, Karoub Associates came in second for most-effective multi-client lobbying firm with 15 percent of the vote, up from 4 percent in 2017. Fetal heartbeat bills were introduced in the Senate last week. Performing an abortion when the heartbeat of a fetus can be detected would be outlawed under Senate Bills 357 and 358. With House and Senate GOP leadership at her side, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law Senate Bill 1 that brings about changes in the state’s “no-fault” auto insurance law. Pending criminal charges against eight charged in the Flint water crisis have been dismissed as the Attorney General’s Office expands the investigation. The decision was based on the Attorney General's Office identifying “…additional individuals of interest and new information.” Charges can be brought against the individuals again if necessary. A highlight of the $57.7 billion House FIscal Year 2020 budget is the Republican proposal to phase out the sales tax paid on gasoline and replace it with a higher gas tax. Drivers would see no net increase in what they pay at the pump. Despite expressing “significant reservations,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law legislation (SBs 106 and 155) that prohibits teenagers 17 and under from possessing e-cigarettes and levies a $100 fine against vendors the first time they sell “vaping” products to the under-aged. Click here for the June 2019 Karoub Report for more information on these and other legislative issues.