Mich. AG opposes Dems' bill on legal settlements

LANSING, Mich. - Attorney General Mike Cox on Wednesday opposed efforts to take away his office's ability to decide how financial settlements with corporate wrongdoers are spent, saying Democrats are targeting him for political reasons.

Cox, a Republican running for governor in 2010, surprised Democrats by showing up to testify in person at a House committee considering a bill to require that all settlement money go to the state treasury. The dollars could not be spent without first being appropriated by the Legislature.

The attorney general currently allocates money to charities or other entities when the state wins a civil lawsuit but specific victims cannot be identified.

Cox was criticized earlier this year for allocating foreclosure settlement money to Grand Rapids-area parks. One park's fundraiser was a big GOP donor.

Cox likened the Democratic-backed legislation to Republicans' attempts to limit the powers of then-Democratic Attorney General Jennifer Granholm a decade ago.

He said former Democratic Attorney General Frank Kelley is on his side. Kelley wrote a letter Tuesday to House Judiciary Chairman Mark Meadows "expressing reservations" about the legislation. Kelley said the issue involves such a small number of cases that any misunderstandings could be resolved in talks between the attorney general and legislators.

If Democrats who control the House pass their bill, it likely would die in the Republican-led Senate.

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David Eggert can be reached at deggert(at)ap.org

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The settlement bill is House Bill 4799.

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On the Net:

Michigan Legislature: http://www.legislature.mi.gov

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