Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak has reconsidered earlier legislation that would have given several acres of Coast Guard property in Cheboygan to a Christian school free of charge after constitutional law scholars pointed out that the land transfer would violate the First Amendment separation between church and state.
After I wrote about this issue at the Michigan Messenger in August, Americans United for Separation of Church and State contacted Stupak's office and informed them that the legislation as written was unconstitutional. Last week, Stupak, a Democrat from Menominee, wrote to the group and told them that he was changing the bill to require that the property be sold to the school at fair market value as required by law.
The land transfer is now submitted as Section 1325 of HR 3619, the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act, which is the budget appropriation for the Coast Guard for 2010. Where the previous legislation required that the land be transferred "without consideration," the language now reads:
(a) Conveyance Authorized- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Commandant of the Coast Guard is authorized to convey, at fair market value, all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to a parcel of real property, consisting of approximately 3 acres, more or less, that is under the administrative control of the Coast Guard and located at 900 S. Western Avenue in Cheboygan, Michigan.(b) Right of First Refusal- The Cornerstone Christian Academy, located in Cheboygan, MI, shall have the right of first refusal to purchase, at fair market value, all or a portion of the real property described in subsection (a).
Americans United is pleased with this development but argues that giving the Christian school a right of first refusal may still have some constitutional problems. In a letter to Stupak (PDF), AU executive director Barry Lynn praised the legislator for changing the terms of the transfer but reiterated that the constitutional problems are not fully addressed by the provision in H.R. 3619 because it grants the right of first refusal to the School."
But given that the school already occupies the property and they built the building at their own expense, it seems entirely reasonable that they have the first opportunity to purchase the property as long as it is done at fair market value rather than a giveaway of public property.
Credit also goes to my pal Chris Rodda, who was the one who found the original Stupak bill while doing some research and notified me of it.
Politics
Comments
Ed:
I already know about you and that she-devil Chris Rodda, but why does Mr. Stupak hate KKKritstianMurKKKa?
Posted by: democommie | October 23, 2009 9:39 AM
I went to their local newspaper's site to get a reaction but there is none. That could be due to the paper not being a daily where some newspapers in this neck of the woods don't publish their stories on-line until after they've printed and distributed their newspapers (Cheboygan is a small working class town in a very isolated area of the state about 60 miles NE from where I live).
Rep. Stupak is planning to do a Town Hall meeting in Cheboygan tomorrow.
The big news in this serious football town is that tonight's varsity game is called off because of the H1N1 epidemic. They've closed their schools as well without reporting what the absentee rate was prior to doing so at this news outlet. Other area schools who shut-down where seeing 20 - 30% absentee rates - most schools in the area remain open. Cheboygan's walk-in clinic is turning flu victims away claiming they don't have the resources to help them. Very few people up here have been vaccinated - both because of short supplies which are also a couple of weeks late in arriving and a general tendency not to get vaccinated (Glenn Beck / Faux News syndrome).
I asked a business associate whose a leader in the community whether his young school-age children were able to get vaccinated yet and he was oblivious to their even being a H1N1 risk and seasonal flu vaccines have been easily available and widely promoted. Even in spite of the fact one of his kids came down with flu-like symptoms last week while area health officials claim the sesonal flu is not evident, only H1N1.
Posted by: Michael Heath | October 23, 2009 9:50 AM
Ah, good old Cheboygan. I grew up there (even played football) but managed to escape right after graduating HS. The Cheboygan Daily Tribune used to be reliable for reporting local news - who got caught doing what everyone already knew they were doing.
Posted by: bobh | October 23, 2009 9:58 AM
Stupak deserves some credit here I think. While i have no idea what he know or thought about the original bill, when confronted with an obvious constitutional issue, he didn't call for xtian wrath, he supported the law. Good on him and good for Chris and Ed (and maybe others) for raising the issue.
Posted by: MikeMa | October 23, 2009 10:01 AM
Thanks so much for following this through, Ed. Stupak's bill was one of those things that just pissed me off, but I knew I really couldn't do anything effective to fight it. This one definitely needed a Michigan guy, and you came through big time!!!
Posted by: Chris Rodda | October 23, 2009 10:31 AM
Ed Brayton: But given that the school already occupies the property and they built the building at their own expense, it seems entirely reasonable that they have the first opportunity to purchase the property as long as it is done at fair market value rather than a giveaway of public property.
It might be smart to put that reason ("in light of having constructed a school building at their own expense") into part (b) to help support the first refusal. (Or it might not; IAmNotALawyer.)
Michael Heath: Very few people up here have been vaccinated - both because of short supplies which are also a couple of weeks late in arriving and a general tendency not to get vaccinated (Glenn Beck / Faux News syndrome).
Darwinian selection in action; if vaccination really causes more harm than non-vaccination, the GB/FN will indeed benefit by their decision, even if they do not believe in Darwin.
Posted by: abb3w | October 23, 2009 12:51 PM
I agree with MikeMa, Stupak deserves credit for immediately fixing his mistake. Americans United contacted him about it on Oct. 14 and on Oct. 16, he wrote back saying he was changing the bill. Good work, Rep. Stupak.
Some people have gotten the impression that I don't like Stupak because of my reporting on his ties to The Family, but that's not true. I would actually rate him at the top of the Michigan congressional delegation. Those ties to C street do disturb me, but he's also an effective legislator, particularly when it comes to environmental issues and the Great Lakes. And I think he's a fundamentally decent guy.
Posted by: Ed Brayton | October 23, 2009 2:08 PM