State government handbook is older than Michigan
LANSING — Michigan has been a state since 1837. But it has had a Michigan Manual since 1836.
After 179 years, however, the future of the red-bound book, which is about the size of a Bible and is treated with similar reverence by Michigan history and political buffs, is increasingly in doubt in the online age.
Only 1,200 copies of the latest edition, for 2013-14, were published — a fraction of what used to come off the presses. But it's also available online.
It costs the state about $8,000 every other year to publish the manual, said John Strand, legislative council administrator at the Michigan Legislative Service Bureau, which is soon to release the 2015-16 edition. "It is our intention of continuing to do a hard copy version for the indefinite future," Strand said.
But Chris Carl, a former editor who retired from the bureau in 2012, said publication was nearly suspended under his watch. And "I think they will do away with the print version, eventually."
The manual contains a photo and short bio of each state lawmaker, a copy of the state constitution, information about agencies in the executive branch, the courts, universities, local governments and state history.
Over the years, it has contained much more, including detailed election results; photos of state symbols; state budget information; names of the members of all state boards and commissions; lists of radio stations, newspapers, banks and associations; railroad maps, and seating maps of the state House and Senate.
Even a cursory look at the changes in the manual over the years speaks volumes about the state's cultural and economic history. The 1836 edition was produced not in typeface, but in beautiful calligraphy. An edition produced during the Civil War is about one-quarter the size of the book produced most other years. For well over a century, nearly all photos in all editions were of men. During Michigan's high unemployment, high inflation crisis of the early 1980s, the book was slimmed-down and moved from hard cover to paperback. The manual retained much of its former size, but again reverted to soft cover during the last recession.
Michigan expected to be granted statehood sooner than it actually happened, and that's why the 1836 edition predates statehood by one year, Carl said.
Originally called the "Legislative Manual of the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Michigan," the book expanded over time to include information about the executive and judicial branches of government. It officially became known as the "Michigan Manual" under a 1958 state law.
Bill Ballenger, associate editor of the Capitol newsletter Inside Michigan Politics, said his library includes nearly a complete collection of the Michigan Manual. And he urged state officials to continue publishing the Michigan Manual when they were considering doing away with it a few years ago.
"It's been a bible for a coterie of political junkies and officials and lawyers for literally more than a century and a half," Ballenger said. "I can't get along without it. I'm using it all the time."
Nearly all states have something similar. Most such books are blue, and known simply as the "blue book," though New York's, like Michigan's, is red.
Carl, who edited the manual from 2005 through 2012 on top of his regular duties in the Legislative Service Bureau's research division, credits his predecessor, Roger Peters, with significantly improving the manual's organization and focus when its publication returned to the legislative branch from the executive branch of state government in the late 1980s.
It was always a lot of work to put together, but "it's a point of pride when it comes out," Carl said.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.