In her final months in office, term-limited Governor Jennifer Granholm faces major budget and other battles in Washington as well as in Lansing.

Granholm, who recently made her seventh trip to the nation's capital in seven months, was among several Michigan politicians prominent last week on the national scene:

• Granholm appeared on MSNBC as a leader among 47 governors of states and territories who signed a letter asking Congress to provide the money not yet provided for Medicaid funding.

She earlier said failure to extend jobless and Medicaid benefits could push Michigan and the nation back into recession.

"This is not about state budgets," said Granholm, who had a conference call with state and national reporters. "This is about the people that will be affected. ...[It] is nothing short of devastation."

• Senator Debbie Stabenow and U.S. Representative Dave Camp (R-Midland) introduced companion legislation to permanently prevent Asian carp and other invasive species from entering the Great Lakes. They said the Permanent Prevention of Asian Carp Act would require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct and expedite a study detailing engineering options in order to determine the best way to permanently separate the Mississippi River Basin from Lake Michigan.

The continuing alliance on the issue between the Democratic senator and the Republican congressman is encouraging. Also encouraging is the co-sponsorship of Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), whose state has successfully resisted closing of locks to prevent carp from entering Lake Michigan.

Representatives Bart Stupak (DMenominee) and Pete Hoekstra (RHolland) are among co-sponsors of Camp's bill.

• Attorney General Mike Cox, who last week vowed to accelerate the twice unsuccessful multi-state effort to get the U.S. Supreme Court to order closing of the locks, hailed the Stabenow-Camp efforts for a permanent solution. He said, "The locks must be shut immediately while this feasibility study is being conducted."

That will not happen, short of success of further legal action.

• Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Military Affairs Committee, was the key Capitol Hill player in the quick transition of General David Petraeus taking command of running the Afghanistan war from the fired General Stanley McChrystal. Levin has been solid in running the committee and working with the ranking Republican, John McCain of Arizona.

• Hoekstra, ranking minority member of the House Intelligence Committee, was a go-to GOP guy by CNN and others for comment on disclosure of an alleged "deep cover" network of 11 spies for Russia. He said, "There's a lot more of this going on" in espionage for China, Iran, and others.

• Stupak, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, was again prominent in national media for his continuing pursuit of BP for the Gulf oil spill.

Last week, he raised the Gulf spill in connection with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision Thursday that a federal underground injection control permit is not required for Kennecott Minerals Company to proceed with a proposed sulfide mine in Marquette County. He said, "I appreciate the prompt action by the EPA in determining whether a federal permit is needed for the Kennecott project, as well as the agency's timely decision on this matter.

"Although EPA has determined a federal permit is not necessary, I encourage Kennecott to continue working to address the concerns of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and other organizations on this project."

He said, "It is imperative that the state of Michigan re-evaluate its sulfide mining law to ensure every precaution is being taken to ensure sulfide mining is done safely in Michigan.

"We are seeing today in the Gulf of Mexico why it is so important that we have effective enforcement of environmental and safety regulations and adequate financial protections in place to ensure taxpayers are not responsible for cleaning up any pollution that does occur. As plans for this sulfide mine move forward, it is my hope that Kennecott and the state of Michigan will heed these lessons and take every precaution possible to keep our workers safe and protect our precious natural resources."

(In a Friday commentary titled "Michigan's Own BP Problem?" Traverse City environmental attorney Jim Olson said, "On top of the sulfide mining risks in the U.P., is an equally if not more devastating threat to Michigan's groundwater, lakes, and streams -- quantity and quality: recent state sale of natural gas leases and rampant private land activity for natural gas leases for the fracting of Utica shale formations deep below most of Michigan.

“Fracting involves highly pressurized water mixed with powerful, toxic chemicals that break apart the shale to release quantities of natural gas for production." Olson called for "a moratorium on any state leasing, any permits, until there has been a complete and thorough investigation and determination of the effects and cumulative impacts."

Weaver's Reform Agenda

Michigan's system of electing Supreme Court justices is supremely flawed.

For starters, there is the folly of partisan party conventions nominating candidates who then run on the nonpartisan ballot.

The worst flaw has been well articulated and documented by the watchdog Michigan Campaign Finance Network, which after the "toxic" 2008 campaign said, "Michigan's 21st Century Supreme Court campaigns should be a source of shame to the entire state." It said too much of the 2008 campaign "was off the books" -- sources of the money behind most of the advertising were not disclosed.

Now comes Michigan Supreme Court Justice Betty Weaver, a former chief justice, with proposal reforms to address these and other issues in a system that "is deeply flawed and in need of an overhaul."

Among other things, she wants to end party nominations and "unrestrained campaign spending," and assure "transparent and full accounting in campaign finance reporting." Cheers for these.

The former chief justice, who was twice elected after nomination by a Republican state convention, outlined her proposals after last week filing for reelection as an independent with a vow "to continue my efforts to bring openness to the court."

I have previously noted the continuing spats that Weaver, a former Leelanau County probate judge and judge of the Michigan Court of Appeals, has had with the three other Republican justices on the high court, most notably Robert P. Young, Jr., a former appeals judge who also is up for reelection to a third term.

My interest today is an initial look at Weaver's idea for election by districts, as is the case with the Court of Appeals.

She said the current system of statewide election does not "prize the diversity of thought that can come from geographic separation."

She notes: "The overwhelming majority of this court is from the Detroit/Lansing Beltway. Of the seven Justices, four are from Southeast Michigan (Grosse Pointe Park and Bloomfield Hills), two from the Lansing area, and one (me) from Northern Michigan (Traverse City area). None are from the West, while Grand Rapids is the second largest city in Michigan."

I'm inclined to agree with her on this one, but will take a closer look at it. It should be noted that the northland has had some notable justices under the current system.

In the 20th century, there were seven from the Upper Peninsula, including later-to-be-famed author John Voelker of Ishpeming (appointed 1957; elected 1958).

In addition to Weaver of Glen Arbor, two other justices have had offices in Traverse City -- 1982- 1999 Justice James H. Brickley, a former Detroit City councilman and lieutenant governor who moved north, and 1987-95 Justice Robert P. Griffin, former congressman from the city.

George Weeks retired in 2006 after 22 years as political columnist for The Detroit News. His weekly Michigan Politics column is syndicated by Superior Features.