MI Attorney General Bill Schuette visits the U.P.

Michigan’s Attorney General is visiting the Upper Peninsula tonight as part of the kickoff to his re-election campaign.

Bill Schuette is attending a campaign event at Marquette Mountain right now. He’s issued investigative subpoenas against Ferrellgas about potential price gouging on propane this winter, and he says the U.P.’s voice in the state Senate is a big part of that.

“People expected to have their propane tanks filled up at $3.15 (per gallon) and then got bills for $8.50 or something like that,” Schuette said. “I got calls from Tom Casperson. He carried the water, so to speak, about ‘we’ve got to get to the bottom of this’, and so Tom and I are working hand-in-glove on this big issue.”

He says he wishes the U.S. Supreme Court would decide if gay marriage should be legal on a national level or not, but in the absence of a ruling on that, he says it’s his job to uphold the ban on gay marriage that Michigan voters approved in 2004.

“A constitution isn’t a cafeteria plan, like a buffet where you can pick and choose which provisions you’re going to enforce,” Schuette said. “If the United States Supreme Court were to rule and strike down Michigan’s marriage clause, I’ll defend and honor that as well.”

A federal judge overturned Michigan’s gay marriage ban last Friday, but an appeals court has since placed a stay on that ruling, keeping same-sex marriages illegal in Michigan for now. Schuette asked the appeals court for the stay.

He was forced to cancel a campaign event in Escanaba today because of poor weather conditions.