3 ISSUES SET TO FACE VOTERS IN NOVEMBER

The once-crowded field of ballot proposals hoping to win voter
approval in November dwindled to just three Monday -- two
constitutional amendments and one law -- as the deadline passed for
submitting petitions.

Barring late action by the Legislature to assign another amendment to
the ballot, those three will be the only policy decisions facing
state voters Nov. 4 (assuming all three survive legal challenges).

The two amendments are:

. A proposed easing of restrictions on embryonic stem cell research
(current state law forbids research that imperils or destroys a human embryo).

. A sweeping revision of the constitution's political provisions,
reducing the size of the Legislature and appellate judiciary, cutting
pay for state elected officials, and making changes in redistricting,
nominating and other procedures.

The initiative would:

. Legalize the possession and use of marijuana for medical purposes.

Other proposals launched earlier this year -- a pair aimed at
creating a part-time Legislature (including one that eliminated term
limits) and an effort to replace Michigan's business and individual
taxes with a so-called Fair Tax -- did not collect enough signatures
to qualify for the ballot.