LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The number of groups that want to put their measures on the Nov. 4 general election ballot just keeps growing.

Many of the groups are still in the early stages of their campaign. Five on Monday submitted the form of their petition to the Board of State Canvassers, which gave its OK to all five submitted.

Most of the groups have not yet begun collecting the more than 380,000 valid signatures required to put proposals on the November ballot.

Among those that dealt with the board on Monday was the People's Choice Tax Repeal Committee, which wants to give voters more say in tax issues. Its proposal would require a statewide vote on any state law that creates a new tax, continues a tax, reduces a tax deduction, or increases the effective rate of a tax. It could affect an income tax increase that was approved by the Legislature last fall.

Others that submitted their petition form for approval by the board included:

—The Stem Cell Research Ballot Question Committee, which wants to loosen current restrictions on embryonic stem cell research in Michigan, which now outlaws research on embryos from any source. The ballot proposal would allow research on donated embryos created for fertility treatments that otherwise would be discarded.

—The Michigan Fair Tax proposal Committee, which wants to amend the state constitution to eliminate the state income tax and Michigan Business Tax and replace them with a sales tax.

—The Committee to Turn Michigan Around, which wants to amend the state constitution to allow only a part-time Legislature, rather than the full-time one the state has now.

—The Proportional Senate Committee, which wants to increase the number of state senators from 38 to 50 and have them be elected off candidates lists at large in a statewide election rather than by district.

—The Personal Education Account Committee, which wants to require lawmakers to provide every Michigan child aged 4 to 18 with "funding to support education on a per pupil basis which shall be controlled by the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) of each child respectively."

Other groups already have had their petition forms approved by the Board of State Canvassers. Those include Health Care for Michigan, which supports a ballot proposal that would require the state Legislature to pass laws to ensure that every Michigan citizen has affordable and comprehensive health care coverage.

The canvassers also already have approved petition forms for the Part-Time Legislature Committee, which wants to cut legislators' salaries in half to $40,000, deduct $400 for each day of work missed and require the Legislature to start working in March and finish by July 1.

One group, the Coalition for Compassionate Care, already has submitted an estimated 496,000 signatures to state elections officials to put a proposal on the ballot allowing Michigan to follow the lead of a dozen other states and legalize marijuana for medical purposes.

———

On the Net:

Michigan Secretary of State: http://www.michigan.gov/sos/