November 17, 2005

LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today signed legislation to rename the state’s Treasury Building the Richard H. Austin State Office Building.  Austin was the longest serving Secretary of State in Michigan.
 
 Granholm praised Austin, saying “Dick was a statesman who always stood tall, a statesman of steadfast principal and upstanding character.  So today, we are giving the name of a great statesman to a great state building.”
 
Austin was elected Secretary of State in 1970 and served through 1994.  During his 24 years in office, he fought for one of the nation’s first mandatory safety belt laws and was an advocate for mandatory motorcycle helmet laws.  He was also responsible for streamlining the process to register vehicles and renew driver’s licenses.  Perhaps his biggest contribution was making Michigan the first state to allow a citizen to register to vote at the same time they registered their vehicle or renewed their driver’s license.  Michigan’s law served as a model for the nation and led to the enactment of the National Voter Registration Act.

Granholm was joined by legislators and family members of the former Secretary of State in the Rotunda of the State Capitol for the signing of Senate Bill 365.  The bill was sponsored by Sen. Bill Hardiman.