To authorize a $500 non-refundable state income tax credit for each dependent age 18 and below in 2022 through 2025.
To prohibit the state health and welfare department from spending any money to develop, implement, or enforce any proposal or process to impose vaccine "passport" requirements. This was an amendment to a budget bill, along with a ban on imposing facemask mandates on anyone under age 18.
To prohibit the state or a local health department from imposing a face mask mandate on children younger than age 5.
To restrict a state “administrative board” increasing or decreasing an item of appropriation without permission from legislative appropriation committees if the amount is more than 3% or $125,000 and won’t change the appropriation by more than $200,000. The bill comes after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used this device to repurpose some $600 million appropriated in the 2019-2020 fiscal year budget.
To create a transportation bond repayment sinking fund, to hold money to be used only to repay road debt incurred by the Whitmer, Granholm and Engler administrations. No new road debt could be incurred without depositing an equal amount in the sinking fund up to $234 million annually, over several years if necessary. The House Fiscal Agency reports the state currently owes $1.159 billion to bond holders, which currently uses $143 million of road tax revenue. A House-passed supplemental spending bill (House Bill 4420) would appropriate $626 million for the sinking fund.
To impose a new mandate on both new and used auto dealers that they must be open for 30 hours per week during at least 48 weeks a year. This would likely have no effect on new car dealers, whose generally larger operations and costs make them likely to keep long hours already, but the additional burden could force some used car dealers to go out of business.
To establish that emergency “lockdown” orders issued by the state health department do not prohibit or otherwise limit holding a high school graduation commencement ceremony held during the 2020-2021 school year at a public or nonpublic school to honor the graduating class of 2020 or 2021.
To revise a state licensure mandate imposed on barbers that requires 1,800 hours of instruction at a “licensed barber college” before an individual can earn a living at this trade. The bill would allow an individual to substitute “apprenticeship” hours for the barber college mandate, if this met a lengthy list of requirements specified in the bill.
To prohibit the state from entering “severance pay,” “nondisclosure” or “confidentiality” agreements with current or prospective government officials and appointees, subject a fine of up to $2,500. Specifically, such agreements would be unlawful if the payment exceeded 12 weeks of the individual's regular pay, or prohibited him or her from revealing factual information about an alleged violation of law. This would not apply to unionized state employees whose terms of employment are already specified by a union contract. The bill comes after it was revealed the former head of the state health department who resigned during the coronavirus epidemic was the beneficiary of such a deal.
To eliminate the statewide May and August election dates. Partisan primary votes that are currently held in August would instead take place in June. School elections that are currently held on the discontinued May date would mostly happen in June instead.
To establish that an executive order, proclamation, or directive issued under the law that authorizes the governor to declare an emergency may not lengthen the required government agency response times or otherwise limit the scope of a public body's duties under the state Freedom of Information Act.
To establish that if the governor signs a memorandum of understanding with another party, defined as an informal agreement that does not impose contractual duties or obligations on this state, after that governor leaves its terms only apply until it is rejected by a subsequent governor. Also, to require that these agreements be signed by the governor and filed in the state office of the great seal, similar to the practice for new laws.
To prohibit the sale of smoke alarms powered by a replaceable and removable battery starting on April 1, 2022, and instead mandate that all smoke alarms must be powered by a nonremovable and nonreplaceable battery that lasts at least 10 years, or by another power source utilizing new technology. This would not apply to alarms powered by a building electrical system and some other exceptions.
To waive liquor license renewal fees for the 2021 renewal period, and extend a temporary increase in the usual 17% discount from the "uniform prices" on the hard liquors purchased from the state by liquor stores, bars and restaurants. Under Michigan's "Liquor Control" law, the state is the sole "wholesaler" of hard liquor, which it manages through three entities contracted to do the work (until the 1990s the state actually operated liquor warehouses). An earlier epidemic response law set the discount at 23% through July 1, 2021, which the bill would extend to December 31, 2023. Opponents mainly expressed concerns about the extended state license fee revenue loss.
To give a $5,000 state income tax exemption to an individual, and $10,000 on joint returns, if an individual or couple deposits those amounts in a specialty savings account the bill would authorize for individuals who have not bought or owned a Michigan home in the past three years (dubbed by the bill a "first time home buyer"). Up to $50,000 in such deposits could be exempted from state income tax over time. A version of this proposal was vetoed by Gov. Rick Snyder in 2018.
A House version of the Senate-passed tax break bill described above.
To mandate that by January 1, 2028, at least 90% of single-family dwellings in municipalities with more than 5,000 residents have access to curbside recycling that meets detailed criteria specified in the bill. The bill also rewrites many definitions and requirements related to landfills, solid waste and recycling mandates. It is part of a legislative package comprised of House Bills 4453 to 4461 that would expand regulation, fees and fines in the areas of solid waste and recycling.
To establish that portable fuel containers that are completely made in Michigan and sold here only are not subject to federal regulations, notwithstanding the U.S. constitution’s interstate commerce clause.
To require managers of the state-run school pension system to use a “layered amortization" method for repaying the debt accumulated by failing to contribute enough to meet the system's pension promises. Officials to amortize (pay back) each “layer” of underfunding accumulated in a given period over a specified time. The bill would also permit and require managers to assume 6.8% annual growth in assets when calculating annual state pension fund contributions.
To permit school districts to install cameras on school buses for the purpose of prosecuting motorists who illegally pass a stopped school bus.
To grant the House Standing Committee on Oversight the power to issue subpoenas and get documents on employee separations and severance agreements entered into by the executive branch of state government. This relates to $155,000 paid to the former state Health of Human Services Department director Robert Gordon to not discuss his departure in the midst of the fall 2020 epidemic caseload surge.
To repeal a ban on the sale, possession or use of "stun devices" by adults, defined as a “device that is capable of creating an electro-muscular disruption…capable of temporarily incapacitating or immobilizing an individual by the direction or emission of conducted energy." This does not include a launchable device, which means Tasers would still be prohibited.
To prohibit the state health department from imposing restrictions on members of a family or household observing another member in a sporting event, dining out together at a single table, or otherwise gathering together. Also, to prohibit orders that bar an individual from traveling to another property he or she owns, or ban high school graduation ceremonies, or ban an individual from buying a product in a store.
To place in state law specific disease incidence thresholds and limits for restricting gatherings and occupancy limits in restaurants and other “event venues” during an coronavirus epidemic. The bill would prescribe specific occupancy restrictions based on current local disease incidence levels.
To exempt “broadband equipment” owned by certain internet developers claiming to serve "underserved areas" from personal property taxes levied on business tools and equipment. The bill is connected to Senate Bill 46, and the Senate Fiscal Agency is unable to quantify the amount of foregone revenue the tax subsidies they promise would cost the state, in part because the bills would permit developers to claim them in areas where broadband internet may already be available.
To exempt “broadband equipment” owned by certain internet developers claiming to serve "underserved areas" from personal property taxes levied on business tools and equipment, along with House Bill 4210. See the Senate vote on that bill above.
To authorize a two-year vehicle registration (license plate tab) renewal.
To authorize an enhanced penalty of 20 years in prison and a $5,000 fine for taking a law enforcement or corrections officer's gun by force, which would be added to penalties imposed for the underlying crimes.
To impose a new coverage mandate that would require insurance companies to include coverage for orally administered chemotherapy in all health insurance policies that provide for cancer chemotherapy treatments, without requiring any dollar limit, deductible or co-pay for these that does not apply to other treatments. Also, to ban charging a copay of more than $150 per month on these drugs.
To establish that medical service professionals in another state may provide “telehealth” services to Michigan patients without needing to also get a Michigan license.
To add employee salary and benefit information to information each state department is required to post on a state website. This would include individual employee position titles, (unionized) civil service status, salary and general benefits information, but no names, emails or other identifying information (which may still be obtained through a specific Freedom of Information Act request).
To repeal the exemption in the state Freedom of Information Act for records held by the governor and lieutenant governor’s offices and staff, subject to a broad range of exceptions. These exceptions include records related to gubernatorial appointments; sanctions on judges; pardons, reprieves and commutations; executive budget preparations; deficit-related spending cuts; the annual state-of-the-state address; records subject to executive privilege; communications with constituents; and information related to security, employee personal information and more.
To extend the Freedom of Information Act to legislators, whose offices are currently exempt, subject to a broad range of exceptions and exemptions. This is part of a package comprised of House Bills 4383 to 4392.
To denounce the decision by Attorney General Dana Nessel to not investigate the governor's nursing home policy early in the coronavirus epidemic, along with the data that was reported on deaths in nursing homes, and to encourage county prosecutors to pursue independent investigations.
To exempt “broadband equipment” used by certain internet providers specified in the bill from personal property taxes levied on business tools and equipment.
To allow local governments to permit on-premises liquor sales in bars and restaurants between the hours of 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. If a municipality did allow this, a bar or restaurant would still need to apply to the state Liquor Control Commission for a special license and pay $250 each year.
To establish that a physician is not liable for civil damages that result if he or she refuses to provide a written verification that an individual is unable to wear a seat belt in a car or wear a helmet where that is required for ORVs, snowmobiles, etc. These laws each permit medical exceptions.
To authorize the Senate Majority Leader to commence legal action on behalf of the Senate, challenging any action by the governor to spend money that has not been authorized in appropriation bills passed by the House and Senate. This relates to vetoes of provisions in House Bills 4047 and 4048 that would prohibit spending part of the state’s federal stimulus and coronavirus relief money unless two provision of two other bills are also signed into law (Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 4049). Those bills would transfer the authority of the state health department to close schools in an emergency to county health departments, and require legislative consent after 28 days to a governor's authority to maintain a state of emergency and issue executive orders. Under this resolution, Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey would be authorized to sue the governor if the administration spends money without the legislative authorization required by the Michigan Constitution of 1963.
To override Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's line-item veto of $150 million in state aid for businesses afflicted by coronavirus epidemic lockdowns, and another $150 million for deposit in the state's unemployment insurance account to "offset expected exposure to state fraud and improper payments" during the epidemic.
To restrict emergency orders the state health department (the Department of Health and Human Service) may impose in response to an epidemic to 28 days unless an extension is approved by the Legislature. A state Public Health Code adopted by the Legislature in 1978 gives the department the authority to issue such orders. The bill would also require officials to disclose in such orders how any restrictions on gatherings protects public health, and all the information used in deciding to issue the emergency order.
To appropriate $150 million in state dollars for deposit into the state unemployment insurance benefit fund to offset exposure to fraud and improper payments during the coronavirus epidemic. The bill also appropriates $405 million state tax dollars for tax and fee relief to businesses afflicted by coronavirus lockdowns. These appropriations had been in another bill but were line-item vetoed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
To revise the procedure specified in state election law to remove certain registered voters listed in the qualified voter file who haven't voted since 2000 or who have unknown dates of birth in the voter rolls, and do not respond to a mailing.
To establish that the director of the Department of Health and Human Services does not have the authority to issue epidemic-related emergency orders that close schools for in-person instruction or prohibit school sporting events. The legislature gave this authority to the state health department director in the Public Health Code enacted in 1978; the bill would amend that law by instead giving this authority to local health departments.
To establish that the emergency executive orders issued by the governor or the state health department do not relieve county clerks of their duty to process concealed pistol carry permits, or the State Police of their duty to provide fingerprinting services for this.
To revise a law that punishes a school district that hires an instructor, counselor or administrator who has not complied with the licensure mandates imposed by law on these professions. Currently, the amount paid to the individual is deducted from state school aid. The bill would deduct 50 percent for 10 days after a district is notified, and then revert to the usual 100% deduction. The same law makes it a felony subject to a $1,500 fine for a school official who fails to comply. The Senate Fiscal Agency reports that just under $1.0 million in penalties was assessed on districts in the 2019-20 school year.
To appropriate $1.946 billion in additional school spending in the 2021-22 fiscal year, of which $1.876 billion is federal money and $170 million comes from state tax collections. However, $840 million of the federal money may only be spent if House Bill 4049 becomes law, which transfers the power to close schools during an epidemic from the state health department to local health departments.
The House vote on the school spending bill described above.
To appropriate $2.309 billion in state and federal epidemic relief dollars, with $1.677 federal money and $632 million coming from state taxpayers. Of this, $600 million would go for food stamps, $150 million for unemployment benefits, $150 million to temporary raises for front-line social welfare direct care workers, $110 million for vaccines, $547 million for more coronavirus testing and lab grants, $282 million in rental housing subsidies of which $62 million is for administration, $300 million state dollars for property tax relief and much more. Of the testing and lab grant dollars, $347.3 million can only be spent if a bill passes limiting state health department emergency orders to 28 days without legislative approval (see Senate Bill 1).
The House vote on the supplemental spending bill described above.
To prohibit officials including the governor from using an official “Integrated Public Alert Warning System” to transmit an announcement of a new law or change in government policy, and instead limit its use to emergencies involving immediate or nearly immediate loss of life or property. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used this system during a 2020 state of emergency she had ordered to make announcements that did not meet this standard. The system is described as a “secure network connecting all of the public alert and warning systems in the United States into a single system.”
To appropriate $672.7 million federal dollars and $55 million collected from state taxpayers for various coronavirus response activities including $390.1 million more for vaccine distribution and virus tests, $282.5 million more for rental subsidies, and $55 million state dollars to give a $2.25 hourly raise to certain social welfare direct care workers through September.
To appropriate an additional $1.246 billion for Michigan's public school system in the 2020-2021 fiscal year. Of this, $932 million is federal money and the rest comes from state taxpayers. A total of $807 million would be allocated to school districts based on the number of children from lower income households they enroll. Another $90 million would go to K-8 summer school programs and $45.0 million for high school credit recovery programs, with smaller amounts for other purposes.
To add to the dozens of violations specified in a state consumer protection act a new one that applies to a private third party who offers “online services that are performed by a state agency, department, or division” without “conspicuously” indicating that the operation is not a government entity, and without disclosing the prices and terms.
To place before voters in the next general election a constitutional amendment to require that bills passed in a “lame duck” legislative session held after the election in an even year must get a two-thirds House and Senate majority vote to become law. To be placed on the ballot, a House or Senate Joint Resolution proposing a constitutional amendment much get at least a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate. Approval by the governor is not required.
To exempt “broadband equipment” used by some internet providers from personal property taxes levied on business tools and equipment. The beneficiaries would be firms claiming to "resolve a lack of broadband service," which is undefined in the bill. For this reason the Senate Fiscal Agency is unable to estimate how much revenue the state and local governments may forego if the bill becomes law.
To authorize Michigan’s participation in an interstate physical therapist licensure compact that would make it easier for a therapist seeking licensure in more than one state to demonstrate licensure status in his or her home state. The bill would establish that a therapist licensed in a member state that has complied with the compact’s detailed provisions would be granted a “compact privilege” to practice in other compact member states, subject to those other states' laws.
To appropriate $868.5 million in recently-approved federal coronavirus relief money, which is about 25% of the entire amount available to the state, with the rest to be allocated later. The appropriation directs $510 million federal dollars to expand food stamp distributions and related programs; $165.5 million for household rent and utility subsidies; $143.7 million for coronavirus testing and contact tracing; and smaller amounts for other purposes.
To revise school spending in the 2021-22 fiscal year to accommodate a $1.8 billion increase in federal coronavirus relief. The bill would allocate $1.490 billion to school districts, which they can spend on any of 15 specific activities listed in the federal relief bill. Among other items this bill also authorizes $86.7 million for non-public schools, $21 million for extra grants to summer school teachers, and more. The bill also appropriates $363 million state dollars to pay for extra “incentives” to get teachers back in public school classrooms. The bill is "tie-barred" to House Bill 4049, which transfers the power to close schools during an epidemic from the state health department to local health departments; this means the school spending bill can't become law unless that bill also becomes law.
To establish that the director of the Department of Health and Human Services does not have the authority to issue epidemic-related emergency orders that close schools for in-person instruction or prohibit school sporting events. The legislature gave this authority to the state health department director in the Public Health Code enacted in 1978; the bill would amend that law by instead giving this authority to local health departments.
To appropriate $393.5 million state dollars to give property tax and other relief to “afflicted businesses” impacted by state coronavirus lockdowns including restaurants and bars, “exercise facilities, “recreation facilities or places of public amusement,” and “entertainment venues." Also, to appropriate $150 million to the state unemployment insurance system “for offsetting expected exposure to state fraud and improper payments" during the epidemic.
To restrict emergency orders issued by state Department of Health and Human Services in response to an epidemic to 28 days unless an extension is approved by the legislature.
To revise the state’s public sexual offender registry law in response to a court ruling that banned enforcing new registrations, restrictions and requirements on individual registrants if these were not in force when the individual was required to register. The bill also adds some new restrictions and requirements.
To impose the same state regulations that apply to a “public swimming pool" to private "learn to swim facilities,” defined as a swimming pool used primarily for a member-based swim instruction business.
To authorize Michigan’s participation in an interstate nurses licensure compact that would allow registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical/vocational nurses (LPNs/VNs) to get a multi-state license that is good in all states that join the compact.
To eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for many violations of the state’s environmental protection laws. This is part of a legislative criminal law reform package that makes similar changes in other laws.
To repeal provisions that authorize the state to revoke, suspend or deny an individual’s drivers license for violations of a large number of laws, many unrelated to driving or vehicles. This is part of a bipartisan legislative package that makes similar changes in other laws.
To include county road commissions in a 2018 law that caps the amount the state and local governments can charge for zoning, permits and other fees imposed on these "5G" networks. The bill would limit the power of county road commissions to regulate and tax this industry.
To establish rules for a city that contracts with a private developer (a “public-private partnership”) to build and operate a toll bridge for as long as 75 years. This is said to be focused on Bay City.
To exempt large industrial solar energy arrays covering many acres from the state “personal property tax,” and instead levy a tax on an installation equal to $3,500 per megawatt of the solar panels’ nominal “nameplate capacity,” with the revenue allocated to different taxing units using the same formula as regular property taxes. The Senate Fiscal Agency estimates the bill would likely reduce local collections by a modest amount, but that state school tax receipts potentially could be reduced.
To grant the House Standing Committee on Oversight the authority to issue subpoenas, administer oaths and examine books and records of persons, agencies or institutions related to the 2020 primary and general elections. The committee issued subpoenas to the Livonia and Detroit clerks on the same day the resolution was adopted.
To exempt large industrial solar energy arrays covering many acres from the state “personal property tax,” and instead levy a tax on an installation equal to $3,500 per megawatt of the solar panels’ nominal “nameplate capacity,” with the revenue allocated to different taxing units using the same formula as regular property taxes. Estimates suggest this would reduce net local tax collections slightly but have a greater impact on taxes levied for schools.
To create a new government “propane commission” comprised of specified officials and political appointees, with the power to impose a 1/10 of one cent per gallon "marketing assessment" on retail propane sellers if a majority of firms in the business vote for this. The mission of this new government entity would be to provide rebates for consumers to buy more efficient appliances.
To grant certain developers approved by state or local officials business income tax credits that are worth up to 25 percent of the amount spent to restore a structure that meets various criteria for being considered “historic.” Developers could "carry forward" any unused credit amount for up to 10 years. The bill would explicitly authorize foregoing up to $5 million in state revenue each year in order to deliver these subsidies to some developers.
To require the amount by which proceeds from the foreclosure sale of an individual’s tax-delinquent home exceeds the unpaid tax bill to be returned to the homeowner. Under current law owners with a small tax debt can lose everything in foreclosure.
To expand a law that lets police issue an “appearance ticket” and release an offender for certain low level offenses (as with traffic tickets). Under the bill police would not be permitted to detain and book a suspect for a misdemeanor or ordinance violation, not including domestic violence, with specified exceptions.
To establish rules for a city that contracts with a private developer (a “public-private partnership”) to build and operate a toll bridge for as long as 75 years.
To require financial institutions to adopt various procedures, protocols, staff training, reports and more intended to reveal and prevent financial exploitation of individuals. The bill also prescribes the responses that law enforcement or other relevant agencies must adopt for responding to reports of financial exploitation. Among other things bank and financial institutions would have the authority to delay the disbursement of funds or freeze accounts in some cases.
To make current military personnel, veterans, and their dependents with a medical services occupational license issued by another state eligible for license reciprocity in Michigan.
To revise the state’s public sexual offender registry law in response to a court ruling that banned enforcing new registrations, restrictions and requirements on individual registrants if these were added after the individual was required to register. The bill would repeal provisions prohibiting a registrant from living, working or loitering in a “student safety zone,” which had been invalidated by a federal court. It would also expand or revise many of the items registrants must report including phone numbers, email addresses, vehicle registrations, temporary housing changes and more.
To allow a licensed “group child care home” that is currently permitted to take care of up to 12 minor children, and a licensed family child care home permitted to take care of up to six children, to accept an additional two children for several hours of care before and after school. A facility would have to get state permission first. As introduced, the bill would have allowed an additional five children in before- and after-school care. The bill was supported by licensees but opposed by regulators in the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and by the state's main social welfare advocacy group.
Introduced by Sen. Aric Nesbitt (R), to oppose a rule proposed by the state's Marijuana Regulatory Agency that would impose a mandate on prospective marijuana business licensees to sign a "labor peace agreement" with a union. The resolution describes this mandate as forcing applicants to "accept the terms of labor unions without negotiation," and asserts it would "set a dangerous precedent for similar requirements for anyone seeking a license or permit issued by the state."
The House adopted the resolution in a voice vote on Jan. 23, 2020.
A confirmation vote, to disapprove the appointment by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of former Grand Rapids mayor George Heartwell as chairman of Michigan Natural Resources Commission. This was a substantive vote that actually did derail the nomination. This commission has "exclusive authority to regulate the taking of game and sportfish" and designating which species may or may not be hunted. Heartwell’s nomination is opposed by the National Rifle Association because of his role as a “state membership coordinator” of antigun groups organized by former New York City mayor and current Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg.
Introduced by Sen. Jim Runestad (R), to resolve that the Michigan Senate denounces the governor’s policy placing COVID-19 positive residents with uninfected residents in nursing homes.
Introduced by Rep. Ryan Berman (R), a House version of the coronavirus nursing home resolution.
Introduced by Rep. Lee Chatfield (R), to urge Republican Rep. Larry Inman of Grand Traverse County to resign from the House. Inman was under federal indictment for allegedly "selling" his vote against labor law changes before the House to union interests in return for campaign contributions. Among other things the resolution holds that Inman has "drawn ridicule and disgrace to the state and the House of Representatives..."
To express the support of the House for "the timely issuing of permits for the construction of the Great Lakes Tunnel Project," meaning the Line-5 gas pipeline tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac.
Introduced by Ryan Berman (R), to discourage local units of government from defunding or abolishing their local police departments.
Introduced by Rep. Steven Johnson (R), to discourage Congress from expanding the size of the Supreme Court of the United States.
To establish in law that, “a health care provider or facility that provides health care services in support of this state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic is not liable for an injury (or) death sustained by reason of those services, regardless of how, under what circumstances, or by what cause those injuries are sustained, unless it is established that the provision of the services constituted willful misconduct, gross negligence, intentional and willful criminal misconduct, or intentional infliction of harm by the health care provider or health care facility.” This liability exemption would apply only after March 9, 2020 and before July 15, 2020.
To authorize coronavirus epidemic-related remote application procedures in a law that restricts the hours and types of jobs that a minor may work, and that mandates minors get a “work permit” signed by school officials for many types of job.
To establish that businesses and other facilities are not liable for an individual catching COVID-19 on their premises unless the owner or operator acted deliberately in a manner that causes harm. The exemption would apply as long as the facility was operated in compliance with federal, state and local statutes or regulations or executive orders. "Isolated, de minimis deviations" would not be grounds for a lawsuit. The provisions would also apply to any person in the distribution chain of personal protective equipment, medical devices, drugs and more used to treat or prevent the spread of COVID-19.
To authorize employee lawsuits against an employer who takes an “adverse employment action” or “retaliates” against an employee who is absent from work during the declared coronavirus epidemic emergency because the individual is "self-isolating or self-quarantining” in response to an elevated risk or diagnosis, and require employees who test positive for the disease or have symptoms to self-quarantine and not go to work, as specified in the bill.
To give medical care providers immunity from lawsuits seeking damages for their actions and treatments during the first months of the coronavirus epidemic. The bill states:
“A health care provider or health care facility that provides health care services in support of this state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic is not liable for an injury, including death, sustained by an individual by reason of those services, regardless of how, under what circumstances, or by what cause those injuries are sustained, unless it is established that the provision of the services constituted willful misconduct, gross negligence, intentional and willful criminal misconduct, or intentional infliction of harm by the health care provider or health care facility.”
This would apply retroactively for the period after March 29, 2020 and before July 14, 2020.
To prohibit officials including the governor from using an official “Integrated Public Alert Warning System” to transmit an announcement of a new law or change in government policy. The bill would limit its use to emergencies involving immediate or nearly immediate loss of life or property. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used this system during her ongoing state of emergency to make announcements that did not meet this standard. The system is described as a “secure network connecting all of the public alert and warning systems in the United States into a single system.”
To prohibit a local government from enacting or enforcing an ordinance or rule that regulates dogs on the basis of their breed.
To suspend through the end of 2020 various limits, restrictions and requirements related to collecting state unemployment insurance benefits for layoffs related to the epidemic. Among other things benefits would be payable for up to 26 weeks instead of 20 weeks; benefit payments would not be assessed against an employer’s unemployment insurance account; workers would not have to seek another job while collecting benefits; “work-sharing” plans would be allowed; eligibility restrictions would be eased and more. The bill also clarifies that individuals who are independent contractors were eligible for benefits as of March 15, 2020. The bill is "tie-barred" to other bills extending epidemic-related liability protections to employers and other institutions, meaning it cannot become law unless they also become law.
To prohibit admitting an individual who has tested positive for coronavirus to a nursing home unless it can provide a designated area for coronavirus patients, with staff retraining to provide the appropriate level of care necessary, and with various exceptions. The bill would also order an evaluation of the COVID-19 "hospital overflow" facilities the state contracted for early in the epidemic, which were hardly used.
To permit and establish rules for a public body to hold meetings electronically, with members and votes considered to have met the usual requirements, and a requirement that members of the public be allowed to participate by phone or electronically. The bill would also require public bodies to accommodate the participation of a member who is absent due to a medical condition or a statewide or locally declared state of emergency.
To permit state grants of up to $5 million each to local broadband developers that meet specified criteria. The entities looking to enter this market and applying for a grant would have to demonstrate a genuine demand exists that is not being served by private vendors, and that they are capable of executing the venture without the cost-overruns and revenue shortfalls. The week before this vote the legislature approved a state budget that authorizes $14.3 million state taxpayer dollars for these subsidies in the 2020-21 fiscal year.
To authorize the Michigan gaming control board “to enter into agreements with other jurisdictions, including Indian tribes, to facilitate, administer, and regulate multijurisdictional internet gaming for poker by internet gaming operators,” meaning Michigan’s Indian and Detroit casinos
To restrict the vendors from which retail establishments that sell tobacco products, vapor products, or alternative nicotine products may acquire products, essentially mandating they be bought only from licensed entities that pay state tobacco taxes. The change is projected to bring in an additional $9 million annually in tax revenue.
To prohibit hospital emergency rooms or other emergency medical care providers from charging a person whose health insurance provider does not have a negotiated deal with the provider more than the median amount negotiated by the patient’s insurer for various medical specialties, or more than 150% of the Medicare fee for service fee, with various exceptions.
To permit clerks in larger communities (above 25,000) to begin opening and processing absentee ballots the day before an election, under rules prescribed by the bill.
To allow a person to petition to have a past marijuana offense that would be legal under current law expunged from his or her record, and require courts to grant it. This is part of bill package now on its way to the governor that expands and eases the criteria for getting less serious crimes removed from an individual's record.
To approve a state government budget for the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1, 2020 (the education budget is in Senate Bill 927). This bill authorizes $42.109 billion in total (non-education) spending, of which $21.336 billion comes from state taxpayers, and $20.773 from federal taxpayers (and lenders).
Altogether, the two "omnibus" spending bills authorize $61.565 billion in total spending for the coming fiscal year. This is an increase from $57.784 billion in fiscal year 2018-19, before the coronavirus epidemic.
The House vote on the bill described above.
To approve a state education budget for the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1, 2020. This authorizes spending a total of $17.651 billion, of which $15.718 billion comes from state taxpayers, and $1.933 from the federal government. Public schools would get $15.525 billion, state universities $1.700 billion, and community colleges $426 million.
The House vote on the bill described above.
To repeal a state law that bans ticket “scalping” at sports and entertainment events, and prohibit the sale or use of software primarily designed to interfere with an event sponsor's internet ticket sale operation, or with a website that is designed to ensure an equitable ticket allocation process.
To authorize employee lawsuits against an employer who takes an “adverse employment action” or “retaliates” against a worker who is absent during the declared coronavirus epidemic emergency because the individual is "self-isolating or self-quarantining” in response to an elevated risk or diagnosis. Also, to require employees who test positive for the disease or have symptoms to self-quarantine and not go to work, as specified in the bill.
To establish that a business, facility owner and others are not liable for a claim that arises from exposure of an individual to COVID-19 on the premises unless it was a deliberate act intended to cause harm, and as long as the facility was operated in compliance with federal and state laws, regulations, executive orders, etc. This would also apply to any person in the distribution chain of personal protective equipment, medical devices, drugs and more used to treat or prevent the spread of COVID-19.
To allow election clerks in larger communities (above 25,000) to begin opening and processing absentee ballots the day before an election under rules prescribed by the bill.
To require the Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget to develop processes and procedures for tracking state information technology vendor contracts that exceed $250,000. This includes identifying cost overruns and change orders, accounting for projects that exceed one fiscal year, communicating processes and defined roles to involved parties, tracking spending, keeping the legislature informed and more. There have a number of major state information technology contract debacles over the past 30 years. The Senate also passed House Bill 5495, to require the state auditor general to validate state departments' compliance in these matters.
To establish regulations allowing semi-autonomous “personal delivery devices” to make deliveries on roads and sidewalks. The bill defines these as devices for transporting cargo on sidewalks or on the side or shoulder of a roadway “with the remote support and supervision of a human.” The bill would require that a human operator monitor the device and be able to promptly take control. It establishes that these are not “vehicles” subject to licensure, prescribes required safety equipment and specific “rules-of-the-road” (and sidewalks), addresses user liability issues and more. Local government regulation would be preempted, but local authorities could choose to ban the devices, with some exceptions.
To repeal a provision of the law establishing high school graduation requirements that requires school districts to report to the state each year the number of students who did not complete a language requirement but instead took career and technical courses or “visual or performing arts” courses that are allowed as an alternative. The bill also makes permanent a temporary provision allowing students to avoid part of the language requirement by taking a career and technical education program.
To require state health care regulators to create rules that would permit a veterinarian to “consult” with an animal owner on the use of marijuana or CBD oil on an animal.
To further limit the use of criminal records to determine whether an individual is eligible to get an occupational license mandated by the state, which is required to earn a living in many professions. Specifically, with some exceptions, a licensing board or agency could not consider past civil judgments or lawsuits against an individual as evidence of a “lack of good moral character,” and also could not consider a criminal conviction, in and of itself, as conclusive evidence of this. This would not apply if the individual was convicted of a felony that is explicitly listed in statute as a disqualifying offense for the particular license, or the offense was directly related to the licensed profession.
To appropriate $2.87 billion federal dollars to cover the additional $300 per week boost to unemployment benefits authorized in August by a federal "Lost Wages Assistance Program." These benefits are retroactive to August 1 (when the earlier $600 weekly federal boost expired), and end Sept. 30. The bill also includes $59.3 million federal dollars to cover extra state unemployment bureau expenses generated by the massive and sudden epidemic-related job losses, $9 million in state matching funds for flood cleanups, and $8 million pledged by state officials toward an invasive species barrier in Illinois.
To extend until October, 2022 a law that permits courts to impose any costs on guilty defendants that are reasonably related to the actual costs of operating the court, including building maintenance expenses, court employee benefit expenses and more, and do so without tying those expenses to the particular case.
To prohibit a person under age 16 from operating a carnival or amusement park ride, and ban state regulators from imposing any higher age mandate. The bill would also require all operators to be trained in operating and safety procedures.
To only require school districts to provide instruction “…online, digitally, by other remote means, in a synchronous or asynchronous format" in the 2020-21 school year, with some exceptions.
Along with House Bill 5912 this would waive the requirement that at least 75% of the students enrolled in a district must be present for the district to get state aid on any given day. Instead, schools would get state funding if they “ensure” that at least 75% of the students who are enrolled for non-classroom instruction get at least one “two-way interaction” per month with one of his or her teachers. Under the bill this could be an email, phone call, text message or an actual face-to-face conversation. In October and February, when normally students are counted for purposes of allocating per-pupil state funding, the number of required student interactions with a teacher would be four.
Also, to require school districts to administer a test during the first nine weeks of the 2020-21 school year to all K-8 students that assesses their progress on reading and math, and do so once again before the end of the school year.
The House vote on the bill described above.
To waive the requirement that schools provide 1,098 hours of instruction in the 2021-22 school year, and waive the requirement that at least 75% of the students enrolled must be present a on a school day for the district to get state aid for that day. Among other things the bill specifies administrative procedures to accommodate this.
School districts would only be required to “provide pupil instruction...online, digitally, by other remote means, in a synchronous or asynchronous format” that will “deliver the educational or course content that would have been delivered in 180 days and 1,098 hours.”
The House vote on the bill described above.
To override Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's veto of this bill, which would have prohibited state agencies from retaliating against employees for telling a legislator about problems at the agency. An override requires a two-thirds supermajority vote and so the bill will not become law.
To adopt a revised version of the state budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year. This substitutes $1.008 billion federal coronavirus relief dollars for $538.7 million of state tax receipts that had been projected but won't be realized do to the epidemic and business lockdowns. The bill also makes some modest budget cuts and adjustments that reflect fewer demands on certain state functions and services due to the epidemic.
The state's Medicaid and other social welfare programs receive a large boost under the bill, including more federal "match" dollars tied to spending state dollars on Medicaid, and an outright grant of $600 million additional dollars for food stamps.
The House vote on bill described above.
To use federal coronavirus epidemic relief money, and a $350 million withdrawal from the state "rainy day fund," to fill holes in 2019-2020 education budget, brought about by a decline in state revenue caused by the epidemic and business lockdowns. For the fiscal year that ends on Sept. 30, public schools will actually get $136 million more revenue than the previous year under this budget. Community colleges and state university will see no changes in their net current-year appropriation amounts under the bill.
The House vote on bill described above.
To prescribe requirements, standards, limitations and more on conducting public school classes electronically over the internet. Among many other things school districts would have to ensure that all students will have access, and that the specific needs of different students are met including special education students.
To revise and waive many of the rules on the required number of hours and days of public school instruction, including allowances for snow days, rules for conducting classes online, and the amount of state funding provided for both these exceptions to regular schooling, and to days on which fewer than 75 percent of a school’s students are in attendance. Public schools could continue to operate under distance learning plans during the coronavirus epidemic, but with added steps intended to assure students receive instruction and meet academic goals.
To require all school districts to test all K to 8 students within the first 30 days of the 2020-2021 school year to measure proficiency in reading and mathematics. The bill would also revise some rules on students allowed to get “remote instruction,” and create a committee to provide oversight to the state education department’s pupil accounting process.
To ban transferring patients in a medical care facility who test positive for COVID-19 to nursing homes, with exceptions for patients who have recovered from the disease or nursing homes with a designated coronavirus area meeting standards specified in the bill. Also, to require state regulators to create a “centralized intake facility” in each of the state’s eight “health care regions” to treat coronavirus patients who are “ineligible for admission at a hospital.”
To make it felony to turn in an absent voter ballot application using another person's name and personal information, and also create a new felony crime for submitting an absent voter ballot application with the intent to obtain multiple absent voter ballots.
To ban transferring a patient currently in a medical care facility, and who tests positive for COVID-19, to a nursing home, with exceptions for patients who have recovered from the disease or nursing homes with a designated coronavirus area meeting standards specified in the bill. Also, to require state regulators to create a “centralized intake facility” in each of the state’s eight “health care regions” to treat coronavirus patients who are “ineligible for admission at a hospital.”
To prohibit the sale of smoke alarms powered by a replaceable and removable battery starting on April 1, 2022, and instead mandate that all smoke alarms must be powered by a nonremovable and nonreplaceable battery that lasts at least 10 years, or by another power source utilizing new technology. This would not apply to alarms powered by a building electrical system and some other exceptions.
To prohibit hospital emergency rooms or other emergency medical care providers from charging a person whose health insurance provider does not have a negotiated deal with the provider more than the average amount negotiated by the patient’s insurer, or more than 150% of the Medicare fee for service fee, with various exceptions.
To place before voters in the next general election a constitutional amendment to add “electronic data and communications” to the Article I provision that recognizes the right of the people to be secure from unreasonable government searches and seizures of their “person, houses, papers, and possessions." The constitution states that no warrant to search or seize any person, place or things may be issued without describing them, or without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation. With this vote the constitutional amendment heads to placement on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.
To express the support of the House for "the timely issuing of permits for the construction of the Great Lakes Tunnel Project," meaning the Line-5 gas pipeline tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac. The final vote was bipartisan with 23 Democrats joining all but one Republican in support.
To discourage local units of government from defunding or abolishing their local police departments.
To resolve that the Michigan Senate denounces the Governor’s policy placing COVID-19 positive residents with uninfected residents in nursing homes.
To resolve that the Michigan House opposes the Governor’s policy placing COVID-19 positive residents with uninfected residents in nursing homes.
To appropriate $6 million for Midland county flood relief.
To allocate $880.1 million in federal coronavirus epidemic relief grants. Highlights include $125 million more for licensed child care providers in social welfare and school programs; $120 million to cover a $2 raise for certain direct care social welfare workers; $25 million in low income water bill subsidies and $60 million in rent subsidies; $29.1 million to beef-up the staff and tools used to process unemployment benefit claims; and $100 million for subsidies for some small businesses. The Senate also voted unanimously to concur with the House changes and send the bill to the governor.
To place before voters in the next general election a constitutional amendment to add “electronic data and communications” to the Article I provision that recognizes the right of the people to be secure from unreasonable government searches and seizures of their “person, houses, papers, and possessions." The constitution states that no warrant to search or seize any person, place or things may be issued without describing them, or without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation.
To allow “on-premises licensees” (restaurants with liquor licenses and bars that serve food) to sell drinks to go, for pickup or delivery; and allow establishments that were already permitted to sell drinks on a patio or outside area to expand this service in 2020 only without permission. The bill would also give these establishments a 30 percent discount off the usual price they pay for "spiritous liquor," which under Michigan's extensive liquor control regulatory regime is all wholesaled by the state at fixed prices.
To authorize county absent voter counting boards that cities, townships and counties may form together, and delegate the absentee ballot counting process to these boards. This would not be allowed to be used for the first time in a county during the November 2020 general election.
To permit Medicaid and other social welfare medical assistance programs to reimburse providers for some telemedicine services if the recipient is in an “in-home or in-school setting” at the time the service being furnished, or other sites allowed by the rules or the service provider. Other bills in this package make the same or similar changes for private health insurance.
To authorize sentences of life in prison for delivering, manufacturing, or possessing with intent to deliver more than 1,000 grams of heroin or fentanyl, and penalties starting at 20 years and up for amounts starting at 50 grams. Maximum penalties for less than 50 grams would be lowered from 20 years to 10 years; and penalties on offenses related to other narcotics or cocaine would be slightly reduced. Other bills passed by the House would allow probation and plea bargaining in some narcotics prosecutions where these are now prohibited.
To require prospective Michigan law enforcement officers to receive instruction in de-escalation techniques, “procedural justice," and “mental health resources and support available for law enforcement officers,” plus “implicit bias training." A Michigan Commission On Law Enforcement Standards would have to establish minimum standards in rules due by Sept. 2021. Current law enforcement officers would have to take the training retroactively. Going forward, officers would have to take 12 hours of annual continuing education classes in 2022, and at least 24 hours each year starting in 2023.
To extend to residential properties the taxing power of local “principal shopping district” and “business improvement district” authorities. These entities levy property taxes labeled special assessments on local businesses, and spend the money on projects intended to "promote economic activity" that benefits the owners. Under the bill these authorities could impose the taxes on home and residential property owners who are not currently subject to them. A similar bill was vetoed by Gov. Rick Snyder in 2017 due to concerns about extending these levies to homeowners.
To prohibit state regulators from requiring unattended self-service gas stations to install measures to prevent public access, including locked dispensers, security fencing or other means. The bill would also subject these gas stations to state approval under rules specified in the bill.
To allow payday lenders to make “small loans” of up $2,500, subject to restrictions specified in the bill. These would be 90-day to one-year loans that are not secured by a future paycheck.
To prohibit colleges, the NCAA, or other intercollegiate athletic organizing bodies from prohibiting a student from participating in sports if the student has received compensation for the use of the his or her name, image, likeness rights, or athletic reputation, or if the student hires an agent.
To authorize statewide roadside drug testing. This expands a five-county pilot program authorized by a 2016 law.
To extend until October of 2022 a law that permits courts to impose any costs on guilty defendants that are reasonably related to the actual costs of operating the court, including building maintenance expenses, court employee benefit expenses and more, and do so without tying those expenses to the particular case. The controversial 2014 law that authorized these impositions has already been extended once, and the introduced version of this bill would have added another three years, not two years.
To allocate Michigan's $523.7 million share of federal relief dollars approved by Congress to help state governments and schools deal with the coronavirus epidemic. The allocations include $125 million for subsidies to licensed child care providers who give discounts this spring; $15 million for school district summer school programs (distributed based on the epidemic’s “impact in the communities” serve they serve); $100 million to pay for giving $1,000 bonuses to local law enforcement and public safety personnel, emergency first responders, 9-1-1 operators and others; $178 million to give a temporary $3 per hour bonus to “direct care workers” covered by Medicaid and other social welfare programs; $50 million in grants to buy personal protection equipment to “priority providers” designated by the state health and welfare department, and more.
To revise the definition of “telemedicine” in the state insurance code, by replacing a requirement that a patient be able to interact in real time with the off-site health care professional at the time the services are provided, with a requirement that the health care professional "must be able to examine the patient via a...secure interactive audio or video telecommunications system, or through the use of store and forward online messaging." House Bills 5413 to 5416 amend other laws to make similar changes in Medicaid and related social welfare programs, and also remove current restrictions that prohibit getting telemedicine services at home.
To extend through the end of the coronavirus state of emergency a medical malpractice liability exemption granted to health care professionals and facilities by the 1976 state “Emergency Management Act.” The law the bill would amend now limits the governor's exercise of extraordinary emergency powers - and the liability exemptions the bill would extend - to 28 days unless the legislature approves an extension, which it has declined to do.
This means that Gov. Whitmer's epidemic related executive orders now rest their authority primarily on a 1945 “Emergency Powers of Governor Act,” which does not place limits on how long a governor may retain such powers, and also does not grant liability protections to doctors and hospitals during an epidemic.
To limit the proposed medical care provider liability waiver extensions in Senate Bill 899 to "the assessment or care of an individual with a confirmed case or a suspected case of COVID-19."
To not extend the proposed liability waivers to a hospital or medical care provider that acted "with an intent to harm or discriminate based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity."
To amend a 1976 “Emergency Management Act,” one of two state laws that grant extraordinary emergency powers to a governor. This law limits these powers to 28 days unless extended by the legislature, which on the same day as this vote the legislature declined to do. This make makes Gov. Whitmer’s exercise of emergency powers more reliant on a 1945 “Emergency Powers of Governor” law, which does not limit how long a governor may retain these powers and does not require legislative approval.
The bill does two things. It essentially “writes into” this law (“incorporates by reference”) the current coronavirus epidemic executive orders that have been imposed under its authority, but with different termination dates for many than in the governor’s order. In general, orders that are more restrictive of business reopening get earlier end-dates, and ones easing state regulations (including those on medical care providers and facilities) are extended for a longer time. Bars and restaurants could reopen with social distancing protocols on May 16 under the bill.
Second, it adds to this law “social distancing” protocols for businesses and public accommodations that are somewhat more general and flexible than those in the current orders.
On the day the bill passed an angry breakdown occurred in lockdown-easing negotiations between Michigan's Republican Senate Majority Leader. This bill will not be signed by the governor and will not go into law, but may be significant as a political statement from the majority party in a co-equal branch of government, the legislature.
The House vote on the coronavirus epidemic response bill described above.
To revise the penalties in the laws that authorize a governor to assume extraordinary powers during an emergency, including the statewide “lockdowns” ordered under the 2020 coronavirus epidemic. The current law makes violations “a misdemeanor,” and the bill would add a “civil infraction” provision and specify fines of either $100 for individuals, and up to $500 for businesses or other entities. House Bill 5710 makes the same change in the other state of emergency law.
Senate Resolution 111: Urge governor to allow elective procedures in hospitals: Adopted on a voice vote
To adopt a non-binding resolution that would "urge the Governor to allow elective procedures in hospitals and to allow healthcare providers the freedom to determine their capacity to handle elective procedures."
House Resolution 250: Authorize lawsuit over epidemic emergency orders: Adopted on a voice vote
To authorize the Speaker of the House to commence legal action on behalf of the House of Representatives, challenging the authority and actions of the Governor, and the executive branch generally, taken during the coronavirus epidemic.
The House vote on the epidemic response funding bill described above.
To revise a 2016 law that ordered a roadside drug testing pilot program in five counties by extending it to the entire state.
To increase to $5 billion the current $3.4 billion cap on the amount of debt backed by the Michigan State Housing Developing Authority, which subsidizes housing developer borrowing.
To allow "retired" state prison employees to collect a pension while also getting paid to do corrections work as an independent contractor, or employed by one. Versions of this law are often passed when government agency employees who are permitted to begin collecting full pensions at a comparatively early age take advantage of this rather than continuing to work until a more typical retirement age.
To authorize a college and trade school grant program for individuals age 25 and above, with grants in the amount needed to cover tuition and fees for career-oriented classes at a community college that is above the amount covered by other scholarships and government aid. It would also authorize one-time grants of $1,500 for completing a private apprenticeship program. This is the “Michigan Reconnect” program proposed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in her 2019 State of the State address, and is projected to cost $46.3 million.
The House version of this proposal, whose provisions will likely be divided among two or more bills.
To permit townships to impose a 1 mill property tax for six years for mosquito abatement if voters approve, which would let these governments use existing tax revenue to pay for other spending instead.
To make it a crime to falsely represent to a housing provider that a person has a disability or is in possession of an emotional support animal prescribed by a licensed medical service professional, and permit a housing provider to require reliable documentation to confirm this. The bill would also establish procedures, standards and required credentials (including state licensure) for a medical professional prescribing an “emotional support animal.” Falsely claiming this status, or falsely prescribing for it, would be subject to fines, jail or community service.
To allow a landlord to evict a tenant who falsely claimed that a member of household has a disability or is in possession of an emotional support animal prescribed by a (legitimate) medical service professional.
To require the state unemployment insurance benefits agency (the Michigan Employment Security Commission) to specify what an individual would have to do to be considered "actively engaged in seeking work" for the purpose of remaining eligible while receiving these benefits.
To authorize a college grant program for individuals age 25 and above, with grants in the amount needed to cover tuition and fees for career-oriented classes at a community college that is above the amount covered by other scholarships and government aid. It would also authorize one-time grants of $1,500 for completing a private apprenticeship program.
This is the “Michigan Reconnect” program proposed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in her 2019 State of the State address, and is projected to cost $46.3 million.
The House vote on a bill that contains the same provisions as Senate Bill 268 (above), Gov. Whitmer's “Michigan Reconnect” program.
To let landlords in eviction and delinquent rent collection actions claim unpaid monthly late fees of up to $50, or 10 percent of the rent amount.
To permit the use of pneumatic air bows to hunt game during any open season in which a firearm may be used, and permit disabled hunters to use air bows during bow season. These devices are like crossbows but use compressed air to drive an arrow.
To authorize the use by stores, bars and restaurants of a “secure identity verification device” to determine whether a person is old enough to buy alcohol. The methods could include the following, as described by the Senate Fiscal Agency: An electronic biometric scan referenced against certain photo identification cards; a photo identification previously verified by an electronic authentication process; a commercially available knowledge-based electronic authentication process; and an authenticated picture identification “securely linked to biometrics contemporaneously collected from the individual.”
To preempt local government ordinances or rules on the transportation, possession, carrying, sale, purchase, manufacturing, etc. of a knife or knife-making components. A similar preemption restricts local gun regulations.
To prohibit a state transportation commission from borrowing more than $100 million in any fiscal year without first giving the legislature at least 30 days' notice. The bill would empower the legislature to halt the borrowing with a majority vote in the House and Senate. If this bill were passed and signed by the Governor (unlikely), it would likely lead to suspension of $3.5 billion in road repair debt that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered the commission to approve, which it did on Jan. 30, 2020.
Related, the Senate also passed on a voice-vote a non-binding resolution declaring that it would not vote to appropriate money to pay the increased debt service on that new road borrowing. The resolution has no effect, but a future vote to deny appropriations to repay already-borrowed money could potentially trigger a state government showdown and fiscal crisis.
To prohibit local governments from using any public resources for firearm purchase (“buyback”) programs. Governments could only buy guns from licensed dealers for law enforcement purposes.
To disapprove the appointment by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of former Grand Rapids mayor George Heartwell as chairman of Michigan Natural Resources Commission. This follows the (reportedly related) Feb. 13 denial of Anna Mitterling's appointment to this commission, which has "exclusive authority to regulate the taking of game and sportfish" and designating which species may or may not be hunted. Heartwell’s nomination is opposed by the National Rifle Association because of his role as a “state membership coordinator” of antigun groups organized by former New York City mayor and current Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg.
To revise the powers of a state Certificate of Need (CON) commission that are related to “capital expenditures” for a new hospital or clinic, or expansion of an existing one. This commission has the power to approve or deny facility expansions, as well as any changes in the location, purpose or number of beds allowed in an existing facility, or plans to offer more clinical services. The Senate Fiscal Agency reports that the proposed change would have little practical effect because these regulated capital expenditures “are used to finance expansions of facilities and those expansions themselves require a certificate of need” from the commission.
This and similar laws in other states were enacted under a federal mandate in the 1970s with the intention of lowering health care spending by reducing investment in the field; 15 states have repealed the laws but 35 states, including Michigan, still have them.
To exempt psychiatric hospitals or units from the rationing restrictions imposed under a state Certificate of Need law that requires medical service providers to get permission from a panel of existing providers before adding new or expanded facilities. In return for the exemption, private psychiatric hospitals and units would have to maintain half their beds for "public patients," defined as ones receiving social welfare benefits, or subject to a treatment order signed by a clinical psychiatrist, or deemed by a court to be a threat to themselves or others.
To designate Dr. T. K. Lawless Park in Cass County as a “dark sky preserve.” The term is not defined in this or a related statute but in general it means restricting outdoor lighting to a minimum.
To prohibit using information obtained in response to an open records request seeking Department of Natural Resources records related to resource-related restoration, management or research projects, for the purpose of locating game to hunt. This and House Bill 4735 would authorize a process by which an individual seeking such records could sign a form attesting that he or she will not use the information to take game or help others do so, subject to misdemeanor penalties for violations
To authorize Michigan’s participation in an interstate nurses licensure compact that would allow registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical/vocational nurses (LPNs/VNs) to get a multi-state license that is good in all states that join the compact.
To exempt from property taxes certain nonprofit operations that do product research and development for business and industry and also get certain state "economic development" subsidies and grants.
To revise details of rules for beer festivals, among other things stipulating that they can last more than one day without requiring a separate special license, permitting "micro brewers" to serve their own products at an event, repealing a requirement for regulators to determine whether an event is "appropriate," and more. This is one of a 16-bill package revising many provisions of Michigan’s extraordinarily detailed and extensive “liquor control” regulatory regime, which essentially writes into state law detailed rules governing the members of this cartel that would ordinarily be promulgated by an administrative agency.
To revise the information that must be included in a 2016 law that required each state department to post its organizational staffing chart on a state website. As introduced, the bill required the name of each agency staffer to be listed with the title of their position, and the individuals salary and benefits. The version that passed the House deleted the requirement that the names to be posted.
To disapprove the appointment by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Anna Mitterling to the Michigan Natural Resources Commission. Reportedly the real target of this action by the Senate Republican majority is Whitmer’s nomination of current NRC member and former Grand Rapids mayor George Heartwell as chair of the commission, which has "exclusive authority to regulate the taking of game and sportfish," and designating which species may or may not be hunted. Heartwell’s nomination is opposed by the National Rifle Association because of his role as a “state membership coordinator of antigun groups" organized by former New York City mayor and current Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg.
To exempt from state Court of Claims procedural restrictions and deadlines the claims that are made by former prisoners under a 2016 law that authorizes state payments to a person wrongfully imprisoned for a crime he or she did not commit. Reportedly these obstacles have prevented a number of former prisoners from getting the compensation the law entitles them to receive.
To expand the authority and allowable options for a local government in reducing or forgiving delinquent property taxes on a property subject to foreclosure. The bill would authorize eight different options for reducing the amount of delinquent taxes that must be paid by lower income homeowners under certain circumstances.
To revise and update many details, definitions and procedures in the comprehensive regulatory regime that governs commercial fishing in Michigan. Among other things this and related bills would impose new restrictions on catches and require commercial fisherman who anchor nets in place to disclose their GPS coordinates to state authorities. The bills would also increase license fees and penalties for rule violations, impose new fish catch reporting requirements, and more.
To repeal a state law that bans ticket “scalping” at sports and entertainment events, but prohibit the sale or use of software primarily designed to interfere with an event sponsor's internet ticket sale operation, or a website that is designed to ensure an equitable ticket allocation process. Among other things the bill adds restrictions that target operations that buy-up a substantial portion of the tickets for an event with the intent of manipulating the price.
To require the state Department of Transportation to contract for a study on the feasibility of charging tolls on some interstate freeways in Michigan, including revenue projections, optimal tolling rates, vehicle counts, traffic diversion and more. Also, to assert as "the intent of the legislature" that the state apply to the federal government for permission to convert some interstate freeways to toll roads.
To revise restrictions on Great Lakes waterfront property owners when water levels are high, so as to allow temporary erosion control structures without having to undergo the process of trying to get a state permit, subject to notification requirements and using approved materials. The material would have to be removed or a permit acquired within 78 weeks.
To impose a warning label requirement on producers and sellers of recreational marijuana that is focused on women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Products would be required to have a label warning pregnant women that use may result in “fetal injury, preterm birth, low birth weight, or developmental problems for the child.” Retailers would have to give every buyer a pamphlet measuring 3.5 inches by 5 inches that includes safety information related to marijuana use by minors, and a poison control hotline number. House Bill 4127 was also passed to require the same for medical marijuana.
To oppose a proposed rule from the state's Marijuana Regulatory Agency that would impose a mandate on prospective marijuana business licensees to sign a "labor peace agreement" with a union. The resolution text describes this mandate as forcing applicants to "accept the terms of labor unions without negotiation," and asserts it would "set a dangerous precedent for similar requirements for anyone seeking a license or permit issued by the state."
To establish that the effect of tax revenue that is foregone (not collected) due to tax breaks granted to a “data center” must be limited to non-school budgets only. Specifically, the bill would require that foregone tax revenue that would have gone to the state school aid fund but was lost because of sales tax breaks granted to “data centers” be “reimbursed” by transferring a similar amount of revenue to the school aid fund from other taxes. This refers to benefits granted to a Nevada company that occupied the former Steelcase Pyramid building in Grand Rapids, and to other “data center” businesses under the political deal that authorized these privileges.
To repeal a ban on the sale, possession or use of stun guns by adults, defined as a “device that is capable of creating an electro-muscular disruption…capable of temporarily incapacitating or immobilizing an individual by the direction or emission of conducted energy." The stun gun definition excludes launchable devices, which excludes "tasers" from the bill; current law requires a person to have concealed pistol license to carry a taser.
To establish a comprehensive regulatory and licensure regime that allows the Detroit and Michigan Indian casinos to enter the internet gambling business. Operators would have to pay $100,000 to get a license with a $50,000 application fee and a $50,000 annual renewal fee, and would be subject to a complex state and local tax regime with rates ranging from 4% to 23% on internet gambling revenue.
To allow and establish a comprehensive licensure and regulatory regime for sports betting through Michigan Indian casinos and Detroit casinos, subject to an 8.4% state tax on receipts.
To establish a permissive licensure and regulatory regime on fantasy sports games and contests that offer money prizes, with games subject to specified restrictions and requirements, under rules the Michigan Gaming Control Board would promulgate. The bill establishes an initial license fee of $10,000 for would-be vendors with $5,000 annual renewal fees. The Detroit and Indian casinos could participate without this license.
To mandate that prescriptions be electronically transmitted to a pharmacy of the customer's choice, with various exceptions, and revise other rules related to prescription drugs.
To exempt a particular “data center” business that is also benefiting from state “renaissance zone” benefits and tax breaks from additional local and school personal property taxes levied on business tools and equipment. The bill would exempt the equipment owned by the company that occupied the former Steelcase “Pyramid” building in Grand Rapids from local debt millages, local special assessment levies, and some school property tax levies ("revenue enhancement" millages and "sinking fund" taxes).
To establish a regulatory regime for collecting state sales and use tax on purchases by residents from internet and catalog merchants in other states. This follows the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court opinion in South Dakota v. Wayfair that allows states to levy sales and use tax on out of state sellers who have more than $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions annually in a state, and creates a collection system that meet standards suggested by the court's ruling. House Bills 4540 and 4541 authorize and create rules for smaller retailers selling into the state through third party “marketplace facilitators," which is the model used by Amazon.com.
To require police to get a warrant to access information in an electronic device including cell phones, or to access electronic communication information from an internet service provider, with a number of exceptions and exclusions, including one for stolen device reports. The bill would also prohibit the warrantless use by police of “cell-site simulators” that mimic a cellular base station and can intercept cell phone data from individuals.
To make it unlawful for law enforcement officials to obtain, access, or use any face recognition technology or any information obtained from the use of face recognition technology to enforce the law, with some exceptions. Evidence gathered with this technology could not be admitted in court. Exceptions include using the technology if an emergency poses "imminent risk to an individual or individuals of death, serious physical injury, sexual abuse, live-streamed sexual exploitation, kidnapping, or human trafficking" that the technology may prevent or stop.
To authorize $459.3 million in additional spending in the 2019-20 state budget, of which $177.0 million is federal money. This spending was part of the $947 million that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used her line-item veto authority to remove from budgets passed by the Republican-controlled legislature. See also Senate Bill 377, which adds another $114.5 million in additional education spending, for a total of $573.8 million.
The added spending in the two bills is spread across many budget line items, and includes $340 million more for Medicaid and other social welfare programs and $35 million in operations funding for charter schools. The House passed the same provisions in Senate Bills 152 and 154.
The House vote on the state spending compromise described above. The different bills passed by the House and Senate contain the same provisions, and will be reconciled next week.
To explicitly permit deer and elk baiting for hunting. This would be limited to 5 gallons of bait at each hunting site, with no piece of bait larger than a sugar beet. The bill is a response to a baiting ban imposed by a state Natural Resources Commission in 2018. Versions of the bill have passed both the state House and Senate, but news reports indicate Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is unlikely to sign it.
To convert a registration mandate now imposed on acupuncturists into a comprehensive licensure regime, including training and apprenticeship requirements, license fees, regulations specified in the bill plus additional ones that state licensure officials would be authorized to impose, and more.
To allow liquor makers to get a higher wholesale price if 40 percent of the grain they use is grown in Michigan. Under Michigan's extraordinarily detailed "liquor control" regulatory regime, the state government is the sole statewide wholesaler of all distilled liquor, and sells to retailers at uniform statewide prices. Fiscal analysts project the bill would reduce state revenue by $9.4 million.
To authorize automatic expungement of up to two felony and four misdemeanor convictions from an individual's public criminal history records. This would apply when 10 years have passed from the date of sentencing or discharge for a felony, and seven years after a misdemeanor, but would not apply for an assaultive crime, a "crime of dishonesty," or some others deemed “serious.”
To allow a person to petition to have a past marijuana criminal offense that would be legal under current law expunged from his or her record, and require courts to grant it.
To allow some traffic offenses to be expunged or “set aside” from a person’s criminal record, but not drunk driving or offenses that caused a serious injury or death. The traffic violation records held by the Secretary of State for drivers license "points" and related purposes would not be affected.
To permit several felony and misdemeanor convictions to be expunged from a person's criminal record where they were part of a single incident. This would not apply to assaultive crimes, dangerous weapon crimes and crimes punishable by 10 or more years in prison.
To explicitly permit deer and elk baiting for hunting, and feeding deer and elk during hunting season. Baiting would be limited to 5 gallons of bait at each bait site. Separately, the bill would also establish that feeding wild birds or other wildlife is permissible if done in a way that excludes wild, free-ranging white-tailed deer and elk from gaining access to the feed. The bill is a response to a baiting ban imposed by a state Natural Resources Commission in 2018.
To exclude from property tax assessments the value of solar panels, wind turbines and other “alternative energy systems” in a residence, and which produce less than 150 kilowatts of electricity for a household whose use does not exceed this level.
To establish a permissive licensure and regulatory regime on fantasy sports games and contests that offer money prizes. The bill establishes an initial license fee of up to $50,000 for would-be vendors with $20,000 annual renewal fees. Individuals who run small scale fantasy sport games from their home would be exempt from licensure, and information obtained from a licensee’s records would be exempt from disclosure under the state's Freedom Of Information Act.
To establish a comprehensive regulatory and licensure regime that allows the Detroit and Michigan Indian casinos to enter the internet gambling business. Operators would have to pay $300,000 to get a license with a $100,000 annual fee, and an 8 percent tax would be levied on the gross internet gambling revenue.
To allow and establish a comprehensive licensure and regulatory regime for sports betting through Indian casinos and Detroit casinos, with an 8% tax on the gross receipts of the latter. Detroit casinos could also provide online sports betting.
To overhaul existing rules on the livestock and farm animal industry, and expand the authority of state officials to establish new requirements and regulations, including ones to control the spread of animal diseases and infections. The bill also extends a 2020 deadline for imposing laying hen cage size requirements until the start of 2026.
To establish a regulatory regime for collecting state sales and use tax on purchases by residents from internet and catalog merchants in other states. This follows the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court opinion in South Dakota v. Wayfair that allows states to levy sales and use tax on out of state sellers who have more than $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions annually in a state, and creates a collection system that meet standards suggested by the court's ruling. House Bills 4540 and 4541 authorize and create rules for smaller retailers selling into the state through third party “marketplace facilitators," which is the model used by Amazon.com.
To reimburse counties for the cost of providing juvenile justice services to minors age 17 and under who are charged with a crime. This has been the contentious "who pays?" piece of a multi-bill initiative to no longer automatically treat minors who commit certain crimes as adults, and prohibit housing them in the same facilities with adult prisoners. Under the bill, counties would get 100 percent reimbursement from the state until October 2025, when the issue would be reviewed using cost data the legislation requires be assembled. With this weeks votes a broader "raise the age" reform effort now goes to Gov. Whitmer for approval.
To modify scope of practice and licensing requirements for licensed professional counselors, which prescribes the extent and limits of the medical interventions a licensee may perform. The bill is a response to rules proposed by state regulators to remove the ability of licensed "counselors" to diagnose and offer psychotherapy.
To revise a law that prescribes how long records of an individual's traffic offenses must be kept. Current law requires records for most violations to be kept for seven years, and certain serious violations for the rest of the violator’s life. The bill would change the minimum retention period to four years for violations that carry no drivers license “points,” and also for some violations that come with two- or three-points.
To give the state Liquor Control Commission the power to seize beer, wine, mixed spirit and mixed wine drinks, in order to inspect for compliance with the state's extraordinarily detailed and complex "liquor control" regulatory and license regime. The bill would also repeal a one-year residency requirement imposed on applicants for a liquor wholesaler license, after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated a similar Tennessee law as a violation of the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause.
To prohibit licensed liquor manufacturers from requiring licensed wholesalers to give the manufacturer records related to the distribution of different brands, employee compensation or business operations that are not directly related to the distribution of the maker’s brands. The bill would also add other restrictions on liquor manufacturer business practices to the state's "liquor control" regulatory and license regime.
To exclude from property tax assessments the value of solar panels, wind turbines and other “alternative energy systems” as defined in the bill that are installed, replaced or repaired in a residence, and which produce less than 150 kilowatts of electricity for a household whose use does not exceed this level. Senate Bill 48 extends the same tax break to commercial entities, capped at systems valued at $80,000 or less.
To appropriate $5.386 billion in gross spending on roads, buses and other transportation programs in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, compared to $4.843 billion enrolled the previous year. Of this, $1.252 billion is federal money. The legislature did not enact a 45 cent per gallon gas tax increase proposed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (which was never introduced as legislation), but did include $468 million in state income tax revenue earmarked to roads by two previous legislatures. The legislature's budget also directs $400 million in additional state revenue generated by a growing economy to road repairs.
The House vote on the transportation budget described above.
The Legislature's Higher Education budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year which begins Tuesday. This would appropriate $1.685 billion for state universities, compared to $1.669 billion enrolled the previous year. Part of each school's funding would be contingent on not increasing tuition and fees more than 4.4% or $587, whichever is greater.
The House vote on the Higher Education budget described above.
To adopt a state Department of Health and Human Services budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. This budget funds the state's social welfare programs and would appropriate $26.452 billion in gross spending, of which $18.393 billion is federal money; this budget is up from $24.880 billion enrolled the previous year. This is the largest state department budget, accounting for nearly 45 percent of all state spending.
The House vote on the Welfare and Medicaid budget described above.
To authorize additional property tax exemptions to a particular “data center” business that is also benefiting from state “renaissance zone” subsidies and tax breaks. The bill appears to seek benefits for the Nevada company that occupied the former Steelcase “Pyramid” building in Grand Rapids.
The conference report for K-12 school aid budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct 1, 2019. The bill appropriates $15.235 billion compared to $14.765 billion approved the previous year, of which $1.749 billion is federal money. The bill increases state "foundation allowance" payments to schools by $120 per pupil for higher-spending school districts, and $240 per pupil for districts that get less funding; the minimum amount per student rises from $7,871 to $8,111. All Democrats and one Republican voted "no" on this budget.
The House vote on the K-12 budget described above. All Republicans were joined by 33 Democrats in voting "yes" on this budget.
To change the rules on annual state taxpayer subsidies granted to the former Federal Mogul company in the 2000s, so that the company that bought the firm in 2018 (Tenneco) can collect additional subsidies said to be around $12 million, on top of some $60 million already given to the owners of this facility over the years. As introduced, this bill would have prohibited modifications to these deals that extend taxpayer liability, as this bill now does.
To increase the cap on the cash value of residential rental property eligible for property tax breaks under a “neighborhood enterprise zone” subsidy program for developers. The cap would rise from $80,000 per unit in cash value to $120,000 per unit, and this would be indexed to inflation going forward.
To convert a registration mandate now imposed on acupuncturists into a more comprehensive licensure regime, including training and apprenticeship requirements, license fees, regulations specified in the bill plus additional ones that state licensure officials would be authorized to impose, and more.
To designate a portion of US-24 in Wayne County as the "Julie Plawecki Memorial Highway."
To increase the license fees on a range of occupations in which licensure mandates are imposed as a condition of earning a living in the trade. Technically, this and a number of related bills repeal the sunsets of previously enacted fee increases that were styled as "temporary." In this case, the "temporary" higher fees will remain in effect through the 2023 fiscal year.
To extend until 2023 the sunset on a law that authorizes a surcharge of up to $1 per month on residential electric bills, and uses the money collected to give up to $50 million a year to social welfare program beneficiaries to pay their heating bills. The current levy imposed on electric service ratepayers for this is 91 cents per month.
To urge Republican Rep. Larry Inman of Grand Traverse County to resign from the House. Inman is under federal indictment for allegedly "selling" his vote against labor law changes to union interests in return for campaign contributions. Among other things the resolution holds that Inman has "drawn ridicule and disgrace to the state and the House of Representatives..."
The House vote on the farm loan bill described above.
To revise a law that allows certain retired school employees to work in schools that need more staff in particular subjects while still collecting pension checks alongside their current pay. According to the House Fiscal Agency this would benefit some former staff brought back as instructors in a particular non-profit's reading program used by around 150 western Michigan schools, and like other "double dipping" exceptions in the law could potentially increase unfunded liabilities in the school pension system.
To mandate that children entering kindergarten or first grade for the first time bring a form signed by a dentist or dental hygienist certifying that the child's teeth were examined and assessed within the past six months. Also, to require the state welfare department to create a dental oral assessment program for children who did not get the exam before registering for school enrollment.
To exclude from property tax assessments the value of solar panels, wind turbines and other “alternative energy systems” that are installed, replaced or repaired in a residence, and which produce less than 150 kilowatts of electricity for a household whose use does not exceed this level. Senate Bill 48 extends the same tax break to commercial entities, capped at systems valued at $80,000 or less.
The House version of the fiscal year 2019-2020 Department of Transportation budget. This would appropriate $5.40 billion in gross spending, of which $1.34 billion is federal money. The budget does not "recognize" any revenue from a $2.5 billion, 45 cents per gallon gas tax increase proposed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, but does include a $542.5 million "fund shift" from a Republican proposal to no longer impose sales tax on fuel, replacing that levy with an equivalent increase in motor fuel (gas) taxes. Note: Most sales tax revenue goes to schools; the proposal assumes these school dollars will be replaced by extending sales tax to out-of-state catalog and internet sales after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a ban on this last year.
To revise details of the no fault auto insurance reform bill signed into law in May (Senate Bill 1), in particular timing issues related to the implementation of the new law’s changes to minimum insurance coverage, and the customer discounts that those changes are intended to allow. This corrects provisions in Senate Bill 1 that would have required insurers to give customer discounts before the cost saving reforms required by the bill go into effect.
The House vote on the auto insurance reform "cleanup" bill described above.
To no longer mandate that auto insurance policies include unlimited personal injury protection (PIP) coverage. Customers could still choose unlimited PIP coverage, or choose policies with PIP limits of $250,000, $500,000, and for individuals covered by Medicaid, $50,000. Seniors on Medicare and individuals covered by other health insurance with less than a $6,000 deductible could choose not to purchase any PIP coverage at all.
The bill would mandate that insurers reduce charges for the PIP component of a customer’s policy by a proportional amount.
Medical service providers and hospitals could not charge more for medical care given to crash victims than twice the amount prescribed for federal Medicare reimbursements (subject to some adjustments). Limits would also be applied to long term care costs.
Trial lawyers would be prohibited from suing insurance companies for reimbursement claims that have not been authorized or are not late, or if the attorney improperly solicited a case (“ambulance chasing”).
Insurers could not set rates on the basis of home ownership, educational level attained, occupation or credit score (but could use “credit information”). Zip codes would also be barred as a rate-setting factor, but insurers may still group ratings by 'territory.'
The House vote on the auto insurance reform bill described above.
To repeal the authority of the Michigan Public Service Commission to impose rules on businesses and organizations with multiline telephone systems, and instead spell out the relevant rules in state statute (law). The bill was introduced in response to rules that have been promulgated under a 2016 law that critics say far exceed the scope envisioned by its authors.
To repeal criminal sanctions for carrying a concealed pistol after an individual's concealed pistol license has expired (currently up to five years in prison and a $2,500 fine), with a civil fine of $330 for carrying a pistol after failing to renew a license that is less than one year past its expiration. Bill supporters contend that the current penalty is excessive for that they call a "paperwork" crime.
To revise a law that prohibits local zoning codes from excluding a child foster care facility with six or fewer residents from being located in a residential neighborhood. The bill changes this to prohibit zoning ordinances that ban foster care homes with up to 10 residents if they are located on 20 acres or more.
To include “dismemberment abortion,” otherwise known as "dilation and evacuation" or D&E, in the acts specified in the state’s ban against late-term “partial birth” abortions. Unless it is to save the life of the mother, providers who perform the procedure would be liable to two years in prison and a $50,000 fine; a woman who seeks or obtains an abortion would have no criminal or civil liability.
To ban selling or giving minors electronic "vapor products" ("vapes") or any device that delivers nicotine. The bill would also authorize imposing 16 hours of community service and a “health promotion and risk reduction assessment program” on a minor who possesses or tries to buy a nicotine vapor product, along with a $50 fine. The community service penalty would double and triple for second and subsequent offenses, but the fine would still be $50. A person who sells tobacco or vapes to a minor would be subject to fines of $100 to $2,500 for a third offense.
The House version of the proposal to include “dismemberment abortion” in the acts prohibited by the state’s ban on late-term “partial birth” abortions. This is a separate bill but its provisions are the same as Senate Bill 229, described above.
To no longer mandate that auto insurance policies include unlimited personal injury protection (PIP) coverage. A customer could theoretically keep the unlimited PIP (if it remains available), or choose policies with $250,000 PIP limits. Individuals with other health insurance (including Medicare and Medicaid) could choose not to purchase any PIP coverage at all.
The Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association (MCCA) that covers the cost of unlimited PIP claims above specified amounts would be phased out by limiting its liabilities to claims covered by pre-existing policies but not new ones sold after the bill goes into effect. This would reportedly reduce MCCA surcharges on individual insurance bills by $180, based on a $220 rate that goes into effect in July 2019.
Medical service providers and hospitals could not charge more for medical care given to crash victims than the amounts prescribed by the state’s injured workers compensation insurance law. Limits would also be applied to long term care costs including weekly “attendant care” hours provided by relatives.
The bill would also make trial lawyers liable for insurance company costs incurred defending against lawsuits based on claims for excessive or medically unnecessary crash victim treatments, or if the attorney improperly solicited a case (“ambulance chasing”). It would create a State Police automobile insurance fraud task force tasked with pursuing and prosecuting fraud cases.
A Democratic amendment was adopted that would restrict insurers from setting rates on the basis of two specific “non-driving factors,” gender and the zip code where the car is garaged.
The House version of an auto insurance reform bill. This is similar to the Senate-passed reform bill described above, with these differences:
The House would not eliminate unlimited personal injury protection (PIP) coverage, but would permit insurance policies with PIP limits of $50,000, $250,000 and $500,000. Like the Senate version, individuals with other health insurance (including Medicare and Medicaid) could choose not to purchase any PIP coverage at all. The House bill attaches specific rate reduction mandates to these choices depending on the coverage selected.
The House would allow more restrictions on insurers setting rates on the basis of “non-driving factors.” State regulators would be required to ban factors with “no rational correlation between the factor and insurance losses.”
Under current law, Michigan insurance companies must file rate structure changes with the state but can start using them right away ("file and use"). The House bill would require auto insurers to wait 90 days after filing before using new rates.
Other provisions including hospital price controls and limits on trial lawyers are very similar to the Senate-passed reform bill described above.
To concur with the Senate version of the bill allowing schools to not have to make up school days missed due to the 2019 "polar vortex" cold snap, but without the House-passed provision requiring school districts to also pay hourly employees for missed school days.
To establish that property seized from a person because it may be associated with a suspected drug-related crime is not subject to “civil asset forfeiture” unless the individual is actually convicted or accepts a plea bargain. See also House Bill 4001 above. Forfeiture is a legal process by which a government agency (usually police or prosecutors) acquires permanent ownership of property seized by police.
To appropriate $10 million to make good on the promise made by a 2016 law that authorized payment of $50,000 for each year of wrongful imprisonment served by a person who did not commit the crime. The bill would require the Attorney General to file reports with the legislature on the status of claims, settlements and awards under this law. Reportedly the fund created to provide this compensation currently has just $1.1 million, and the estimated amount of claims is $22 million.
To delay for one year a requirement that annual year-end evaluation ratings of public school classroom teachers be 40 percent based on student growth and assessment data (state-administered tests), with the rest of the evaluation based on more subjective factors determined by local school administrators. Under current law this standard would go into effect for the 2018-2019 school year. The House also passed Senate Bill 202 to delay similar standards for administrators.
To raise the age of defendants from age 17 to age 18 in the factors considered when determining juvenile vs. adult court jurisdiction over a minor accused of certain crimes. This is part of a broader "raise the age" juvenile justice reform effort.
To establish that property seized from a person because it may be associated with a crime is not subject to “civil asset forfeiture” unless the individual is actually convicted or accepts a plea bargain, subject to various exceptions and conditions. This would not apply to police seizures of property worth $50,000 or more.
Note: With passage of this and House Bills 4001 and 4002 this week the House and Senate finalized this proposal and sent it to Gov. Whitmer for approval.
To establish that property seized from a person because it may be associated with a suspected drug-related crime is not subject to “civil asset forfeiture” unless the individual is actually convicted or accepts a plea bargain. This would not apply to police seizures of property worth $50,000 or more. Forfeiture is a legal process by which a government agency (usually police or prosecutors) acquires permanent ownership of property seized by police. House Bill 4002 prescribes specific procedures, notice requirements, deadlines and more.
To disapprove Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's Executive Order No. 2019-02, which reorganizes and renames the state Department of Environmental Quality (henceforth the "Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy"), creates several new bureaus within the department, and abolishes three other bureaus created by legislation enacted in 2018 and signed by former Gov. Rick Snyder.
The abolished entities are an environmental rules review committee tasked with assessing the reasonableness of new environmental regulations; an environmental permit appeal panel to review permit-related grievances from individuals and business; and an environmental science advisory board to advise the governor on environmental issues.
An executive order has the force of law unless it is disapproved within 60 days by a majority of those elected and serving in both the House and Senate. Both bodies have now done so, thereby halting the executive order.
To establish that property seized from a person because it may be associated with a suspected drug-related crime is not subject to “civil asset forfeiture” unless the individual is actually convicted or accepts a plea bargain. This would not apply to police seizures of property worth $50,000 or more. The bill also authorizes a process allowing individuals who have lower value property seized to just give it up, and revises procedural details for reimbursement claims by a person with an ownership interest in the seized property (for example the issuer of a vehicle loan).
To disapprove Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's Executive Order No. 2019-02, which reorganizes and renames the state Department of Environmental Quality (henceforth the "Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy"), creates several new bureaus within the department, and abolishes three other bureaus created by legislation enacted in 2018 and signed by former Gov. Rick Snyder.
The abolished entities are an environmental rules review committee tasked with assessing the reasonableness of new environmental regulations; an environmental permit appeal panel to review permit-related grievances from individuals and business; and an environmental science advisory board to advise the governor on environmental issues.
An executive order has the force of law unless it is disapproved within 60 days by a majority of those elected and serving in both the House and Senate, meaning if the Senate concurs with this vote the departmental reorganization will not take place. The Senate Oversight Committee has held one hearing on the measure and plans to hold more before deciding whether to advance it to the full Senate.
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Contact my lawmakers
Sen. Curtis Hertel, Jr., D-East Lansing, District 23. 517-373-1734. senchertel@senate.michigan.gov
Rep. Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing, District 68. (517) 373-0826. sarahanthony@house.mi.gov
SOURCE: MichiganVotes.org, a free, non-partisan website created by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, providing concise, non-partisan, plain-English descriptions of every bill and vote in the Michigan House and Senate. Please visit www.MichiganVotes.org.
Permission to reprint this legislative summary in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that www.MichiganVotes.org is properly cited.
