Senate Bill 1276, Restrict setting aside state land for “biological diversity”: Passed 26 to 11 in the Senate To prohibit the Department of Natural Resources from designating an area of land specifically for the purpose of achieving “biological diversity.”
Senate Bill 1238, Revise state land acquisition procedures: Passed 26 to 11 in the Senate To revise the procedures and criteria for the acquisition by the state of property paid for with Natural Resources Trust Fund money. Among other things, the bill would impose term limits on members of the NRTC board, require more transparency in its property selection process, and ban sales if the seller was harassed, intimidated, or coerced by the Department of Natural Resources, a local government, or a "qualified" conservation organization.
Senate Bill 1051, Ban school board voting with conflict of interest: Passed 31 to 6 in the Senate To prohibit school board members from voting on union and other contracts if a family member has an interest in a contract or works for the school district, including a spouse, child, parent, sibling, nephew or niece, etc. A board member having a child in a district school would not trigger this restriction.
Senate Bill 1051, Young amendment to Senate Bill 1051: Failed 17 to 20 in the Senate To extend the school board conflict of interest restrictions proposed by Senate Bill 1051 (above) to include emergency financial managers appointed by the state to manage fiscally failed school districts.
Senate Bill 1132, Revise adult adoption detail: Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate To allow an individual married person to adopt an adult without the spouse also petitioning for this, or if there is an objection, then with a court's permission. This might be done for purposes of inheritance. The bill makes an exception to the current requirement that both spouses must petition for this.
Senate Bill 1335, Increase threshold to impose new government workplace safety rules: Passed 25 to 12 in the Senate To require the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to not just assert that there is a “clear and convincing need” to impose on employers a new occupational health and safety regulation that exceeds federal standards, but to actually provide a statement of the specific facts used to support the assertion, and show the rule was requested by a broad consensus of employers and employees in an affected industry.
House Bill 5804, Establish statewide indigent criminal defense standards: Passed 71 to 36 in the House To create a state commission to establish statewide standards and accountability measures for court-appointed attorneys who represent indigent criminal defendants, and a new government office to implement and enforce these statewide. Local governments would be responsible for funding this at current levels (“maintenance of effort”), with the state paying for any additional spending required by new standards, unless the local spending is below minimum levels to be determined by the proposed commission.
And then there's this one because I don't want anyone to forget this SOB.
2012 Senate Bill 1363: Allow higher residential utility rates to subsidize Hemlock Semiconductor
Introduced by Sen. Roger Kahn (R) on November 8, 2012, to allow the indefinite continuation of the special electricity rates granted by Consumers Energy to the Hemlock Semiconductor subsidiary of Dow Corning, which under a 2010 law were exempted from a ban on cross-subsidization between residential and commercial/industrial customers (meaning residential customers pay more so that Hemlock can pay less). Hemlock was one of the recipients of extensive state subsidies extensive state subsidies granted by the previous two legislatures to electric car battery, photovoltaic solar cell, and other “renewable” energy companies. Referred to the Senate Energy and Technology Committee on November 8, 2012.
