Weekly/biweekly Michigan legislative activism thread December 7, 2012

Senate Bill 66: Revise high school graduation standards
Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate on May 28, 2014, to revise procedural details related to the state’s high school graduation and curriculum standards. The bill would require timely responses from the Department of Education to school requests for information that helps them meet the requirements. It also “strongly encourages” schools to establish programs that lead to a professional certificate, training, apprenticeship, or college credit in a specific career and technical field.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691270

Senate Bill 929: Revise nonprofit corporation law detail
Passed 35 to 1 in the Senate on May 28, 2014, to revise the state law governing mergers and conversions of corporations and other limited liability business entities, so as to include nonprofit corporations.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691269

House Bill 4377: Repeal “community planner” registration mandate
Passed 26 to 10 in the Senate on May 28, 2014, to repeal a registration mandate imposed on professional “community planners” who prepare government land use plans.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691271

House Bill 4392: Repeal ocularist registration
Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate on May 28, 2014, to repeal a law that provides for the registration of ocularists and ocularist apprentices, who design, fabricate, and fit “ocular prosthetic appliances,” or artificial eyes.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691272

House Bill 5247: Exempt hospital pools from lifeguard mandate
Passed 108 to 0 in the House on May 28, 2014, to exempt small hospital-owned health and wellness center pools from a state law that mandates lifeguards at swimming pools that are open to the public (with various exceptions).
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691338

House Bill 5543: Redesignate a road
Passed 108 to 0 in the House on May 28, 2014, to designate a portion of highway M-57 in Montcalm county as the “Joseph Prentler Memorial Highway”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691339

Senate Bill 958: Authorize more misdemeanor arrest strip searches
Introduced by Sen. Rick Jones (R) on May 27, 2014, to repeal a prohibition on strip searches of a person ordered by a court to be held in jail after being arrested or detained for a misdemeanor or an offense which is punishable only by a civil fine unless there is a reasonable cause to believe that the person is concealing a weapon or illegal drugs.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164394

House Bill 4376: Repeal “proprietary school solicitor” permit mandate
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 2, 2014, to repeal a law that requires an individual operating as a proprietary school solicitor to obtain a permit from the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Solicitors are responsible for recruiting potential students to proprietary schools that provide training in a specific trade, occupation or vocational field.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691477

House Bill 4378: Repeal interior designer registration
Passed 29 to 9 in the Senate on June 2, 2014, to repeal a law that establishes a government interior designer registry and makes it available to state or local government agencies. To be included on the registry a designer must have passed a test created by a national organization of incumbent interior designers. This organization has sought repeatedly in this state to impose a full licensure and regulatory regime on interior designers, with several bills introduced in previous legislatures.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691481

House Bill 4683: Repeal auctioneer registration mandate
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 2, 2014, to revise references in the state liquor code to reflect the proposal in Senate Bill 476 to repeal a state registration (licensure) mandate on auctioneers.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691475

House Bill 4691: Revise carnival ride regulation detail
Passed 36 to 2 in the Senate on June 2, 2014, to eliminate a state government “carnival amusement safety board.” The bill would not affect the regulations and inspection requirements for carnival rides.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691476

Senate Bill 959: Extend hazardous waste fees
Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate on June 3, 2014.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691528

Senate Bill 960: Extend hazardous waste fees
Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate on June 3, 2014.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691529

Senate Bill 961: Revise detail of letting certain disabled workers “buy” Medicaid
Introduced by Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker (R) on May 28, 2014, to amend a law that allows certain disabled individuals who otherwise are not eligible for Medicaid to pay a means-tested fee to get these benefits, so that it conforms with the federal health care law’s Medicaid expansion adopted by the legislature in 2013. The bill would also cap the aggregate premiums collected under this program at $3 million annually.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164405

Senate Bill 962: Revise industrial tax break detail
Introduced by Sen. David Robertson (R) on May 28, 2014, to revise a provision of the law that authorizes local property tax breaks for industrial facility tax breaks, which grants these even if the local clerk fails to meet certain procedural deadlines. The bill would amend the provision so it also applies to an amended application for a tax break, or a request to transfer or revoke a tax break.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164406

House Bill 5594: Revise lender regulation detail
Introduced by Rep. Lisa Lyons (R) on May 21, 2014, to revise a law that imposes licensure and regulations on retail lenders who make relatively small loans to consumers ( such as for cars, household goods, or cash advances), so as to permit a lender to charge a monthly account service fee on outstanding “closed-end” loans, at a maximum rate of 9.75 percent of the original principal amount.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164386

House Bill 5595: Place “Brass Roots” plaque on Capitol grounds
Introduced by Rep. Martin Howrylak (R) on May 21, 2014, to require a plaque honoring the Second Amendment’s recognition of the right of individuals to keep and bear arms to be placed on the Capitol grounds. This plaque was created by the “Brass Roots” organization, reportedly by melting down brass cartridge cases donated by citizens who gathered at the Capitol in 1994 to protest federal and state infringements on the rights recognized by the Second Amendment.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164387

House Bill 5596: Mandate discretion in school expulsion rules
Introduced by Rep. Tom McMillin (R) on May 21, 2014, to prohibit public schools from having a policy that requires a student to be suspended or expelled for certain conduct and that does not give school officials discretion in exercising it, unless such a policy is required by state law.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164388

House Bill 5597: Extend authority of public schools establishing public libraries
Introduced by Rep. Adam Zemke (D) on May 27, 2014, to repeal a 2015 sunset on a law that allows a public school district to establish a public library.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164397

House Bill 5598: Authorize “biosimilar” dru substitutions
Introduced by Rep. Ken Yonker (R) on May 27, 2014, to permit a pharmacist to substitute FDA-designated biosimilar drugs for brand-name drugs.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164398

House Bill 5599: Waive FOIA fees for elected officials
Introduced by Rep. Ellen Lipton (D) on May 27, 2014, to exempt an elected official acting “in furtherance of his or her duties” from having to pay fees charged by government entities to fulfill Freedom of Information Act requests.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164399

House Bill 5600: Revise conflict of interest to allow mayor on Detroit oversight panel
Introduced by Rep. John Walsh (R) on May 27, 2014, to revise a law that prohibits public officials from having various positions that may create a conflict of interest, so as to allow the mayor and a council member of a financially troubled city to be on a financial review commission for their city. This relates to legislation making a $195 million gift of state money to Detroit toward a possible bankruptcy settlement, which created a state oversight panel that includes the mayor and president of the city council.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164400

House Bill 5603: Expand state drug prescription database sharing
Introduced by Rep. Bill LaVoy (D) on May 27, 2014, to revise http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164401

House Bill 5604: Extend heroin overdose treatment immunities
Introduced by Rep. Bill LaVoy (D) on May 27, 2014, to prohibit charging or prosecuting an individual for illegal drug possession or use based on the person seeking medical treatment for a heroin overdose, and grant immunity from lawsuits, criminal prosecution or administrative sanction to a person who in good faith administers an “opioid antagonist” (such as Naloxone) to such a person. The bill would also require the state-authorized “medical control authorities” responsible for establishing certain treatment protocols in a county or region to establish protocols that require ambulances to carry an “opioid antagonist”.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164402

House Bill 5605: Mandate school football games be called if score too lopsided
Introduced by Rep. Robert Kosowski (D) on May 28, 2014, to prohibit a public school from participating in an interscholastic football game unless the sponsoring organization has a rule that the game must be ended if one team has a lead of 17 points or more with one minute or less remaining, with that team declared the winner.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164411

House Bill 5606: Revise auto dealer protectionism detail
Introduced by Rep. Aric Nesbitt (R) on May 28, 2014, to prohibit vehicle makers from preventing a dealer from charging customers a fee or charge allowed by the law that authorizes the state to enforce exclusive new car dealer “territories” and regulates commercial relationships between dealers and manufacturers.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164412

House Bill 5607: Prohibit public schools immediately forcing out students who move
Introduced by Rep. Harvey Santana (D) on May 28, 2014, to require public school districts to allow a student to keep attending his or her geographically-assigned school for the rest of the school year if the family moves to another district after the official state “supplemental count day” in February or March (which is part of the basis for allocating state school aid funding).
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164413

House Bill 5608: Provide insurance to fallen public safety dependents
Introduced by Rep. Wayne Schmidt (R) on May 28, 2014, to require the state to provide the spouse and dependents of a firefighter, law enforcement officer or emergency first responder who dies in the line of duty with health insurance comparable to and on similar terms as the coverage the decedent received from any source at the time of his or her death. This would end when these individuals get comparable coverage from another source.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164414

House Bill 5609: Impose licensure on miniature goat keepers
Introduced by Rep. Andy Schor (D) on May 28, 2014, to give counties the authority to impose licensure and regulation on people who keep miniature goats in a nonagricultural area.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164415

House Bill 5610: Revise legislative journal printing detail
Introduced by Rep. Cindy Denby (R) on May 28, 2014, to no longer require the legislature to print and bind up to 500 copies of the official House and Senate journals for the year and distribute these to members, state departments, colleges, universities, and other specified recipients. Instead, the clerk of the House and secretary of the Senate could decide how many copies to print. The journals would still have to be made available to the public on the internet.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164416

House Bill 5611: Create school “human trafficking” curriculum
Introduced by Rep. Mike Shirkey (R) on May 29, 2014, to require the Department of Education to develop or select a model curriculum of instruction on human trafficking, and encourage public schools to include it in their sex education curriculum.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164419

House Bill 5612: Revise detail of large utility regulatory regime
Introduced by Rep. Mike Shirkey (R) on May 29, 2014, to allow money in a state “Utility Consumer Representation Fund” to be used for participation in proceedings on utility cost allocation and rate setting methods. Large utilities are required to pay a certain amount to this fund, and to pass the cost to customers. Half the money in fund goes to the Attorney General and half to “consumer advocates” to contest rate hikes.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164420

House Bill 5613: Require public schools to permit unenrolled children in extracurriculars
Introduced by Rep. Tom McMillin (R) on May 29, 2014, to require public schools to allow a child who lives in its district and is homeschooled or enrolled in a non-public school to participate in extracurricular activities on the same basis as the school’s students.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164421

House Bill 5614: Expand scope of reckless driving enhanced penalties
Introduced by Rep. Sam Singh (D) on May 29, 2014, to expand the scope of a law that authorizes enhanced penalties including imprisonment for committing a moving violation that kills or injures another person, so that is also applies to driving in a parking lot or on a frozen lake.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164422

Senate Bill 265: Exempt test cars from regional transit tax
Passed 83 to 25 in the House on June 3, 2014, to exempt automaker test vehicles from the regional mass transit vehicle registration tax authorized by a 2012 law.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691559

Senate Bill 582: Authorize enhanced penalties for drive-by shooting
Passed 108 to 1 in the House on June 3, 2014, to authorize up to life in prison for intentionally discharging a firearm from a vehicle or at a dwelling when this causes death (as in a “drive-by” shooting), and 15 to 20 years if someone is injured. These penalties would be on top of any imposed for assault, attempted murder, etc. The bill also increases the maximum penalty if no one is hurt from four years to 10 years.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691548

Senate Bill 583: Authorize enhanced penalties for drive-by shooting
Passed 108 to 1 in the House on June 3, 2014, to establish sentencing guidelines for the enhanced “drive-by” shooting penalties proposed by Senate Bill 5832.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691551

Senate Bill 959: Extend hazardous waste fees
Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate on June 3, 2014, to repeal the sunset on a law that imposes fees on hazardous waste generators and handlers. This bill covers handlers, and Senate Bill 960 extends the fees for companies that generate wastes. The fees extract some $1.1 million annually from these industries.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691528

Senate Bill 960: Extend hazardous waste fees
Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate on June 3, 2014, to repeal the sunset on a law that imposes fees on hazardous waste generators and handlers. This bill covers companies that generate wastes, and Senate Bill 959 extends the fees for handlers. The fees extract some $1.1 million annually from these industries.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691529

House Bill 4486: Authorize involuntary treatment for substance abuse
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 3, 2014, to allow relatives or a health care professional to petition a court to take an individual abusing drugs or alcohol into protective custody for involuntary treatment, and grant the request if there clear and convincing evidence that the person present an imminent danger or threat to himself or others. The bill prescribes specific procedures, requirements and limitations on involuntary treatment.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691527

House Bill 4528: Revise “immigration clerical assistant” registration
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 3, 2014, to revise details of a 2004 law that imposed registration requirements on “immigration clerical assistants.” The bill would eliminate a duty of the state to maintain a list of these individuals and authorize triple damages for lawsuits against them.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691524

House Bill 4684: Repeal auctioneer registration mandate
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 3, 2014, to revise references to auctioneers in a section of the state environmental laws dealing with snowmobiles to reflect the proposal in House Bills 4681 and 4682 to repeal a state registration (licensure) mandate on auctioneers.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691525

House Bill 4998: Appoint “entrepreneurs-in-residence” at Michigan Strategic Fund
Passed 85 to 24 in the House on June 3, 2014, to require the state agency responsible for granting and overseeing selective tax breaks and subsidies granted to particular corporations or developers (the “Michigan Strategic Fund”) to appoint up to 10 “entrepreneurs-in-residence” to help the agency to “improve outreach to small business concerns;” identify inefficient or duplicative “economic development” programs; recommend ways to expand and improve the efficiency of these programs; and more.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691547

House Bill 5178: Expand property owner recreation liability waiver
Passed 62 to 47 in the House on June 3, 2014, to expand a property owner liability exemption that currently applies to someone fishing, hunting, trapping, camping, hiking, sightseeing, motorcycling, or snowmobiling on a person’s land, so that it also applies to operating non-commercial aircraft (“aviation activities”). In other words, someone can’t sue a landowner for injuries sustained doing any of these things, as long as the individual hasn’t paid for the privilege.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691553

House Bill 5220: Revise accounting firm licensure details
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 3, 2014, to revise details of the licensure mandate imposed on certain officers of public accounting firms. Specifically, the bill would eliminate a requirement that only licensed certified public accountants can to serve as officers and directors of the an accounting firm, given that such firms sometimes offer a range of business services.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691526

House Bill 5246: Revise arrest warrant procedural details
Passed 108 to 1 in the House on June 3, 2014, to revise the procedures that currently authorize arrest warrant complaints to be phoned in or submitted by other electronic means of communications. The bill would explicitly include “electronic video” in these means, and allow judges to swear-in the plaintiff using electronic video (under current law this step must be done in person).
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691550

House Bill 5383: Expand drunk driving provisions to include illegal drugs
Passed 108 to 1 in the House on June 3, 2014, to allow a court to suspend the drivers license of a person released on bail pending arraignment for a drugged driving arrest, the same as with drunk driving cases. See also House Bill 5385.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691555

House Bill 5385: Expand drunk driving provisions to include illegal drugs
Passed 101 to 8 in the House on June 3, 2014, to expand the law that requires a person stopped for drunk driving to take a breathalyzer or field sobriety test so that it also applies to suspected driving while drugged. The bill would not authorize the use of a roadside saliva test, which has been challenged as inaccurate.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691557

House Bill 5566: Detroit bankruptcy settlement and grant package - oversight commission
Passed 36 to 2 in the Senate on June 3, 2014, to establish a Detroit fiscal management oversight commission consisting of the two state department heads, five other individuals appointed by the Governor, the Mayor and the president of the city council. Among the commission’s powers would be final approval of city budgets, larger purchases, borrowing, union contracts (except police and firefighter contracts imposed through binding arbitration), and more. The commission could waive any of these powers if the city adopts deficit-free budgets for three consecutive years and meets other specified conditions, but could resume its powers in the event of subsequent backsliding. This is part of a legislative package consisting of House Bills 5566 to 5575 that are related to the Detroit bankruptcy and a proposed state grant to the city of $195 million.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691515

House Bill 5567: Detroit bankruptcy settlement and grant package - budget process requirements
Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate on June 3, 2014, to require a Detroit chief financial officer to be appointed by the mayor, subject to the approval of the state oversight commission proposed by House Bill 5566, who would supervise the city’s financial and budget activities. Also, to require Detroit to use generally accepted accounting practices, and adopt budget processes similar to the state’s, which are intended to avoid overspending. Among these are twice yearly revenue estimating conferences involving state officials and university economists. This is part of a legislative package consisting of House Bills 5566 to 5575 that are related to the Detroit bankruptcy and a proposed state grant to the city of $195 million.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691516

House Bill 5568: Detroit bankruptcy settlement and grant package - pension limits
Passed 24 to 14 in the Senate on June 3, 2014, to limit the normal contributions Detroit can make to city employees retirement benefits, but still allow the city to enroll new employees in a “defined benefit” pension system that creates future underfunding risks for taxpayers. The normal contribution caps would be 7 percent for pensions and 2 percent (or the amount the state gives its employees) for a retirement health savings account. The bill also restricts “pension spiking” and “13th check” extra-benefit schemes. It was introduced as a condition for the state giving Detroit $195 million toward its bankruptcy settlement, and originally would have prohibited the city from creating new unfunded liability risks each new hire (giving them defined contribution benefits instead), but that restriction was removed in committee. The remaining provisions take effect after a court-approved post-bankruptcy “workout” period ends in 2023.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691517

House Bill 5569: Detroit bankruptcy settlement and grant package - employee health benefits
Passed 36 to 2 in the Senate on June 3, 2014, to prohibit Detroit from providing employee health insurance benefits whose premiums cost more than $5,500 for a single person, $12,250 for a couple and $15,000 for a family plan (indexed to the “medical price index”), or alternatively, require city employees to contribute at least 20 percent toward the cost of their health insurance. A 2011 law mandated this for public school employees but allowed municipalities to exempt themselves with a 2/3 vote of their governing body; the bill would exclude Detroit from that exception. This is part of a legislative package consisting of House Bills 5566 to 5575 that are related to the Detroit bankruptcy and a proposed state grant to the city of $195 million.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691518

House Bill 5570: Detroit bankruptcy settlement and grant package - pension details
Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate on June 3, 2014, to establish a Detroit pension investment committee to oversee management of the city’s defined benefit pension system. The system would still be run by the existing pension board, but a process would be instituted by which the chief financial officer for the city proposed by House Bill 5567 would have final authority in the event the committee and the pension board disagreed on investment management decisions. The bill would also impose additional restrictions and disclosure requirements on reimbursed travel by pension fund board members, officials or employees. This is part of a legislative package consisting of House Bills 5566 to 5575 that are related to the Detroit bankruptcy and a proposed state grant to the city of $195 million.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691523

House Bill 5573: Detroit bankruptcy settlement and grant package - funding details
Passed 21 to 17 in the Senate on June 3, 2014, to earmark $17.5 million of future tobacco lawsuit settlement revenue annually for 20 years to the state rainy day fund, which is essentially an accounting measure related to a $195 million state gift to Detroit, which goes toward the city’s bankruptcy settlement. The state is essentially loaning money to itself.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691520

House Bill 5574: Detroit bankruptcy settlement and grant package - grant appropriation
Passed 21 to 17 in the Senate on June 3, 2014, to appropriate $194.8 million as a grant to Detroit, to be applied toward a proposed bankruptcy settlement. House Bills 5566 to 5571 require various reforms as a condition for the gift.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691521

House Bill 5575: Detroit bankruptcy settlement and grant package - funding details
Passed 21 to 17 in the Senate on June 3, 2014, to create a “Michigan settlement administration authority” to manage the $194.8 million state grant (“bailout”) proposed by House Bill 5574 that would go toward a Detroit bankruptcy settlement. This is part of a legislative package consisting of House Bills 5566 to 5575 that are related to the Detroit bankruptcy and state grant.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691522

House Bill 5576: Detroit bankruptcy settlement and grant package - public safety union contracts
Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate on June 3, 2014, to require the Detroit fiscal management oversight commission proposed by House Bill 5566 to review rulings on Detroit fire and police union contracts of a “PA 312” binding arbitration panel, which can impose contract terms in the event of a collective bargaining impasse. The oversight panel would not be given any actual authority over these settlements.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691519

Senate Bill 313: Revise rental housing inspection regulations
Passed 33 to 3 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to local government rental housing registration and inspection details. Among other things the bill would allow but not require local enforcement agencies in communities of a certain size to mandate that landlords must register themselves and their rental units, prohibit charging landlords to register a property more than once, revise the maximum and minimum time between inspections based on various factors, and more.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691628

Senate Bill 739: Revise local “economic development authority” board detail
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to allow “local development financing” tax increment finance authority board members to be an elected or appointed government official, with their board membership ending at the same time their term or official position ends.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691629

Senate Bill 740: Revise local “corridor improvement authority” board detail
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to allow “corridor improvement” tax increment finance authority board members to be an elected or appointed government official, with their board membership ending at the same time their term or official position ends.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691630

Senate Bill 795: Increase banned species introduction penalties
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to authorize seizure and forfeiture of vehicle, equipment, or other property used to knowingly possess or introduce a prohibited aquatic species. Senate bills 796 to 802 would add additional sanctions.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691623

Senate Bill 796: Increase banned species introduction penalties
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to revise the state sentencing guidelines to reflect the higher penalties proposed by Senate Bill 800 for introducing a prohibited non-native aquatic species.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691624

Senate Bill 797: Increase banned species introduction penalties
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to authorize the seizure and forfeiture of property used to violate the state law banning the introduction of banned non-native species into the state.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691625

Senate Bill 799: Increase banned species introduction penalties
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to authorize suspending the commercial fishing license of a person who introduces into the state a prohibited non-native species. Senate Bill 800 authorizes other penalties.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691626

Senate Bill 800: Increase banned species introduction penalties
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to authorize suspending the hunting, fishing and trapping rights of a person who introduces into the state a prohibited non-native species. Also, to increase the penalties for knowingly possessing or introducing a banned aquatic species, from two years in prison and a $20,000 fine to three years and $100,000.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691627

Senate Bill 845: Give district court magistrates arrest warrant power
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to allow a district court magistrate to issue an arrest warrant, and specify that a complaint for an arrest warrant made by means of electronic communication could be made from any location in Michigan. See also House Bill 5246 and Senate Bill 931.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691618

Senate Bill 858: Heroin overdose treatment package
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to grant immunity from criminal prosecution or administrative sanction to a “person” (including a medical professional or pharmacist) who prescribes, dispenses, possesses, or administers an “opioid antagonist” (such as Naloxone) to someone the person believes in good faith to be suffering a heroin or opioid related overdose.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691635

Senate Bill 859: Heroin overdose treatment package
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to require the state-authorized “medical control authorities” responsible for establishing certain treatment protocols in a county or region to establish protocols for ambulances carrying an “opioid antagonist” (such as Naloxone), and emergency services personnel being trained to administer them. Whether the vehicles actually carried these substances would be at the authority’s discretion.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691636

Senate Bill 860: Heroin overdose treatment package
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to permit doctors to prescribe and pharmacists to dispense an “opioid antagonist” including naloxone hydrochloride to the friends or family of individuals who may suffer a heroin overdose. The bill would grant lawsuit liability to doctors and pharmacists for this.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691637

Senate Bill 872: Reduce regulatory obstacles to developing stamp-sand property
Passed 31 to 6 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to establish that property where “stamp sands” have been deposited is not subject to state environmental law restrictions unless the sands contain hazardous substances that exceed the allowable levels for unrestricted residential use. “Stamp sands” are finely grained crushed rock resulting from copper ore processing and are not uncommon in the Keweenaw region.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691620

Senate Bill 880: Require psychologist licensure degree program details
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to revise details of the criteria for the doctoral degree programs required for licensure as a psychologist.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691634

Senate Bill 882: Repeal local road agency fringe benefit reporting mandate
Passed 35 to 1 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to require county road commissions, instead of local road agencies, to certify to the Department of Transportation that they have adopted specified employee health insurance limits and pension reforms, starting Oct. 1 2015.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691640

Senate Bill 916: Make vehicle title lien updates electronic
Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to revise process for updating vehicle loan “security interests” on vehicle titles, so as to accommodate the process proposed by Senate Bill 918 for replacing the current paper-based system with an all-electronic one. Among other things the bill would eliminate a requirement that the Secretary of State must issue a title to the owner of a vehicle, if the title were subject to a security interest (loan).
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691642

Senate Bill 917: Make vehicle title lien updates electronic
Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to revise the process for updating vehicle loan “security interests” on vehicle titles, so as to accommodate the process proposed by Senate Bill 918 for replacing the current paper-based system with an all-electronic one.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691643

Senate Bill 918: Make vehicle title lien updates electronic
Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to allow the Secretary of State to develop and contract out an electronic system to process the notification and release of vehicle lender “security interests” for purposes of indicating on vehicle titles whether a lender has an interest in the vehicle. This and related bills would mostly replace an existing “hard copy” process for updating this information and mailing out new title documents to owners or lenders. The Secretary of State could require that all transactions concerning these issues be conducted through electronic means.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691644

Senate Bill 924: Criminalize posting revealing images to harass or intimidate
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to explicitly make it a crime to post on the internet any sexually explicit photograph, drawing, or other image of a person with the intent to frighten, intimidate, or harass. The bill would also authorize penalties to refusing or failing to take all reasonable steps to remove such images upon written request of the person, even if these were not posted with the intent to frighten, intimidate, or harass.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691616

Senate Bill 925: Criminalize posting revealing images to harass or intimidate
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to place in statute misdemeanor penalties proposed by Senate Bill 924 for posting on the internet any sexually explicit photograph, drawing, or other image of another person with the intent to frighten, intimidate, or harass.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691617

Senate Bill 931: Revise electronic arrest warrant detail
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to clarify a law allowing a judge or district court magistrate to issue a written search warrant by any electronic of means of communication, so as to specify that this may be done from any location within this state.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691621

Senate Bill 932: Revise district court magistrate detail
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to allow district court magistrates to decide motions and requests to withdraw an admission or set aside a default judgment in civil infraction cases under certain circumstances specified in the bill.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691622

Senate Bill 947: Revise collection agency audit details
Passed 27 to 9 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to delete a requirement that the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) audit a collection agency on a biennial basis. The agencies would still be subject to current regulations and record keeping requirements, however. The bill would also establish as “the intent of the legislature” that the regulations apply to debt collection agencies, not the companies that hire them.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691650

Senate Bill 947: Revise collection agency audit details
Passed 28 to 7 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to delete a requirement that the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) audit a collection agency on a biennial basis. The agencies would still be subject to current regulations and record keeping requirements, however. The bill would also establish as “the intent of the legislature” that the regulations apply to debt collection agencies, not the companies that hire them.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691646

House Bill 4155: Make government firearms ownership databases non-public information
Passed 29 to 8 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to restrict access to a non-public database of applicants for a concealed pistol license to requests made using a state Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN) or another system that maintains a record of who asked and when, and require the requestor asking about a particular individual to attest that the records are sought for a lawful purpose. This would somewhat broaden access to these already nonpublic records, but the bill is part of a legislative package that makes all state firearms databases confidential and not subject to disclosure under the state Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); see House Bill 5327.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691631

House Bill 4582: Revise homebuilder licensure detail
Passed 36 to 1 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to clarify that a person who has held a “residential maintenance and alteration contractor” license within the past nine years is exempt from having to take a “pre-licensure” course as a condition for getting a residential builder license. Also, to eliminate the state licensing bureau’s authority to require evidence of an applicant’s or licensee’s financial stability.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691614

House Bill 4964: Authorize automatic government employee 401(k) enrollments
Passed 22 to 14 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to allow the state, schools and local governments to automatically enroll eligible employees in 401(k) type retirement accounts, with a percentage of the individual’s pay deposited in the account. An employee could choose to opt-out of deductions and deposits.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691638

House Bill 5270: Mandate recording of child abuse/neglect interviews
Passed 108 to 0 in the House on June 4, 2014, to require interviews of children by state officials in alleged or suspected neglect or abuse cases to be recorded on video.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691667

House Bill 5284: Give contractor licensure board more discretion to deny license
Passed 36 to 1 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to eliminate the state licensing bureau’s authority to require evidence of a licensed residential builder or renovation contractor financial stability, or that of a license applicant. The bill provides procedures for former licensees who were denied a license on this basis, provided they have taken a three hour continuing education course in the past year.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691615

House Bill 5325: Make government firearms ownership databases non-public information
Passed 29 to 8 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to define the state databases containing information on individual firearms ownership that House Bill 5227 would make confidential and not subject to disclosure under the state Freedom of Information Act.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691632

House Bill 5328: Make government firearms ownership databases non-public information
Passed 29 to 8 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to revise details of concealed pistol permit law and related statutes so they conform to the proposal in House Bills 5327 to exempt state firearms owner records from disclosure under the state Freedom of Information Act.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691633

House Bill 5400: Revise certain low-hazard waste restrictions
Passed 25 to 11 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to reduce restrictions on using certain low-hazard industrial byproducts that potentially have a beneficial use, including as fertilizer, road construction material, construction fill or other uses. The bill would also expand the definition of “inert material” in the state environmental protection law to include a number of specified materials, which would not be subject to restrictions depending on how they are used.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691647

House Bill 5438: Mandate drivers ed include cycle awareness lesson
Passed 108 to 0 in the House on June 4, 2014, to require drivers education classes to include classroom instruction on laws related to bicycles and motorcycles, and to emphasize awareness of their operation on roads.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691664

House Bill 5476: Revise electric utility regulated rate setting procedures
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 4, 2014, to revise details of the process used by state regulators to allocate production-related and transmission costs to the commercial customers of large utilities.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691619

Senate Bill 6: Earmark some sales tax revenue to roads
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 5, 2014, to revise and make permanent a one-time earmark to road spending of a specified percentage of sales tax revenue collected from fuel sales. For the next fiscal year this would mean around $128 million more for road projects.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691781

Senate Bill 49: Make government firearms ownership databases non-public information
Passed 80 to 28 in the House on June 5, 2014, to establish that state databases containing information on licenses issued to individuals to purchase, carry, possess, or transport pistols are confidential and not subject to disclosure under the state Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The bill was introduced after a New York newspaper published the names and addresses of gun owners it acquired from a state database (since then New York has also banned releasing this information).
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691875

Senate Bill 149: Revise transportation tax allocation
Passed 36 to 1 in the Senate on June 5, 2014, to discontinue an annual appropriation of up to $20 million in road funding to the Secretary of State to administer vehicle registration tax collections. See also Senate Bill 6, which earmarks some sales tax revenue to road projects.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691783

Senate Bill 205: Increase solicitation of sex from minor penalties
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 5, 2014, to increase the penalties for the crime of soliciting sex from a minor who is at least 16 years of age.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691784

Senate Bill 206: Increase solicitation of sex from minor penalties
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 5, 2014, to revise the sentencing guidelines for the penalty increase proposed by House Bill 4209 for the crime of soliciting a minor 16 years of age or older to commit prostitution..
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691785

Senate Bill 589: Human trafficking crime package
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 5, 2014, to add human trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation of children to the (statutory) grounds for terminating a parent’s parental rights.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691786

Senate Bill 602: Human trafficking crime package
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 5, 2014, to require individuals convicted of soliciting a prostitute who is less than age 18 to register on the state sex offender registry.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691787

Senate Bill 831: Allow homestead property tax exemption for inherited residence
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 5, 2014, to allow an individual who has inherited a dwelling that was the decedent’s principle residence, and who also has an principle residence property tax exemption on his or her current home, to claim the Proposal A principle residence (homestead) tax exemption on both properties for up to three years, or until the inherited residence is sold or leased.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691788

Senate Bill 834: Make government firearms ownership databases non-public information
Passed 87 to 21 in the House on June 5, 2014, to establish that a firearms-related court order or disposition entered into the state’s Law Enforcement Information Network (LIEN) is not subject to disclosure under the state Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). See Senate Bill 49.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691876

Senate Bill 881: Make government firearms ownership databases non-public information
Passed 87 to 21 in the House on June 5, 2014, to revise details in the concealed pistol permit law to accommodate the proposal in Senate Bill 49 to exempt state firearms owner records from disclosure under the state Freedom of Information Act.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691877

Senate Bill 881: Make government firearms ownership databases non-public information
Passed 36 to 2 in the Senate on April 24, 2014, to revise details in the concealed pistol permit law to accommodate the proposal in Senate Bill 49 to exempt state firearms owner records from disclosure under the state Freedom of Information Act.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=689268

House Bill 4890: Let cemetery owners declare burial plot contracts “abandoned”
Passed 106 to 2 in the House on June 5, 2014, to establish conditions and procedures that allow a cemetery owner to declare an individual’s contractual right to be buried in a particular plot to have been abandoned, and then to resell the plot.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691904

House Bill 5089: Create new pseudoephedrine “straw man” buyer crime
Passed 105 to 3 in the House on June 5, 2014, to authorize up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for purchasing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine while knowing that it will be used to manufacture methamphetamine.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691888

House Bill 5090: Create new pseudoephedrine “straw man” buyer crime
Passed 105 to 3 in the House on June 5, 2014, to establish sentencing guidelines for the crime proposed by House Bill 5089 of purchasing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine while knowing that it will be used to manufacture methamphetamine.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691889

House Bill 5168: Facilitate DARTA operating Woodward streetcar
Passed 82 to 26 in the House on June 5, 2014, to authorize the Detroit area regional transportation authority created by a 2012 law to enter agreements to operate a Woodward Avenue streetcar in Detroit with the entity authorized by 2008 law to create it. The bill would exempt this project from a provision requiring unanimous action by the DARTA board for any form of rail passenger service, and specify that Detroit and Wayne County would be responsible for covering the line’s operating deficits (and not other communities in the RTA).
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691895

House Bill 5226: Expand crop damage deer shooting permit to bears
Passed 103 to 5 in the House on June 5, 2014, to expand a state law that authorizes special crop damage deer hunting permits so that this also allow these for bears that are causing damage to crops or feed.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691881

House Bill 5271: Revise child abuse/neglect interview details
Passed 108 to 0 in the House on June 4, 2014, to allow the child interview video recordings mandated by House Bill 5270 to be considered by a hearing officer in an alleged or suspected neglect or abuse case.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691754

House Bill 5272: Revise child abuse/neglect interview details
Passed 108 to 0 in the House on June 4, 2014, to allow the child interview video recordings mandated by House Bill 5270 to be used in a court proceeding on an alleged or suspected neglect or abuse case. The bill would also increase the penalty for a person who improperly and intentionally releases such a recording, authorizing up to one year in prison.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691756

House Bill 5363: Expand meth-related pseudoephedrine restrictions
Passed 105 to 3 in the House on June 5, 2014, to prohibit purchasing or possessing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine that is intended to be used to manufacture methamphetamines, subject to up to 20 years in prison.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691890

House Bill 5401: Revise certain low-hazard waste restrictions
Passed 25 to 12 in the Senate on June 5, 2014, to exempt a person who follows specified rules for storing “inert materials” and “beneficial use by-products” as defined by House Bill 5400 from liability under state the environmental protection law.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691779

House Bill 5402: Revise certain low-hazard waste restrictions
Passed 26 to 11 in the Senate on June 5, 2014, to revise a law regulating the sale and use of “liming material” for soil treatment so that it conforms to the proposal in House Bill 5400 to reduce environmental law restrictions on using certain low-hazard industrial wastes and “inert materials” that have a beneficial use.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691780

House Bill 5421: Revise delinquent property tax interest detail
Passed 108 to 0 in the House on June 5, 2014, to allow counties to waive certain additional to allow counties to waive certain additional interest charges imposed on the delinquent property taxes of tax-foreclosed residential property when that is being redeemed by the owner.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691879

House Bill 5552: Exempt decedent’s property transfer to family from assessment “bump up”
Passed 77 to 31 in the House on June 5, 2014, to exempt the transfer of residential property from a decedent to a trust whose beneficiaries are members of the decedent’s family from the taxable value “bump up,” wherein the new basis for property tax assessments becomes the property’s state equalized value (market value), rather than the capped “taxable value” of the previous owner. The exemption would apply when there is no change to the use of the property.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691898

House Bill 5558: Clarify preemption of insurance lawsuits under Consumer Protection Act
Passed 57 to 49 in the House on June 5, 2014, to clarify that a prohibition of “unfair practices” lawsuits against insurance companies under the state Consumer Protection Act (rather than the state’s Insurance Code) applies even if the cause of action occurred before a 2001 law was enacted specifying that industries like insurance which are already subject to a comprehensive state regulatory regime are not covered by the Consumer Protection Act. Lawsuits that have already been filed could still proceed, however.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691871

House Bill 5559: Authorize “Pure Michigan Trail” designations
Passed 106 to 2 in the House on June 5, 2014, to revise the law authorizing the state to operate an “adopt a trail” program using the services of volunteers so as to conform to the proposal in Senate Bill 873 to create a statewide multi-use trail network.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691886

House Bill 5600: Revise conflict of interest to allow mayor on Detroit oversight panel
Passed 104 to 4 in the House on June 5, 2014, to revise a law that prohibits public officials from having various positions that may create a conflict of interest, so as to allow the mayor and a council member of a financially troubled city to be on a financial review commission for their city. This relates to legislation making a $195 million gift of state money to Detroit toward a possible bankruptcy settlement, which created a state oversight panel that includes the mayor and president of the city council.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691891

House Bill 5610: Revise legislative journal printing detail
Passed 104 to 4 in the House on June 5, 2014, to no longer require the legislature to print and bind up to 500 copies of the official House and Senate journals for the year and distribute these to members, state departments, colleges, universities, and other specified recipients. Instead, the clerk of the House and secretary of the Senate could decide how many copies to print. The journals would still have to be made available to the public on the internet.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691887

House Bill 5612: Revise detail of large utility regulatory regime
Passed 107 to 1 in the House on June 5, 2014, to allow money in a state “Utility Consumer Representation Fund” to be used for participation in proceedings on utility cost allocation and rate setting methods. Large utilities are required to pay a certain amount to this fund, and to pass the cost to customers. Half the money in fund goes to the Attorney General and half to “consumer advocates” to contest rate hikes.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691892

Senate Bill 963: Ban BB gun possession by unaccompanied minor
Introduced by Sen. Dave Hildenbrand (R) on June 2, 2014, to prohibit minors from possessing an air, gas or spring powered BB or pellet gun unless accompanied by an adult. The bill also revises the definition of “firearm” to exclude an air, gas or spring powered gun that fires a projectile larger than .177 caliber (many air rifles and pistols fire .22 caliber pellets).
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164455

Senate Bill 964: Expand air gun exemption from firearm laws
Introduced by Sen. Phil Pavlov (R) on June 2, 2014, to revise the definition of “firearm” to exclude an air, gas or spring powered gun that fires a projectile larger than .177 caliber (many air rifles and pistols fire .22 caliber pellets).
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164456

Senate Bill 965: Expand air gun exemption from firearm laws
Introduced by Sen. Joe Hune (R) on June 2, 2014, to revise the definition of “firearm” to exclude an air, gas or spring powered gun that fires a projectile larger than .177 caliber (many air rifles and pistols fire .22 caliber pellets).
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164457

Senate Bill 966: Expand air gun exemption from firearm laws
Introduced by Sen. Rick Jones (R) on June 2, 2014, to revise the definition of “firearm” in the state environmental law to conform to the proposal in Senate Bills 963 to 965, which would exclude all air, gas or spring powered guns from the definition.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164458

Senate Bill 967: Give disabled veterans free boat registration
Introduced by Sen. Dave Hildenbrand (R) on June 2, 2014, to exempt a veteran who has a service connected total disability from having to pay a watercraft registration tax.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164459

Senate Bill 968: Provide insurance to fallen public safety dependents
Introduced by Sen. Roger Kahn (R) on June 2, 2014, to require the state to provide the spouse and dependents of a firefighter, law enforcement officer or emergency first responder who dies in the line of duty with health insurance comparable to and on similar terms as the coverage the decedent received from any source at the time of his or her death. This would end when these individuals get comparable coverage from another source.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164460

Senate Bill 969: Authorize local nuisance suits to shut drug or prostitution house
Introduced by Sen. Rick Jones (R) on June 2, 2014, to authorize a city, village, or township to file a nuisance lawsuit to shut down the activity at a building, vehicle, boat, aircraft, or place that is being used for prostitution, illegal drug, animal fighting, or unlawful alcohol-related offenses.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164461

Senate Bill 970: Revise commercial drivers license detail
Introduced by Sen. Tom Casperson (R) on June 2, 2014, to revise the state law providing for a commercial drivers license learner’s permit so as to conform with federal definitions and requirements.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164462

Senate Bill 971: Expand “good Samaritan” law
Introduced by Sen. Goeff Hansen (R) on June 5, 2014, to expand the (limited) immunity from (lawsuits) for free emergency care provided at the scene of an emergency so that it covers licensed emergency medical service providers.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164489

House Bill 5615: Make buying ephedrine for meth a RICO crime
Introduced by Rep. John Kivela (D) on June 3, 2014, to include purchasing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine knowing it will be used to illegally manufacture methamphetamine in the list of “predicate” crimes that come under the state racketeering law (RICO), which among other things would allow the seizure and sale of a violator’s assets, with the proceeds going to law enforcement agencies. See also House Bills 5363, 5089, 5090, and Senate Bill 563.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164465

House Bill 5616: Revise nursing facility tax detail
Introduced by Rep. Ken Yonker (R) on June 4, 2014, to eliminate a “grandfathering” and ownership change qualification from the law that exempts property owned by a “skilled nursing facility” from property taxes.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164469

House Bill 5617: Let library board members get pay and set pay
Introduced by Rep. Ken Yonker (R) on June 4, 2014, to allow members of the board of directors of a public libraries to be paid, in an amount set by the board itself. Under current law library board members are political appointees who do not receive pay.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164470

House Bill 5618: Give high school diploma to Viet Nam era veterans
Introduced by Rep. Stacy Erwin Oakes (D) on June 4, 2014, to let local school boards grant a high school diploma to veterans who did not graduate but were in the armed forces during the period of the Vietnam war. Note: A law passed in 2013 already did this.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164471

House Bill 5619: Require ISDs monitor school district finances
Introduced by Rep. Stacy Erwin Oakes (D) on June 4, 2014, to require Intermediate School Districts to monitor the finances of the regular school districts within their territory.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164472

House Bill 5620: Create new disinformation-to-impede-voter crime
Introduced by Rep. Stacy Erwin Oakes (D) on June 4, 2014, to establish a new misdemeanor crime of knowingly giving false information to a registered voter about an election date, polling place location or the person’s voter registration status, with the intention to impede the person from voting.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164473

House Bill 5621: Authorize girl scout fire-fighting courses
Introduced by Rep. Stacy Erwin Oakes (D) on June 4, 2014, to revise a 2011 law that allows a local fire departments to establish a “boy scout explorer post,” and allows a school district to then provide firefighter courses for 16 and 17 year olds. The bill would also authorize a girl scout explorer posts for this purpose.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164474

House Bill 5622: Mandate reduced class size in failing schools
Introduced by Rep. Stacy Erwin Oakes (D) on June 4, 2014, to require failing schools o reduce class sizes to a maximum of 17 in grades K to 3, and 25 in grades 9 to 12.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164475

House Bill 5623: Authorize charitable contribution income tax credits
Introduced by Rep. John Olumba (D) on June 4, 2014, to authorize state income tax credits for charitable donations to food banks, shelters, community foundations, public art, public radio, colleges, universities, and museums.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164476

House Bill 5624: Give state PSC oversight over city water/sewer systems
Introduced by Rep. John Olumba (D) on June 4, 2014, to extend the jurisdiction of the state Public Service Commission to include regulating the operations of municipal water and sewer systems.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164477

House Bill 5625: Provide morality and character instruction
Introduced by Rep. John Olumba (D) on June 4, 2014, in schools to require public schools to weekly instruction in ‘ethics and character building” to children in grades K through 5.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164478

House Bill 5626: Establish perinatal hospice standards and disclosures
Introduced by Rep. John Olumba (D) on June 4, 2014, to mandate that when a physician informs a patient of a prenatal test that has detected a life-limiting condition, the physician must provide information on perinatal hospice care, plus the latest information on health outcomes, life expectancy, development potential and more. Also, to require the Department of Community Health to develop criteria for certifying a hospice that provides perinatal hospice care, and post information online about ones that have been certified.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164479

House Bill 5627: Ban truancy scofflaws from welfare benefits
Introduced by Rep. John Olumba (D) on June 4, 2014, to require welfare recipients who have school age children to ensure the children attend school at least 80 percent of the time not including sickness or injury absences as a condition of receiving benefits, and require the state welfare agency to confirm this when the person applies for or renews an application for benefits.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164480

House Bill 5628: Authorize charitable contribution income tax credits
Introduced by Rep. John Olumba (D) on June 4, 2014, to authorize state income tax credit for charitable donations to food banks, shelters, and community foundations.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164481

House Bill 5629: Authorize pilot charter boarding school for at risk students
Introduced by Rep. John Olumba (D) on June 4, 2014, to authorize a pilot college preparatory charter school program for low income students who have are failing academically or have gotten into trouble at school.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164482

House Bill 5630: Authorize “social impact” state debt
Introduced by Rep. John Olumba (D) on June 4, 2014, to authorize new state “social impact” borrowing to fund “senior support services to reduce state Medicare spending” and “at-risk youth education and job training programs to reduce juvenile recidivism”.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164483

House Bill 5631: Ban hunting with a drone
Introduced by Rep. Robert Kosowski (D) on June 4, 2014, to prohibit using an aerial drone to take game.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164484

House Bill 5632: Distribute added road money through regular formula vs. earmarks
Introduced by Rep. Martin Howrylak (R) on June 4, 2014, to transfer $115 million that was politically earmarked for certain road projects in a supplemental appropriation enacted in March of 2014, so that the money is instead allocated to local road and bridge programs according to the usual statutory distribution formula.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164485

House Bill 5633: Allow electronic voter registration
Introduced by Rep. Sarah Roberts (D) on June 4, 2014, to require the Secretary of State to develop a system for electronic online voter registration on its website.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164486

House Bill 5634: Allow late return of military and overseas absentee ballots
Introduced by Rep. David Knezek (D) on June 4, 2014, to establish that if an overseas military service member’s mailed-in absentee ballot is postmarked on the election date or earlier, and received before the appropriate canvassing board has certified the vote tally, then it would be counted.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164487

House Bill 5635: Allow overseas voting by email
Introduced by Rep. David Knezek (D) on June 4, 2014, to allow a voter who is outside the country to vote by email or other electronic means. Under a 2010 law overseas voters may receive their absentee ballots by e-mail, but they must be returned by regular mail and received before the polls close on election day.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164488

House Bill 5636: Permit golf cart road road use without insurance
Introduced by Rep. Kevin Cotter (R) on June 5, 2014, to permit a golf cart to be driven on the shoulder of a public highway without having mandated no-fault vehicle insurance, under the same provision that allows ORVs to do this.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164492

House Bill 5637: Expand welfare child care subsidies
Introduced by Rep. Stacy Erwin Oakes (D) on June 5, 2014, to expand welfare-related child care subsidies to any recipient who is participating in mandated education, training or work requirements.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164493

House Bill 5638: Revise parole standards
Introduced by Rep. Stacy Erwin Oakes (D) on June 5, 2014, to require that parole be granted to prisoners who have served their minimum time if the person has at least an “average probability” under a “validated risk assessment instrument” of not being a risk to public safety, and who meets other criteria specified in statute, subject to some restrictions and exceptions.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164494

House Bill 5639: Authorize “Industrial Plant Rehabilitation” tax break for particular developer
Introduced by Rep. Stacy Erwin Oakes (D) on June 5, 2014, to authorize an Industrial Plant Rehabilitation property tax break for a building owned by a particular developer whose tenant has gone bankrupt.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164495

Senate Joint Resolution A: Replace gas tax with higher sales tax
Failed 14 to 24 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to place before voters in the next general election a Constitutional amendment to impose a 1 percent sales tax increase that would go to roads and replace the state motor fuel and diesel taxes. If the measure was approved then a large fuel tax increase proposed by House Bill 5477 would not go into effect. A two-thirds vote (26 votes) are required to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692164

Senate Bill 20: Require more hazmat licensee disclosures
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on June 11, 2014, to require a person who is required to have a state license to build, manage or operate a hazardous waste treatment, storage, or disposal facility to disclose any past environmental-law related criminal convictions.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692375

Senate Bill 327: Ban tax collector “quotas”
Passed 109 to 1 in the House on June 11, 2014, to establish that Department of Treasury tax collectors and third party contractors or agents are prohibited from using tax collection amount “quotas” and must apply tax laws and rules equally to all taxpayers.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692378

Senate Bill 444: Revise aquatic nuisance species control regulations
Passed 60 to 50 in the House on June 11, 2014, to revise details of the law restricting and requiring permits for chemicals used to control aquatic nuisance species; increase the permit fees (by extending the sunset on their authorization); revise the duration of permits and make them transferable; and more.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692377

Senate Bill 611: Increase penalty on delinquent hotel convention tax
Passed 88 to 22 in the House on June 11, 2014, to require a hotel or motel owner who is late paying a room tax of up to 5 percent imposed to pay for regional marketing schemes to also pay the attorney and court costs incurred collecting the tax, in addition to the 1.5 percent “delinquency charge” and 1.5 percent per month interest charge already authorized under current law.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692363

Senate Bill 667: Prohibit minors from using “e-cigarettes”
Passed 94 to 16 in the House on June 11, 2014, to prohibit minors form using electronic cigarettes, making it a misdemeanor crime punishable by a $50 fine, community service in a hospice or long term care facility, and being ordered into a health promotion and risk reduction program. Senate Bill 668 adds e-cigarettes to the law prohibiting merchants from selling tobacco to minors.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692139

Senate Bill 668: Ban selling “e-cigarettes” to minors
Passed 96 to 14 in the House on June 11, 2014, to ban selling or giving minors electronic vapor cigarettes, or any device that delivers nicotine.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692376

Senate Bill 690: Revise physical therapist scope-of-practice
Passed 108 to 2 in the House on June 11, 2014, to repeal a ban on licensed physical therapists providing therapy unless it has been prescribed by a physician, subject to certain limits specified in the bill.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692369

Senate Bill 691: Revise physical therapist scope-of-practice
Passed 106 to 4 in the House on June 11, 2014, to allow Blue Cross Blue Shield to not reimburse services provided by a licensed physical therapist unless the service has been prescribed by a physician. Senate Bill 690 would repeal a prohibition on physical therapists providing service that has not been prescribed (subject to certain limits), while Senate Bills 691 through 694 would establish that insurers can still require prescriptions if they choose.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692370

Senate Bill 692: Revise physical therapist scope-of-practice
Passed 106 to 4 in the House on June 11, 2014, to allow “prudent purchaser” type health care coverage plans to not reimburse services provided by a licensed physical therapist unless the service has been prescribed by a physician. Senate Bill 690 would repeal a prohibition on physical therapists providing service that has not been prescribed (subject to certain limits), while Senate Bills 691 through 694 would establish that insurers can still require prescriptions if they choose.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692371

Senate Bill 693: Revise physical therapist scope-of-practice
Passed 106 to 4 in the House on June 11, 2014, to allow workers compensation insurance plans to not reimburse services provided by a licensed physical therapist unless the service has been prescribed by a physician. Senate Bill 690 would repeal a prohibition on physical therapists providing service that has not been prescribed (subject to certain limits), while Senate Bills 691 through 694 would establish that insurers can still require prescriptions if they choose.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692372

Senate Bill 694: Revise physical therapist scope-of-practice
Passed 106 to 4 in the House on June 11, 2014, to allow health insurance companies to not reimburse services provided by a licensed physical therapist unless the service has been prescribed by a physician. Senate Bill 690 would repeal a prohibition on physical therapists providing service that has not been prescribed (subject to certain limits), while Senate Bills 691 through 694 would establish that insurers can still require prescriptions if they choose.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692373

Senate Bill 695: Revise subsidized Detroit Woodward streetcar detail
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to broaden the definition of “nonprofit street railway” operators authorized by a legislative package enacted in 2008 to create a Detroit “light rail” line (namely, a Woodward Avenue streetcar) that would be subsidized through Tax Increment Financing, public debt, state road tax money, etc. Reportedly this is necessary to conform with federal rules.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692224

Senate Bill 696: Exempt Detroit Woodward streetcar from “legacy cost” liability
Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to revise a Detroit “light rail” line legislative package enacted in 2008 to create a Woodward Avenue streetcar, so as to establish that the operator would not be liable for any “legacy costs” incurred by the Detroit Transportation Department (presumably including unfunded employee pension liabilities). Also, to exempt the property, income, and operations of this entity from all state and local taxation. See also House Bill 5168, which would authorize the Detroit area regional transportation authority created by a 2012 law to enter agreements to operate this line.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692225

Senate Bill 697: Exempt Detroit Woodward streetcar from property tax
Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to exempt the operator of a Detroit “light rail” line authorized by a legislative package enacted in 2008 from property taxes.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692226

Senate Bill 748: Revise limousine regulations and special Detroit powers
Passed 30 to 8 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to revise the population threshold in a law that authorizes Detroit to impose a protectionist city regulatory regime on “limousines” that pick up passengers in the city, so as to accommodate Detroit’s shrinking population. The bill would also expand the scope of Detroit’s restrictions by increasing the capacity limit of vehicles subject to them from “fewer than seven” people to “fewer than nine,” including the driver.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692191

Senate Bill 752: Increase income tax property tax credit
Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to increase the maximum income cap (“household resources” cap) on a property tax credit a homeowner or renter may claim against his or her state income tax begins to phase-out, from $50,000 to $70,000. The vote is part of a deal made with Democrats by Gov. Rick Snyder and Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville to get their votes on a $1.2 billion fuel tax increase, and will only go into effect if that tax hike is enacted.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692167

Senate Bill 847: Expand homestead property tax credit
Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to increase the property tax credit a homeowner or renter can claim against the state income tax, by lowering the income threshold in the formula used to calculate this “homestead” or principle residence exemption. The vote is part of a deal made with Democrats by Gov. Rick Snyder and Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville to get their votes on a $1.2 billion fuel tax increase, and will only go into effect if that tax hike is enacted.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692166

Senate Bill 853: Ban automated eyeglass “kiosks”
Passed 108 to 2 in the House on June 11, 2014, to prohibit automated testing devices that provide automated eye exams and issue prescriptions for glasses or contact lenses. Instead, only licensed optometrists and physicians specializing in eye care could write eyeglass and contact lens prescriptions. This would preempt eyeglass “kiosks” in drugstores and other retail locations, which is a lower cost alternative to conventional optometry services that are expanding in some other states.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692374

Senate Bill 873: Authorize “Pure Michigan Trail” designations
Passed 108 to 2 in the House on June 11, 2014, to authorize the designation of a trail as “Pure Michigan Trail” if it contributes to a statewide trail network that “promotes healthy lifestyles, economic development, recreation, and conservation.” The bill would also authorize designation of “Pure Michigan Towns” and “Pure Michigan Water Trails”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692364

Senate Bill 875: Authorize “Pure Michigan Trail” designations
Passed 108 to 2 in the House on June 11, 2014, to revise the state environmental protection law to conform to the proposal in Senate Bill 873 to designate a statewide multi-use trail network.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692365

Senate Bill 877: Authorize “Pure Michigan Trail” designations
Passed 108 to 2 in the House on June 11, 2014, to revise the law authorizing a state “snowmobile and trails advisory council” so as to conform to the proposal in Senate Bill 873 to create a statewide multi-use trail network and the designation of “Pure Michigan Water Trails”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692367

Senate Bill 890: Revise state adoption subsidies
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to revise details of a law that authorizes subsidies for parents who adopt a child, so as to accommodate an agreement that the state would provide higher subsidies if it turns out a particular child needs “extraordinary” care that incurs extraordinary expenses.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692200

Senate Bill 900: Revise workers comp insurance detail
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on June 11, 2014, to give the state agency that oversees the injured workers compensation insurance system discretion to permit reimbursement for certain claims made after statutory deadlines have passed. This is part of a legislative package intended to provide several hundred former Delphi Corporation employees with workers’ compensation benefits that reportedly have not been available since 2009 due to the company’s bankruptcy.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692368

Senate Bill 910: Ban enforcement of new woodstove emissions limits
Passed 25 to 12 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to prohibit Department of Environmental Quality from imposing new state regulations limiting emissions from woodstoves and heaters, or enforcing federal regulations that do this. The bill was introduced as news reports indicate that proposed federal Environmental Protection Agency rules would impose restrictive new limits on wood burning heaters.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692211

Senate Bill 948: Restrict radioactive material storage and disposal
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to prohibit storing or disposing radioactive waste from another state or country in Michigan, and ban storing any radioactive material other than what is allowed under current law for nuclear power plants, uranium mines and medical uses. The bill would also create a state advisory board for the purpose of writing a report on the potential impact of depositing radioactive waste deep underground at a site in Kincardine, Ontario, as proposed by an Ontario utility.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692222

House Bill 4003: Expand state Treasurer tax dispute deal making authority
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to authorize the state treasurer to compromise disputed tax matters under certain conditions, and establish associated disclosures and record keeping requirements.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692229

House Bill 4251: Revise local road project contracting details
Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to establish that if a township contributes 50 percent or more to the cost of a road project, it can require the county road commission contract for the work through competitive bidding. This is part of a House road funding package.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692168

House Bill 4380: Repeal registration for foresters
Passed 24 to 14 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to repeal statutory references to registered foresters. House Bill 4281 would repeal registration provisions for foresters. The bill leaves in place a revised definition of “qualified” forester, which means someone qualified to attest that a piece of forest property qualifies for certain property tax breaks.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692192

House Bill 4567: Increase certain drunk driver penalties
Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to increase various drunk driving penalties. Among other changes, the bill raises the penalty for a drunk or stoned driver who causes the death of another from 5 years in prison to 10 years, and up to 20 years for certain aggravated offenses.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692198

House Bill 4568: Increase certain drunk driver penalties
Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to revise the state sentencing guidelines reflect the increased drunk driving penalties proposed by House Bill 4566.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692199

House Bill 4630: Increase vehicle registration taxes
Passed 21 to 15 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to eliminate the current 10 percent reduction of vehicle registration (license plate) fees for a new vehicle’s second, third, and fourth years of registration. This would represent a $145 million tax increase on vehicle owners, but it would not take effect until 2016. The bill would also increase the drivers license renewal fee from $18 to $25, and increase a number of other fees on different kinds of vehicles and trailers. However, with the Senate’s unwillingness to pass a related $1.2 billion gas tax increase the bill’s future is in question..
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692189

House Bill 4630: Increase vehicle registration taxes
The substitute passed by voice vote in the Senate on May 21, 2014, to adopt a version of the bill that contains a much larger tax hike; see Senate-passed bill for more.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=158834

House Bill 4630: Increase vehicle registration taxes
Failed 18 to 20 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to eliminate the current 10 percent reduction of vehicle registration (license plate) fees for a new vehicle’s second, third, and fourth years of registration. This would represent a $145 million tax increase on vehicle owners. The bill would also increase the drivers license renewal fee from $18 to $25, and increase a number of other fees on different kinds of vehicles and trailers.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692181

House Bill 4688: Repeal licensure mandates for dietitians and nutritionists
Passed 26 to 12 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to repeal a law that imposes a licensure mandate on dietitians and nutritionists. The mandate has not been enforced since it was authorized in 2006 because the state licensure agency was unable to devise acceptable credentialing and education requirements.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692223

House Bill 5039: Expand mandatory child death investigations
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to expand the duties of the state “children’s ombudsman” to include investigating all deaths of a child if there was an active or recent child protective services investigation or complaint, or the child was in foster care (with some exceptions). This office would also be required to report any immediate safety concerns regarding a child in an active or open protective services or foster care case to the appropriate state agency.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692208

House Bill 5069: Authorize penalties on rental property “squatters”
Passed 32 to 5 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to establish that the usual restrictions and penalties on a landlord interfering with a tenant’s legitimate possession of a rented residence do not apply in the case of “squatters,” defined by the bill as a person who took possession by “forcible entry, holds possession by force after a peaceable entry, or came into possession by trespass.” House Bill 5070 authorizes criminal penalties for some squatting violations.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692194

House Bill 5070: Authorize penalties on rental property “squatters”
Passed 32 to 6 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to authorize criminal penalties for a “squatter” who illegally occupies a residence, including up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for second and subsequent violations. “Squatter” is defined by the bill as someone who “at any time during that period of occupancy, occupied the property with the owner’s consent for an agreed-upon consideration” but not a “guest or a family member of the owner or a tenant”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692196

House Bill 5071: Authorize penalties on rental property “squatters”
Passed 34 to 4 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to establish sentencing guidelines for the crime proposed by House Bill 5070 of “squatting,” defined as illegally occupying a residence.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692197

House Bill 5089: Create new pseudoephedrine “straw man” buyer crime
Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to authorize up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for purchasing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine while knowing that it will be used to manufacture methamphetamine.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692201

House Bill 5090: Create new pseudoephedrine “straw man” buyer crime
Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to establish sentencing guidelines for the crime proposed by House Bill 5089 of purchasing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine while knowing that it will be used to manufacture methamphetamine.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692202

House Bill 5167: Require competitive bidding on some road maintenance
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to require road agencies to seek competitive bids for road maintenance projects greater than $100,000 and use a “performance based” payment system. This is part of a House road funding package.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692183

House Bill 5168: Facilitate DARTA operating Woodward streetcar
Passed 32 to 6 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to authorize the Detroit area regional transportation authority created by a 2012 law to enter agreements to operate a Woodward Avenue streetcar in Detroit with the entity authorized by 2008 law to create it. The bill would exempt this project from a provision requiring unanimous action by the DARTA board for any form of rail passenger service, and specify that Detroit and Wayne County would be responsible for covering the line’s operating deficits (and not other communities in the RTA).
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692227

House Bill 5169: Facilitate DARTA operating Woodward streetcar
Passed 31 to 7 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to revise details of the 2012 law that created a Detroit area regional transportation authority, so as to facilitate the proposal in House Bill 5168 accommodate the proposal in House Bill 5168 to let the authority operate the Woodward Avenue streetcar project authorized by a 2008 law.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692228

House Bill 5261: Exempt vehicle sale to relatives from sales tax
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to exempt from sales tax the sale of a vehicle to a relative, including parents, children, grandparents and grandchildren, spouses, in-laws and more.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692209

House Bill 5313: Appropriations: 2014-2015 “Omnibus” budget
Failed 0 to 109 in the House on May 15, 2014, to concur with a Senate-passed version of the bill. The vote sends the bill to a House-Senate conference committee to work out the differences.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=690644

House Bill 5314: Appropriations: “Omnibus” education budget
Passed 60 to 50 in the House on June 11, 2014, the final education budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct 1, 2014. A separate House budget authorizes the rest of state government spending (House Bill 5313).
This bill would authorize $13.870 billion for K-12 public schools, a $509 million increase. It also appropriates $1.516 billion for state universities, compared to $1.430 billion the prior year; and $364 million for community colleges, up from $335 million.
The bill increases per-student “foundation allowances” for higher-spending K-12 school districts by $50, and $125 for lower spending ones. However, distributions to school districts are understated by around $400 per student compared to pre-2012 budgets, because the state is now depositing a portion of their pension costs directly into the system (rather than the previous practice of sending it all to the districts to deposit). Reportedly, the gap between funding at the highest and lowest spending districts has decreased to $848, compared to around $2,300 when the Proposal A school finance overhaul was approved in 1994.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692138

House Bill 5314: Appropriations: “Omnibus” education budget
Passed 21 to 17 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, the final education budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct 1, 2014. A separate House budget authorizes the rest of state government spending (House Bill 5313).
This bill would authorize $13.870 billion for K-12 public schools, a $509 million increase. It also appropriates $1.516 billion for state universities, compared to $1.430 billion the prior year; and $364 million for community colleges, up from $335 million.
The bill increases per-student “foundation allowances” for higher-spending K-12 school districts by $50, and $125 for lower spending ones. However, distributions to school districts are understated by around $400 per student compared to pre-2012 budgets, because the state is now depositing a portion of their pension costs directly into the system (rather than the previous practice of sending it all to the districts to deposit). Reportedly, the gap between funding at the highest and lowest spending districts has decreased to $848, compared to around $2,300 when the Proposal A school finance overhaul was approved in 1994.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692195

House Bill 5363: Expand meth-related pseudoephedrine restrictions
Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to prohibit purchasing or possessing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine that is intended to be used to manufacture methamphetamines, subject to up to 20 years in prison.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692203

House Bill 5452: Increase overweight and oversize truck fees
Failed 16 to 22 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to increase the fees for permits required to operate a vehicle or trailer that exceeds standard highway size, weight, or load restrictions. Currently the fees range from $15 to $100, depending on whether the fee is for overweight or oversize vehicles or trailers, and for a single trip or an multiple trips. Single trip fees would double, and multiple or annual trip permits would quintuple. A preliminary estimate indicates this would increase revenue for road funding by around $11 million.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692173

House Bill 5460: Require local road agencies get warranties on road projects
Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to expand to local road agencies a requirement to warranties from contractors for road construction and preservation projects valued at more than $1 million. Under current law the warranty requirement only applies to the state Department of Transportation. This is part of a House road funding package.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692169

House Bill 5477: Replace per-gallon fuel tax with 6 percent wholesale tax
The substitute failed 17 to 21 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to adopt a version of the bill that would replace the current 19-cent per gallon gas tax and 15-cent diesel tax with a 7.0 percent wholesale fuel tax, gradually increasing to 15 percent over five years.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692216

House Bill 5493: Replace per-gallon fuel tax with 6 percent wholesale tax
Passed 20 to 18 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to replace the current 15 cent per gallon motor carrier fuel tax imposed on interstate truckers with a tax on the wholesale fuel price somewhere between 7 and 17 percent per gallon. The exact rate would be specified in House Bill 5477 and was the subject of intense and incompete negotiations on the day this vote was taken.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692221

House Bill 5507: Revise county foster care reimbursement detail
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on June 11, 2014, to extend for another year a state reimbursement to counties to cover a portion of the cost of providing foster care services. The bill also clarifies what constitutes “foster care services”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692362

House Bill 5553: Authorize “Pure Michigan Trail” designations
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to authorize the use of money in an existing “Michigan trailways fund” to develop the statewide multi-use trail network proposed by Senate Bill 873.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692204

House Bill 5559: Authorize “Pure Michigan Trail” designations
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to revise the law authorizing the state to operate an “adopt a trail” program using the services of volunteers so as to conform to the proposal in Senate Bill 873 to create a statewide multi-use trail network.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692205

House Bill 5600: Revise conflict of interest to allow mayor on Detroit oversight panel
Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to revise a law that prohibits public officials from having various positions that may create a conflict of interest, so as to allow the mayor and a council member of a financially troubled city to be on a financial review commission for their city. This relates to legislation making a $195 million gift of state money to Detroit toward a possible bankruptcy settlement, which created a state oversight panel that includes the mayor and president of the city council.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692392

House Bill 5612: Revise detail of large utility regulatory regime
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 11, 2014, to allow money in a state “Utility Consumer Representation Fund” to be used for participation in proceedings on utility cost allocation and rate setting methods. Large utilities are required to pay a certain amount to this fund, and to pass the cost to customers. Half the money in fund goes to the Attorney General and half to “consumer advocates” to contest rate hikes.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692207

House Joint Resolution FF: Make enacted bills effective in 90 days, or sooner with 2/3 vote
Passed 60 to 50 in the House on June 12, 2014, to place before voters in the next general election a constitutional amendment establishing that bills enacted by the legislature go into effect 90 days after being filed with the Secretary of State, unless the bill is given immediate effect by a roll call vote of two-thirds of the members elected and serving in the House and Senate. A 2/3 vote is required to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692646

Senate Bill 66: Revise high school graduation standards
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on June 12, 2014, to revise procedural details related to the state’s high school graduation and curriculum standards. The bill would require timely responses from the Department of Education to school requests for information that helps them meet the requirements. It also “strongly encourages” schools to establish programs that lead to a professional certificate, training, apprenticeship, or college credit in a specific career and technical field.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692649

Senate Bill 324: Require certification of federal health care law “navigators”
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to require “certification” for the individuals and organizations acting as “navigators” authorized by the federal health care law (“Obamacare”) to assist individuals who apply for government-subsidized health benefits through the law’s “exchange,” including criminal background check and training requirements. The bill requires the Department of Insurance and Financial Services to determine whether a training program not created by the state sufficiently protects the privacy and security of Michigan residents’ personally identifiable information. If it does not, then the state would have to provide its own version. The bill authorizes administrative sanctions and fines for individuals and organizations who violate various rules, including “steering” a person toward a particular policy.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692564

Senate Bill 481: Repeal licensure mandate on foresters
Passed 57 to 53 in the House on June 12, 2014, to repeal a licensure mandate imposed on foresters, and eliminate a state “Board of Foresters” comprised political appointees who establish educational and experience requirements for forresters.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692629

Senate Bill 484: Repeal registration mandate on foresters
Passed 61 to 49 in the House on June 12, 2014, to repeal a registration mandate imposed on foresters. This bill repeals associated fees.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692630

Senate Bill 535: Mandate retailers check pseudoephed buyers against “meth offender registry”
Passed 107 to 0 in the House on June 12, 2014, to require the State Police to submit information on methamphetamine-related offenders to a national database, and reinforce the mandate that retailers check the names and prohibit sales to anyone buying cold medicines containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine whose name is on the list, by granting immunity from civil liability to those who rely on and use the information.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692602

Senate Bill 613: Permit keeping road kill
Passed 109 to 1 in the House on June 12, 2014, to allow a driver who kills or injures a game animal other than some birds including turkeys, badgers, bobcats, elk, moose, deer fauns, wolves and bear cubs to keep it, and give the driver first priority if more than one person wants it. The Department of Natural Resources would be required to issue a “salvage tag” if requested, which would be required to get the carcass stuffed or tanned by a taxidermist. The driver would have to keep a record of the circumstances until the game is consumed or discarded.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692608

Senate Bill 633: Allow community service to cover some “bad driver” fees
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to allow a person to do 10 hours of “community service” in lieu of paying a state “bad driver fee” for certain offenses, including accumulating seven or more “points” within a two-year period, driving without a license and failing to produce proof of insurance. These very high, revenue-raising fees were originally imposed in 2003 to avoid spending cuts in that year’s and subsequent state government budgets.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692583

Senate Bill 644: Revise “strict discipline academies” detail
Passed 96 to 14 in the House on June 12, 2014, to allow “strict discipline academies” (which provide alternative schooling for students expelled for certain criminal offenses and juvenile offenders under a criminal sentence diversion agreement) to enroll students from high- or medium-security juvenile facilities, mental health facilities, or child caring institutions that are operated by a private agency.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692605

Senate Bill 674: Establish statutory right to breastfeed in public
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to concur with the House-passed version of the bill.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692577

Senate Bill 674: Establish statutory right to breastfeed in public
Passed 108 to 2 in the House on June 12, 2014, to establish in law that a woman has a right to breastfeed a baby in a “place of public accommodation” or public facility. A woman would be entitled to “the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations” in these places, and if denied them could sue for actual damages or up to $200 in “presumed” damages.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692617

Senate Bill 678: Revise tobacco tax revenue earmarks
Passed 109 to 1 in the House on June 12, 2014, to earmark $3 million of annual state tobacco tax revenue to the state Capitol upkeep fund proposed by Senate Bill 665.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692626

Senate Bill 704: Require “pharmacist in charge” at pharmacies
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on June 12, 2014, to require all pharmacies, manufacturers, and wholesale distributors to designate a pharmacist in charge, and provide penalties. This relates to a recent “drug compounding” scandal in New England that led to contaminated drugs causing meningitis in several people.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692609

Senate Bill 715: Adopt “universal certificates of insurance act”
Passed 109 to 1 in the House on June 12, 2014, to prohibit issuing a certificate of insurance that would alter the coverage provided by an insurance policy referred to in the certificate, or which contained false or misleading information concerning a policy, or requiring the issuance of a certificate with false or misleading information regarding a policy. Also, to establish that a person would have a right to notice of cancellation only under the terms of an insurance policy.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692607

Senate Bill 756: Revise pseudoephed “instant background check” law details
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on June 12, 2014, to revise details of a 2011 law that requires retailers selling pseudoephedrine cold medications to perform an “instant check” on each customer using the “National Precursor Log Exchange” (Nplex) administered by the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators (NADDI). See also Senate Bill 535.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692603

Senate Bill 817: Move back teacher rating process deadlines
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on June 12, 2014, to revise the criteria for teacher “effectiveness” evaluation, so that student progress would not have to be measured using “assessments and other objective criteria.” Originally under a 2011 law basing school employment decisions on these ratings, half of a teacher’s effectiveness rating was supposed to be based on student academic progress as measured by actual results on state tests. Under the House-passed version of House Bill 5223, only 20 percent of the rating would be based on student test results in “core” subjects, with the remainder based on potentially more subjective “local” measurements of student academic progress.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692606

Senate Bill 846: Revise “development district” liquor license law
Passed 103 to 7 in the House on June 12, 2014, to extend to villages and townships the 2005 law that authorizes the issuance of additional on-premises liquor licenses in excess of the number allowed under a state quota system, for businesses in “development” districts, “tax increment finance authority” districts, certain “corridor improvement” districts, “downtown development” districts and “principal shopping districts” (which all enable local governments to impose higher property taxes and/or grant various subsidies in those areas).
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692611

Senate Bill 872: Reduce regulatory obstacles to developing stamp-sand property
Passed 29 to 8 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to concur with the House-passed version of the bill.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692589

Senate Bill 872: Reduce regulatory obstacles to developing stamp-sand property
Passed 67 to 43 in the House on June 12, 2014, to establish that property where “stamp sands” have been deposited is not subject to state environmental law restrictions unless the sands contain hazardous substances that exceed the allowable levels for unrestricted residential use. “Stamp sands” are finely grained crushed rock resulting from copper ore processing and are not uncommon in the Keweenaw region.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692645

Senate Bill 904: Require “pharmacist in charge” at pharmacies
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on June 12, 2014, to establish sentencing guidelines for the criminal offenses proposed by Senate Bill 704, which would require pharmacies, manufacturers, and distributors to designate a pharmacist in charge. This relates to a recent “drug compounding” scandal in New England that led to contaminated drugs causing meningitis in several people.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692610

Senate Bill 922: Authorize local “pension obligation bonds”
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to extend for one year the Dec. 31, 2014 sunset on a law passed in 2012 to allow local governments to borrow money to cover unfunded employee pension liabilities, if the local has closed its traditional “defined benefit” pension system to new employees.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692569

House Bill 4465: Lower high school graduation standards
Passed 23 to 14 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to revise wording in the state’s high school graduation curriculum requirements in ways that generally reduce the rigor of foreign language and math standards, among other things allowing students to substitute certain alternative courses for Algebra II; and also to revise details of physical education and arts standards.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692596

House Bill 4466: Revise high school graduation standards
Passed 23 to 14 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to revise the high school graduation curriculum requirements adopted in a 2006 law by allowing one of the science course requirements to be met by a course in “agricultural science;” make it easier for a student to get an exemption from the math and other standards (that is, to have a custom “personal curriculum”); and more.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692597

House Bill 4534: Establish “animal abuse registry”
Passed 98 to 12 in the House on June 12, 2014, to mandate that animal shelters run background checks for animal abuse offense on individuals wanting to adopt an animal, using an Internet Criminal History Access Tool (ICHAT) maintained by the Department of State Police.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692612

House Bill 4958: Prohibit unemployment benefits for legal aliens on work visa
Passed 34 to 4 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to establish that legal aliens with a work visa are not eligible for Michigan unemployment benefits. Under current law this ineligibility applies to agricultural work, and the bill would expand it to include non-agricultural work. This would mean that their employers wouldn’t have to pay the state unemployment tax (”assessment”) imposed on these workers’ wages.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692571

House Bill 4997: Ban sale of e-cigarettes to minors
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to ban the sale to minors of electronic cigarettes or any oral device that provides vaporized nicotine, and the use of these devices by minors. This bill provides definitions for the proposed law, and Senate Bills 667 and 668 contain the use and sales bans, respectively.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692565

House Bill 5061: Mandate criminal background check to adopt a pet
Passed 89 to 21 in the House on June 12, 2014, to prohibit animal shelters from allowing a person to adopt an animal if the background check mandated by House Bill 4534 showed the person had committed an animal abuse offense in the past five years.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692614

House Bill 5313: Appropriations: 2014-2015 “Omnibus” budget
Passed 24 to 12 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, the final state government budget for the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1, 2014, not including education spending (which is in House Bill 5314.) This would appropriate $37.4 billion, compared to $34.4 billion originally appropriated the previous year (prior to adoption of the federal health care law’s Medicaid expansion). Of this, $17.6 billion comes from state tax, fee and other revenue, compared to $16.9 billion the previous year. The rest of this budget is federal money ($19.8 billion, compared to $18.1 billion the previous year).
With education spending, the total state budget for the next fiscal year will be $53.15 billion, up $3.63 billion (7.3 percent) from the $49.52 billion budget originally enacted for the previous year. The state portion of this will be $31.45 billion, up $1.25 billion (4.1 percent) from the $30.18 billion originally approved for the previous year.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692513

House Bill 5313: Appropriations: 2014-2015 “Omnibus” budget
Passed 100 to 10 in the House on June 12, 2014, the final state government budget for the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1, 2014, not including education spending (which is in House Bill 5314.) This would appropriate $37.4 billion, compared to $34.4 billion originally appropriated the previous year (prior to adoption of the federal health care law’s Medicaid expansion). Of this, $17.6 billion comes from state tax, fee and other revenue, compared to $16.9 billion the previous year. The rest of this budget is federal money ($19.8 billion, compared to $18.1 billion the previous year).
With education spending, the total state budget for the next fiscal year will be $53.15 billion, up $3.63 billion (7.3 percent) from the $49.52 billion budget originally enacted for the previous year. The state portion of this will be $31.45 billion, up $1.25 billion (4.1 percent) from the $30.18 billion originally approved for the previous year.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692604

House Bill 5397: Authorize local government energy efficiency homeowner loans
Passed 108 to 2 in the House on June 12, 2014, to allow local governments in communities with a municipal utility to provide an energy efficiency loan program for homeowners. Loan payments could be made with utility bills.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692623

House Bill 5414: Reduce, then end “driver responsibility fees”
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to gradually phase out the so-called “driver responsibility fees” (a.k.a. “bad driver tax”) imposed for certain traffic violations, which were originally adopted in 2003 to avoid spending cuts in that year’s and subsequent state budgets. The fees for most offenses would be abolished as of Oct. 1, 2019. Reportedly, thousands of mostly low-income individuals have lost their licenses due to inability to pay these penalties. Senate Bill 633 would authorize doing “community service” as an alternative in many cases..
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692584

House Bill 5445: Establish rape kit evidence regulations and procedures
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to establish regulations, procedures and timetables with deadlines that law enforcement agencies and health care providers must follow when collecting and using sexual assault kit evidence.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692566

House Bill 5451: Authorize National Guard member tuition subsidies
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to authorize annual college or vocational education tuition subsidies “in an amount determined to be available by the Guard’s Adjutant General” for a current Michigan National Guard member. House Bill 5313 appropriates $4.7 million for this.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692570

House Bill 5478: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to replace an existing state “self-insurers’ security fund” for covering worker’s compensation insurance benefits from a private self-insurer that becomes insolvent with a new “private employer group self-insurers security fund,” starting in 2020. This fund would pay injured or disabled employees’ claims and impose assessments on member groups to cover the insufficiency if one of them is unable to pay valid claims. This is part of a legislative package intended to provide several hundred former Delphi Corporation employees with workers’ compensation benefits that reportedly have not been available since 2009 due to the company’s bankruptcy.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692498

House Bill 5479: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to replace an existing state “self-insurers’ security fund” for covering worker’s compensation insurance benefits from a private self-insurer that becomes insolvent with a new entity, starting in 2019. The new fund would pay injured or disabled employees’ claims and impose assessments on member groups to cover the insufficiency if one of them is unable to pay valid claims. . This is part of a legislative package intended to provide several hundred former Delphi Corporation employees with workers’ compensation benefits that reportedly have not been available since 2009 due to the company’s bankruptcy.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692499

House Bill 5480: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to revise details of the state workers compensation insurance law to conform to the proposal in House Bills 5478 and 5479 to revise a state reinsurance fund to cover claims against self-insured employers who become insolvent. This is part of a legislative package intended to provide several hundred former Delphi Corporation employees with workers’ compensation benefits that reportedly have not been available since 2009 due to the company’s bankruptcy.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692500

House Bill 5481: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to revise details of the state workers compensation insurance law to conform to the proposal in House Bills 5478 and 5479 to revise a state reinsurance fund to cover claims against self-insured employers who become insolvent. This is part of a legislative package intended to provide several hundred former Delphi Corporation employees with workers’ compensation benefits that reportedly have not been available since 2009 due to the company’s bankruptcy.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692501

House Bill 5483: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to authorize the imposition of extra assessments against the members of the “private employer group self-insurers security fund” if its obligations exceed the capacity of the fund to pay. This is part of a legislative package intended to provide several hundred former Delphi Corporation employees with workers’ compensation benefits that reportedly have not been available since 2009 due to the company’s bankruptcy.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692502

House Bill 5484: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to establish that the duty of the Attorney General to give legal advice to an existing state “self-insurers’ security fund” for covering worker’s compensation insurance benefits would be the same under the replacement entity proposed in House Bills 5478 and 5479. This is part of a legislative package intended to provide several hundred former Delphi Corporation employees with workers’ compensation benefits that reportedly have not been available since 2009 due to the company’s bankruptcy.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692507

House Bill 5485: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to establish that the “private employer group self-insurers security fund” proposed by House Bills 5478 and 5479 ends up paying the benefits of an injured worker (instead of the self-insured employer paying them, it would have the right to seek reimbursement from the insolvent employer. This is part of a legislative package intended to provide several hundred former Delphi Corporation employees with workers’ compensation benefits that reportedly have not been available since 2009 due to the company’s bankruptcy.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692504

House Bill 5486: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to establish that rights to an insolvent employer’s records currently vested in a state workers compensation “self-insurers’ security fund” would be the same under the replacement entity proposed by House Bills 5478 and 5479 for covering worker’s compensation insurance benefits owed by an insolvent self-insured employer. This is part of a legislative package intended to provide several hundred former Delphi Corporation employees with workers’ compensation benefits that reportedly have not been available since 2009 due to the company’s bankruptcy.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692508

House Bill 5487: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to increase the assessment imposed on self insured companies and revise the assessment-setting methodology and accounting requirements for a state trust fund created to pay worker’s compensation insurance benefits owed by an insolvent self-insured employer. This is part of a legislative package intended to provide several hundred former Delphi Corporation employees with workers’ compensation benefits that reportedly have not been available since 2009 due to the company’s bankruptcy.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692509

House Bill 5488: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to revise details of a provision enforcing the duty of an employer who self-insures for potential workers compensation liability to pay into a state trust fund created to cover benefits owed by insolvent self-insured employers. This is part of a legislative package intended to provide several hundred former Delphi Corporation employees with workers’ compensation benefits that reportedly have not been available since 2009 due to the company’s bankruptcy.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692510

House Bill 5489: Authorize workers comp trust fund payments to former Delphi workers
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to authorize payments from a state trust fund created to pay workers compensation insurance benefits owed by insolvent self-insured employers to former employees of the Delphi Corporation (which was spun-off by General Motors in 1997 and filed bankruptcy in 2005). The trust fund would be allowed to seek reimbursement from whatever entity is ultimately found by a federal court to be liable for these claims. This is part of a legislative package intended to provide several hundred former Delphi Corporation employees with workers’ compensation benefits that reportedly have not been available since 2009 due to the company’s bankruptcy.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692511

House Bill 5490: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to revise details of the process for resolving disputes between an employer or insurer and the trustees of a state trust fund created to pay workers compensation benefits owed by an insolvent employer. This is part of a legislative package intended to provide several hundred former Delphi Corporation employees with workers’ compensation benefits that reportedly have not been available since 2009 due to the company’s bankruptcy.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692512

House Bill 5558: Clarify preemption of insurance lawsuits under Consumer Protection Act
Passed 24 to 13 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to clarify that a prohibition of “unfair practices” lawsuits against insurance companies under the state Consumer Protection Act (rather than the state’s Insurance Code) applies even if the cause of action occurred before a 2001 law was enacted specifying that industries like insurance which are already subject to a comprehensive state regulatory regime are not covered by the Consumer Protection Act. Lawsuits that have already been filed could still proceed, however.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692585

House Bill 5591: Exempt public breastfeeding from “indecent exposure” law
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to exempt a mother’s breastfeeding in a public place from state laws prohibiting open or indecent exposure, “regardless of whether or not her areola or nipple is visible during or incidental to the breastfeeding”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692567

House Bill 5592: Exempt public breastfeeding from “indecent exposure” law
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on June 12, 2014, to revise the law that defines indecent exposure as a form of disorderly conduct so that it conforms to the proposal in House Bill 5591 to exempt a mother’s breastfeeding of a child from the indecent exposure law.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692568

House Bill 5608: Provide insurance to fallen public safety dependents
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on June 12, 2014, to require the state to provide the spouse and dependents of a firefighter, law enforcement officer or emergency first responder who dies in the line of duty with health insurance comparable to and on similar terms as the coverage plan provided to Michigan State Policy troopers. This would end when these individuals get comparable coverage from another source.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=692618

House Bill 5655: Give unemployment benefits for domestic violence absence
Introduced by Rep. Jeff Irwin (D) on June 11, 2014, to allow unemployment insurance benefits for an individual who leaves a job due to domestic violence.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164573

House Bill 5658: Authorize PPOs for threats against pets
Introduced by Rep. Harvey Santana (D) on June 11, 2014, to authorize courts to issue a personal protection order against an individual who threatens, harms or tries to take an animal in which the petitioner has an ownership interest, or who interferes with the petitioner’s efforts to remove the animal from premises the premises of individual to be restrained.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164576

House Bill 5659: Authorize firearm seizure in domestic violence incident
Introduced by Rep. Harvey Santana (D) on June 11, 2014, to authorize the seizure of legally owned firearms if a law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe a domestic violence incident has occurred or that the alleged perpetrator is subject to a personal protection order, “conditional release” order or firearms possession prohibition order, and if the officer believes the firearm exposes the victim to risk of harm. The guns would have to be returned unless the individual is otherwise prohibited from possessing firearms or they are held as evidence of a probable-cause based criminal proceeding.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164577

House Bill 5660: Revise county veteran department detail
Introduced by Rep. Greg MacMaster (R) on June 11, 2014, to establish that if a county department of veterans’ affairs contracts to provide services in a different county, a resident of that second county can be on department’s administrative board.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164578

House Bill 5661: Require state to disclose all payments to local governments
Introduced by Rep. Pam Faris (D) on June 11, 2014, to require the state’s “comprehensive annual financial report” to itemize all payments to each local government unit during the year.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164579

House Bill 5662: Require state contract bidders disclose if they are public officials
Introduced by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D) on June 11, 2014, to require all bidders on state contracts to disclose whether they, their spouse, or a relative “to the fourth degree of consanguinity” are public officials. If the bidder is a business this would apply to the partners, officers, directors and principle shareholders.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164580

House Bill 5663: Impose financial disclosure on state department heads and deputies
Introduced by Rep. Jeff Irwin (D) on June 11, 2014, to require non-civil service state department employees (which means the small number politically appointed department heads and their deputies) to file extensive financial disclosures listing the assets and incomes of themselves and their spouse, including any future employment agreements.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164581

House Bill 5664: Expand mandated lobbyist contact reporting
Introduced by Rep. Brandon Dillon (D) on June 11, 2014, to expand the list of executive branch employees with whom communications to influence administrative actions is considered “lobbying” and subject to registration and disclosure mandates.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164582

House Bill 5665: Make some property transfer forms confidential
Introduced by Rep. Kevin Cotter (R) on June 11, 2014, to make confidential the forms submitted by a property buyer to the local assessor revealing how much was paid in certain property transfers.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164583

House Bill 5666: Repeal county promotions tax, except for Washtenaw
Introduced by Rep. Rick Outman (R) on June 11, 2014, to repeal a law that allows counties to impose a 0.5 mill property tax for trade expositions, tourism promotion or to advertise the county’s “agricultural advantages,” except for Washtenaw County, which appears to be the only county that currently imposes this tax.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164584

House Bill 5667: Let clerks choose electronic voting system
Introduced by Rep. Lisa Lyons (R) on June 12, 2014, to allow county clerks in cooperation with and local clerks to determine which electronic voting system to adopt, subject to certain requirements specified in the bill.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164587

House Bill 5668: Authorize “epi-pens” in restaurants, camps, arenas and more
Introduced by Rep. Lisa Lyons (R) on June 12, 2014, to expand to restaurants, recreation camps, youth sports leagues, amusement parks, sports arenas and other “authorized facilities” at which allergens capable of causing anaphylaxis may be present, a law that allows physicians to prescribe epinephrine auto injectors to schools to keep in their facilities. This law also waives the legal liability of an authorized employee or agent of the facility who has specified training and who provides or administers the drug to a person he or she believes in good faith to be experiencing anaphylaxis, except for gross negligence.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164588

House Bill 5669: Revise private school teacher “professional development” detail
Introduced by Rep. Rob VerHeulen (R) on June 12, 2014, to permit a “state-approved nonpublic school” to provide teacher “professional development” for nonpublic school teachers, and credit this toward the issuance or renewal of a teaching certificate or subject area “endorsement,” to the same extent as when this is provided for teachers in public schools.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164589

House Bill 5670: Require city tax liability disclosure on state tax forms
Introduced by Rep. Phil Cavanagh (D) on June 12, 2014, to require income tax filers to disclose on state tax returns whether they have local government income tax liability, whether their employer has withheld money from paychecks for this, and how much they owe to the local government. State tax forms would have to include a list of local income taxes and a worksheet to calculate the liability.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164590

House Bill 5671: Restrict government pension “service credit” purchases
Introduced by Rep. Phil Cavanagh (D) on June 12, 2014, to place additional restrictions on counties allowing an employee to purchase “service credits,” which is a scheme that allows government employees to artificially boost the years-on-the-job component of the formula used to calculate post-retirement pension benefit levels.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164591

House Bill 5672: Mandate child care centers have infant “safe sleep” policies
Introduced by Rep. Andy Schor (D) on June 12, 2014, to mandate that child care centers, group child care homes, and family child care homes that provide care to infants under age one to implement “safe sleep policies,” the details of which would be determined by a government administrative agency.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164592

House Bill 5673: Expand electricity “net metering” mandate
Introduced by Rep. Edward McBroom (R) on June 12, 2014, to expand and extend a “net metering” mandate imposed on utilities, which requires them to purchase electricity from customers who generate small amounts of electricity. The bill eliminates an overall cap on the amount of electricity utilities can be forced to purchase, and extends the mandate for an additional 10 years.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164593

House Bill 5674: Expand electricity “net metering” mandate
Introduced by Rep. Rob VerHeulen (R) on June 12, 2014, to expand a “net metering” mandate imposed on utilities, which requires them to purchase electricity from customers who generate small amounts, so it would also apply to so-called “community renewable energy gardens,” in which a number of people subscribe to a larger solar or wind facility that sells electricity to the utility and distributes the proceeds to subscribers.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164594

House Bill 5675: Authorize rules for “microgrids”
Introduced by Rep. Jon Switalski (D) on June 12, 2014, to require the Public Service Commission to authorize and establish statewide interconnection standards for “microgrids.” This is a small group of electricity users with their own generation source (including renewable sources such as solar or wind), connected to the main electric grid through a single interconnection but also capable of providing power to users if that connection is disrupted (“island mode”). The bill would require the PSC to submit a report on the concept and convene an advisory panel consisting of individuals representing various interests specified in the bill (including unions, environmentalist organizations, utilities, local governments, consumers, etc.).
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164595

House Bill 5676: Expand electricity “net metering” mandate
Introduced by Rep. Jeff Irwin (D) on June 12, 2014, to require the Public Service Commission to establish an alternative methodology for determining rates paid under a “net metering” mandate imposed on utilities, which requires them to purchase electricity from customers who generate small amounts. Among other things the alternative rate would have to compensate a net metering customer for value of electricity to “the electric provider, its customers, and society”.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164596

House Bill 5677: Require condo owners approve mineral right sales
Introduced by Rep. Tom McMillin (R) on June 12, 2014, to require a majority vote by co-owners of a condominium for the sale of oil, gas, or mineral rights in land that they own in common.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164597

House Bill 5678: Expand breast feeding nudity exemption to milk pump
Introduced by Rep. Margaret O’Brien (R) on June 12, 2014, to revise the breastfeeding exemption in a law that defines and bans “public nudity,” so that the exemption also includes a woman exposing her breast for purposes of “expressing” breast milk, meaning taking milk from the breast with a pump or by hand for later use.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164598

House Bill 5679: Expand breast feeding nudity exemption to milk pump
Introduced by Rep. Gail Haines (R) on June 12, 2014, to revise the breastfeeding exemption in a law that defines and bans “public nudity,” so that the exemption also includes a woman exposing her breast for purposes of “expressing” breast milk, meaning taking milk from the breast with a pump or by hand for later use.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164599

House Bill 5680: Expand breast feeding nudity exemption to milk pump use
Introduced by Rep. Cindy Denby (R) on June 12, 2014, to revise the breastfeeding exemption in a law that defines and bans “public nudity,” so that the exemption also includes a woman exposing her breast for purposes of “expressing” breast milk, meaning taking milk from the breast with a pump or by hand for later use.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164600

House Bill 5681: Expand breast feeding nudity exemption to milk pump use
Introduced by Rep. Eileen Kowall (R) on June 12, 2014, to revise the breastfeeding exemption in a law that defines and bans “public nudity,” so that the exemption also includes a woman exposing her breast for purposes of “expressing” breast milk, meaning taking milk from the breast with a pump or by hand for later use. This is part of a package consisting of House Bills 5678 to 5681 that amend different statutes that apply to different kinds of local governments.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164602

House Bill 5682: Revise youth gang offence criteria
Introduced by Rep. Klint Kesto (R) on June 12, 2014, to revise the penalties and the criteria in a a 2008 law that authorizes enhanced sentences for a felony that is committed by a youth gang member. Under current law the criteria for determining gang association is whether the gang provides the “motive, means, or opportunity” to commit the crime. The bill would change this to the presence of much more specific factors, and would change the maximum penalty to 10 years and $10,000, in addition to the penalty for the underlying or “predicate” crime.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164603

House Bill 5683: Revise youth gang offence criteria
Introduced by Rep. Klint Kesto (R) on June 12, 2014, to revise the sentencing guidelines for a 2008 law that authorizes enhanced sentences for a felony that is committed by a youth gang member, so as to reflect the changes to this law proposed by House Bill 5682.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164604

House Bill 5684: Expand drain commission powers
Introduced by Rep. Al Pscholka (R) on June 12, 2014, to allow government drainage districts to “acquire interests in real or personal property by gift, purchase, or any other method, including condemnation” (through eminent domain). Current law lets drain districts “hold, manage, and dispose of real and personal property.” “Personal property” is not defined in this statute, and according to one source it is “generally is interpreted to be (property) not permanently affixed to land: e.g., equipment, furniture, tools, computers.” Drainage districts create and maintain the “drains” (usually networks of ditches) that remove surplus water from land, allowing it to be farmed or developed.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164605

House Bill 5685: Authorize local government drain petitions
Introduced by Rep. Al Pscholka (R) on June 12, 2014, to permit local governments (in addition to property owners) to petition a drain commission for a drain (usually a network of ditches) to remove excess water from lands that traverse more than one county. Taxpayers in the petitioning city, village or townships would then be liable for a portion of the costs.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164606

House Bill 5686: Revise drain code provisions for multi-county drains
Introduced by Rep. Al Pscholka (R) on June 12, 2014, to revise the law that authorizes local road commissions or the state Department of Transportation to petition a drain commission for a drain to remove surplus water from land adjacent to a road, so as to extend this authority to requesting a drain that traverses more than one county.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164607

House Bill 5687: Expand drain commission cost assessments
Introduced by Rep. Al Pscholka (R) on June 12, 2014, to empower a drain commission to assess landowners for the “attendant expenses and costs” of building or maintaining drains, including legal costs, claims, and judgments against the commission.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164608

House Bill 5688: Authorize seizure of legal firearms in domestic disputes
Introduced by Rep. Rudy Hobbs (D) on June 12, 2014, to give courts the power to prohibit an individual from purchasing a firearm, and to order police to search seize any firearms the individual possesses, if a petition for this is filed by a person with whom the target has or had a domestic or “close” relationship, and the court determines there is “reasonable cause to believe that the defendant poses a significant risk of personal injury to himself or herself or others” based on evidence provided in the petition.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164609

House Bill 5689: Authorize seizure of legal firearms in domestic disputes
Introduced by Rep. Rudy Hobbs (D) on June 12, 2014, to revise the state pistol laws so as to conform with the proposal in House Bill 5688 to give courts the power to seize legally owned firearms in response to petition filed by a person with whom the target has or had a domestic or “close” relationship.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164610

House Bill 5690: Require advance disclosure of employer “non-compete” requirement
Introduced by Rep. Gretchen Driskell (D) on June 12, 2014, to mandate that an employer who requires employees to sign a noncompete agreement must disclose this at the initial offer of employment.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164611

House Bill 5691: Impose MIOSHA regulations on unpaid interns
Introduced by Rep. David Knezek (D) on June 12, 2014, to clarify that regulations imposed under the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Act (MIOSHA) apply to a person who is performing work primarily for educational purposes, such as a student intern, whether or not the individual receives pay or any other form of compensation.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164612

House Bill 5692: Restore state sentencing commission
Introduced by Rep. David Knezek (D) on June 12, 2014, to restore a state sentencing commission, tasked with researching and analyzing information on the state’s sentencing guidelines. An earlier version of this entity was abolished in 2002, three years after its work was completed with the adoption of new sentencing guideline laws.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164613

House Bill 5693: Authorize elections by mail
Introduced by Rep. David Knezek (D) on June 12, 2014, to authorize elections by mail, starting 20 days before the vote, with ballots mailed no later than 14 days before. The Secretary of State would be required to promulgate rules for this.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164614

House Bill 5694: Impose charter school cap
Introduced by Rep. Terry Brown (D) on June 12, 2014, to impose a cap of 200 charter schools statewide, or the number in existence should this proposal become law. A 2011 law eliminated an earlier charter school cap of 150 authorized by state universities (which are the primary charter authorizers in this state).
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164615

House Bill 5697: Repeal ban on abortion coverage through federal health care exchange
Introduced by Rep. Sarah Roberts (D) on June 12, 2014, to repeal the 2013 law initiated by a petition from the people and enacted by a legislative majority to prohibit health insurance policies sold through the federal health care law’s “exchange” from including abortion coverage, which requires individuals to use their own money to purchase a policy “rider” covering abortion if this is what they want.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164618

House Bill 5698: Mandate mass transit-friendly transportation project priorities
Introduced by Rep. Jim Townsend (D) on June 12, 2014, to require the Department of Transportation to establish “performance measures” for transportation infrastructure projects that include among other things “support of multimodal transportation choices,” “reduction of carbon emissions” and “maximization of the social equity benefits” as measured by an index created by a Chicago-based nonprofit that promotes mass transit and “reducing greenhouse gas emissions”.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164619

House Bill 5699: Create mass transit-friendly transportation commission
Introduced by Rep. Jim Townsend (D) on June 12, 2014, to create a government “transportation advisory commission” consisting of individuals representing certain interests including “transportation advocacy groups,” environmental organizations, organizations representing the “nonmotorized transportation community” and “social equity organizations,” among others. See also House Bill 5698.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164620

House Bill 5700: Ban placing wind turbines close to gas lines
Introduced by Rep. Ray Franz (R) on June 12, 2014, to prohibit placing large wind turbines within a distance from a gas line that is two times the height of the turbine.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164621

House Bill 5640: Ban asking annuity owners why they want a payment
Introduced by Rep. Fred Durhal, Jr. (D) on June 10, 2014, to prohibit insurance companies that sell fixed annuity contracts from requiring contract holders to answer survey questions related financial situation or the reason the contract holder is seeking a payment.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164512

House Bill 5641: Mandate new road funding go only to “preservation”
Introduced by Rep. Jim Townsend (D) on June 10, 2014, to mandate that all state road funding be used to maintain and preserve existing roads rather than build new ones, until all roads in the state are in at least “fair” condition, with exceptions for bond payments, for previously earmarked revenue, and some others.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164513

House Bill 5642: Limit imposing building code regulations for barn events
Introduced by Rep. Ray Franz (R) on June 10, 2014, to exempt from state building code standards barns and other unheated and un-air conditioned buildings that are on agricultural land and are not used for retail business, but are used for “seasonal private events”.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164514

House Bill 5643: Mandate informing of detectable fetal heartbeat before abortion
Introduced by Rep. Thomas Hooker (R) on June 10, 2014, to establish that a physician may not perform an abortion without first determining whether there is a detectable fetal heartbeat, and if there is, informing the woman, except in medical emergencies. See also House Bill 5644.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164515

House Bill 5644: Mandate informing of detectable fetal heartbeat before abortion
Introduced by Rep. Thomas Hooker (R) on June 10, 2014, to make it a crime punishable by four years in prison and $50,000 fine for a physician to perform an abortion without first determining whether there is a detectable fetal heartbeat, and if there is, informing the woman, except in medical emergencies. See also House Bill 5644.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164516

House Bill 5645: Require doctor tell woman of detectable fetus heartbeat before abortion
Introduced by Rep. Thomas Hooker (R) on June 10, 2014, to establish sentencing guidelines for the crime proposed by House Bill 5644 of a physician performing an abortion without first determining whether there is a detectable fetal heartbeat and informing the woman.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164517

House Bill 5646: Revise weight and measures inspection fees
Introduced by Rep. Joseph Graves (R) on June 10, 2014, to establish in state law the inspection fees charged by the state Agriculture Department bureau in charge of inspecting various instruments used in commerce to weigh and measure different commodities (including retail gas pumps). Under current law the department itself sets these fees.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164518

House Bill 5647: Repeal unemployment benefits drug test
Introduced by Rep. Ken Goike (R) on June 11, 2014, to repeal the one-year expiration date (sunset) on a 2013 law that makes a person ineligible to collect unemployment benefits if a prospective employer requires a drug test as a condition of a job offer and the individual either refuses to take the test or fails it.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164565

House Bill 5648: Ban smoking in car with minor
Introduced by Rep. Dale W. Zorn (R) on June 11, 2014, to ban smoking in a vehicle with a minor present, subject to a $100 civil fine.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164566

House Bill 5649: Recognize terminal patients’ “right to try” unapproved treatments
Introduced by Rep. Nancy Jenkins (R) on June 11, 2014, to prohibit state officials and licensing boards from sanctioning health care providers who participate providing non-FDA approved experimental drugs and treatments to terminal patients in accordance with the conditions specified in the “right to try” law proposed by House Bill 5651 and Senate Bill 991.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164567

House Bill 5650: Revise delinquent municipal borrower’s repayment procedure
Introduced by Rep. Mike Shirkey (R) on June 11, 2014, to establish that lenders who loan money to a local government, with the loan secured by the borrower’s “unlimited tax pledge,” have a “statutory first lien” (legal claim) on “all taxes subject to the (municipality’s) unlimited tax pledge.” Under the bill, such lenders would not have to go to court to establish their claim.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164568

House Bill 5651: Let terminal patients try non-FDA approved treatments
Introduced by Rep. Gail Haines (R) on June 11, 2014, to establish that a person diagnosed with a terminal illness has a “right to try” experimental drugs or therapies, notwithstanding laws that prohibit treatments not approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration, subject to various conditions specified in the bill. The bill would prohibit state employees or officials from interfering, and ban licensing boards from sanctioning health care providers who participate, subject to specified conditions. Insurers would not have to cover these treatments, and drug makers who comply with the specified conditions would be immune from liability if the patient is harmed. The bill was introduced in response to criticism of FDA mandates that drug makers prove new drugs are “safe and effective” are improperly applied in these cases, leading to many preventable deaths.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164569

House Bill 5652: Restrict imposing mediation in domestic relations disputes
Introduced by Rep. Harvey Santana (D) on June 11, 2014, to prohibit a court from ordering the parties in a domestic relations dispute to enter mediation against their will unless certain factors are present, including a personal protection order restraining one of the parties, a court “no contact” order, child abuse or neglect by one of the parties, health and safety concerns, or some other “good cause” for the mandatory mediation.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164570

House Bill 5653: Create new crime of assaulting pregnant woman
Introduced by Rep. Amanda Price (R) on June 11, 2014, to make assault and battery against a pregnant women a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment up to 93 days and a $500 fine, with higher penalties (up to five years) for those with prior convictions.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164571

House Bill 5654: Create domestic violence confidential address program
Introduced by Rep. Marcia Hovey-Wright (D) on June 11, 2014, to establish an address confidentiality program for victims of domestic violence crimes, in which the state Attorney General would give the victim a “designated address” to which mail could be sent, and would forward first class mail to where the individual actually lives. The person’s real address would be kept confidential and not be subject to disclosure under open records laws, and the person could also vote using the designated address.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164572

House Bill 5656: Make domestic violence victims civil rights law “protected class”
Introduced by Rep. Sam Singh (D) on June 11, 2014, to add domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking victimhood to the characteristics that define membership in a protected class against whom it is a crime to discriminate in matters of housing under the Michigan civil rights law. This would make it a civil rights violation to deny housing to a person who happens to be a victim of these crimes.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164574

House Bill 5657: Encourage school “teen dating violence and adolescent relationship abuse” curriculum
Introduced by Rep. John Olumba (D) on June 11, 2014, to require the Department of Education to develop a model curriculum and policies on teen dating violence and “adolescent relationship abuse,” and encourage school districts to implement them. These terms are not defined in the bill.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164575

House Bill 5695: Ban charter school management company leases; cap cyberschool aid
Introduced by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D) on June 12, 2014, to prohibit a charter school from leasing property from a management company that runs the school, and require charter school leases to reflect market conditions and be approved by the entity that authorized the charter. Also, to prohibit online cyberschool appropriations from exceeding 50 percent of the foundation allowance of the school district in which the online school is located.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164616

House Bill 5696: Ban school employee contract non-disclosure provisions
Introduced by Rep. Charles Brunner (D) on June 12, 2014, to prohibit conventional public schools and charter schools from requiring or requesting an employee to sign a nondisclosure agreement concerning the terms of his or her employment.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164617

Senate Bill 972: Revise excavation and mining permit detail
Introduced by Sen. Phil Pavlov (R) on June 10, 2014, to exempt from state dredging and related permit requirements excavation or mining activities associated with an active mining operation, unless they create an inland lake with a surface area of five acres or greater.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164507

Senate Bill 973: Codify “child welfare partnership council”
Introduced by Sen. Bruce Caswell (R) on June 10, 2014, to establish in statute a state “child welfare partnership council” consisting of representatives of various interests, to “guide the ongoing planning and procurement processes…after the full implementation of performance-based funding in the state administered child welfare program”.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164508

Senate Bill 974: Expand court authority in child welfare cases
Introduced by Sen. Bruce Caswell (R) on June 10, 2014, to give a court with jurisdiction over a juvenile’s care and supervision the authority to issue orders affecting a “party” if these are considered “necessary,” with “parties” defined as the petitioner and the juvenile in a delinquency proceeding; and in a child protective proceeding, the petitioner, child, respondent, parent or guardian, and a child caring institution or child placing agency under contract with the state.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164509

Senate Bill 975: Exempt Kent County from higher foster care payment share
Introduced by Sen. Bruce Caswell (R) on June 10, 2014, to extend indefinitely for Kent County only a 2013 law that requires the Department of Human Services to pay all of a $3 per day per child per day rate increase for private providers of foster care services as provided in the 2013-14 state budget, rather than half the amount.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164510

Senate Bill 976: Ease gas station liquor license restrictions
Introduced by Sen. Rick Jones (R) on June 10, 2014, to ease certain restrictions on gas stations that have liquor licenses, among other things changing a requirement that some types of seller must have $250,000 in inventory, changing this to $100,000.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164511

Senate Bill 977: Allow military to renew CPL by mail
Introduced by Sen. John Moolenaar (R) on June 11, 2014, to allow military personnel on duty outside of Michigan to submit a renewal application for a concealed pistol license (CPL) by mail.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164523

Senate Bill 978: Revise state loans to locals details
Introduced by Sen. Roger Kahn (R) on June 11, 2014, to revise references in a law authorizing loans of “surplus” state money to municipalities, so that it reflects recent changes in statutes authorizing loans to various entities.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164524

Senate Bill 979: Extend preemption of local gun control to air guns
Introduced by Sen. Dave Hildenbrand (R) on June 11, 2014, to revise the state law preempting restrictive local gun control ordinances so it applies to “pneumatic” guns, defined as ones that shoot “a BB or pellet by spring, gas, or air”.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164525

Senate Bill 980: Revise legal notice service where address is confidential
Introduced by Sen. Steve Bieda (D) on June 11, 2014, to establish an alternative way of serving notice of a legal process after a court order has been entered that prohibits the disclosure of the address of party to the action. Instead, the papers would be delivered to the court system and forwarded from there. See also House Bill 5654.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164526

Senate Bill 981: Ban divorce lawyer “ambulance chasing”
Introduced by Sen. Rick Jones (R) on June 11, 2014, to prohibit a lawyer from soliciting business from a party to a divorce action within 30 days after proof of service in the action was filed with the court, punishable by fines of $30,000, and $60,000 for subsequent violations.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164527

Senate Bill 982: Repeal sunset on requiring executive branch lease and construction notices
Introduced by Sen. Darwin Booher (R) on June 11, 2014, to repeal a March 31, 2015 sunset on a law requiring state agencies to file various reports on property leases and construction planning and projects.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164528

Senate Bill 983: Revise regulation of security guard businesses
Introduced by Sen. Darwin Booher (R) on June 11, 2014, to revise many details of a comprehensive regulatory regime for security guards and agencies, and transfer the statutory authority for these regulations from a Private Security Business and Security Alarm Act to the state Occupational Code.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164529

Senate Bill 984: Revise regulation of security guard businesses
Introduced by Sen. Darwin Booher (R) on June 11, 2014, to revise many details of a comprehensive regulatory regime for security guards and agencies, and transfer the statutory authority for these regulations from a Private Security Business and Security Alarm Act to the state Occupational Code.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164530

Senate Bill 985: Revise regulation of security guard businesses
Introduced by Sen. Darwin Booher (R) on June 11, 2014, to revise a law imposing registration requirements on security alarm providers so it conforms with the proposal in Senate Bill 983 to revise the statutory authority for licensure and regulation of private security guard and security alarm businesses.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164531

Senate Bill 986: Revise security guard company licensure fees
Introduced by Sen. Bert Johnson (D) on June 11, 2014, to establish license fees for security guard agencies or branch offices, and index these to inflation.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164532

Senate Bill 987: Suspend victim restitution if victim is juvenile offender’s parents
Introduced by Sen. John Pappageorge (R) on June 11, 2014, to revise a law requiring parents of a juvenile delinquent from paying restitution to the victim of the juvenile’s crime if the parents were themselves the victim.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164533

Senate Bill 988: Suspend parent liability if parents were juvenile offender’s victim
Introduced by Sen. John Pappageorge (R) on June 11, 2014, to revise a law making the parents of a juvenile delinquent liable for costs related to the juvenile’s incarceration and legal costs if the parents were the victim of the juvenile’s crime.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164534

Senate Bill 989: Suspend parent liability if parents were juvenile offender’s victim
Introduced by Sen. John Pappageorge (R) on June 11, 2014, to revise a law making the parents of a juvenile delinquent liable for costs related to the juvenile’s care if the parents were the victim of the juvenile’s crime.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164536

Senate Bill 990: Allow adoption of dog-fight dogs
Introduced by Sen. John Pappageorge (R) on June 11, 2014, to revise a law that bans breeding, buying or selling an animal that been trained or used for fighting, or its offspring, so as to allow for adoption of these animals if the shelter or agency responsible for the animal finds that it is fit for placement and does not pose a threat to public safety.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164537

Senate Bill 992: Revise health insurance preexisting condition detail
Introduced by Sen. Jim Marleau (R) on June 12, 2014, to include Medicare Advantage insurance policies in the definition of “creditable coverage,” which applies to whether preexisting condition are covered when changing insurance.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164539

Senate Bill 993: Join multi-state Health Care Compact
Introduced by Sen. Jim Marleau (R) on June 12, 2014, to authorize Michigan’s entry into a multi-state health care compact. If approved by congress all federal Medicaid and Medicare funds would be block-granted to member states, and member states would be exempt from health-related federal regulations and mandates. Member states would have primary responsibility for regulation of all nonmilitary health care goods and services in their state, plus health-related social welfare programs.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164540

Senate Bill 994: Establish process to reinstate terminated parental rights
Introduced by Sen. Rick Jones (R) on June 12, 2014, to allow the reinstatement of terminated parental rights if a court has determined that adoption or guardianship is no longer the child’s “permanency goal The bill would require that at least three years or more have passed from when parental rights were terminated; and that the child be at least 14 years of age, or the younger sibling of a 14 year old for whom this is sought. Among other things the parents would have to demonstrate whether they are fit and have remedied the grounds that supported termination of parental rights.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164541

Senate Bill 995: Require “reasonable efforts” to keep siblings together in foster care
Introduced by Sen. Rick Jones (R) on June 12, 2014, to require child welfare authorities to make “reasonable efforts” to keep siblings together in foster care placements, and if this can’t be done, to provide for frequent sibling visitation, unless these things would be contrary to the safety or well-being of any of the siblings.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164542

Senate Bill 996: Require “reasonable efforts” to keep siblings together in foster care
Introduced by Sen. Rick Jones (R) on June 12, 2014, to require child welfare authorities to make “reasonable efforts” to keep siblings together in foster care placements, and if this can’t be done, to provide for frequent sibling visitation, unless these things would be contrary to the safety or well-being of any of the siblings.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164543

Senate Bill 997: Define “frequent parenting time” for foster children
Introduced by Sen. Rick Jones (R) on June 12, 2014, to require children in foster care to have “parenting time” at least once a week, unless a court determines that even supervised time with the child’s parent may be harmful to the child’s life, physical health, or mental well-being. Current law requires “frequent” parenting time but does not define this.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164544

Senate Bill 998: Establish rape kit evidence regulations and procedures
Introduced by Sen. Rick Jones (R) on June 12, 2014, to create a state commission to establish regulations, procedures and timetables with deadlines that law enforcement agencies and health care providers must follow when collecting and using sexual assault kit evidence. The bill would also require the State Police to develop a database of the administration and storage of sexual assault evidence kits as directed by this commission. See also House Bill 5445.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164545

Senate Bill 999: Impose more regulation on “pharmacy benefits managers”
Introduced by Sen. Tom Casperson (R) on June 12, 2014, to extend to “pharmacy benefits managers” the same extensive regulations that apply to heath insurance “third part administrators”.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164546

Senate Bill 1000: Authorize pharmacy audits by “health benefit payers”
Introduced by Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker (R) on June 12, 2014, to establish that a “health benefit payer” including health insurance companies and government medical welfare programs may audit a pharmacy to discover any benefit overpayments, and establish procedures for this and for seeking to recoup any overpayments discovered by the audit.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164547

Senate Bill 1007: Revise installment tax payment detail
Introduced by Sen. John Pappageorge (R) on July 16, 2014, to establish that tax liens on township special assessment installment payments do not become effective (“attach”) until the payment is due.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164672

Senate Bill 1008: Raise bar for libel claims against politicians
Introduced by Sen. John Pappageorge (R) on July 16, 2014, to establish in statute that a candidate for public office or an elected official has the same protections against libel, slander, and defamation as he or she would have as a private individual (under current law a politician must show that a libel defendant acted “with malice”).
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164673

Senate Bill 1009: Revise cemetery perpetual care trust detail
Introduced by Sen. John Pappageorge (R) on July 16, 2014, to allow the officers or directors of cemeteries to be trustees of the irrevocable endowment and perpetual care trust fund cemeteries are required to maintain.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164674

Senate Bill 1010: Repeal ban on abortion coverage through federal health care law exchange
Introduced by Sen. Gretchen Whitmer (D) on July 16, 2014, to repeal the 2013 law initiated by a petition from the people and enacted by a legislative majority to prohibit health insurance policies sold through the federal health care law’s “exchange” from including abortion coverage, which requires individuals to use their own money to purchase a policy “rider” covering abortion if this is what they want.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164675

Senate Bill 1011: Suspend not terminate Medicaid of prisoner with mental illness
Introduced by Sen. Bruce Caswell (R) on July 16, 2014, to require the state to suspend but not terminate Medicaid eligibility for an individual with a “serious emotional disturbance” or mental illness if the person is in jail, prison, a state mental health inpatient program or a “youth correctional center”.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164676

Senate Bill 1012: Mandate employers give election day paid leave
Introduced by Sen. Jim Ananich (D) on July 16, 2014, to mandate that employers give employees three hours of paid leave to vote on election days if requested.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164677

Senate Bill 1013: Authorize tax credit for autism trust contributions
Introduced by Sen. Jim Ananich (D) on July 16, 2014, to authorize an income tax credit equal to the amount an individual contributes to a trust fund whose beneficiary is a child diagnosed with autism. The credit would not be “refundable,” but if large enough could be used to essentially cancel out a contributor’s state income tax liability for the tax year.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164678

Senate Bill 1014: Remove debt cap on certain state job training subsidies
Introduced by Sen. Mark Jansen (R) on July 16, 2014, to repeal a $50 million cap on the debt authorized by a 2008 law that created a job training subsidy program for particular employers, in the form of allowing community colleges to borrow to pay for training the employer’s new hires, with the loans repaid by the state transferring to the college a portion of the personal income tax that the particular employer withholds from the pay of new employees. Essentially, the money comes out of the state general fund.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164679

Senate Bill 1015: Restrict child custody changes for active military member
Introduced by Sen. Rick Jones (R) on July 16, 2014, to revise a 2005 law prohibiting a court from changing an established child custody or parenting time order of a parent has been called to active duty in the military (unless it is the best interest of the child), so as to also allow the military parent at any stage before final judgment in the proceedings to request a stay until he or she has returned from duty.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164680

Senate Bill 1016: Shift road tax money from certain subsidies to road projects
Introduced by Sen. Roger Kahn (R) on July 16, 2014, to not earmark $12 million in annual road tax money to the state “Transportation Economic Development Fund” in fiscal year 2013-2014, and instead use it for regular road building and repair projects. TEDF money is essentially a form of corporate subsidy in which the state pays for transportation infrastructure projects related to a particular investor’s or developer’s new plant or project.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164681

Senate Bill 1017: Revise digital tobacco stamp reimbursement detail
Introduced by Sen. Roger Kahn (R) on July 16, 2014, to clarify details of a 2012 law that allows tobacco wholesalers authorized by the state to affix digital tax stamps to individual packs of cigarettes to retain 0.5 percent of the tax due on cigarettes as compensation for equipment and technology upgrades necessitated by digital stamps.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164682

Senate Bill 1018: Impose tobacco tax on e-cigarettes
Introduced by Sen. Randy Richardville (R) on July 16, 2014, to impose on electronic vapor cigarettes and “alternative nicotine products” the same 32 percent tax on the wholesale value that applies to smokeless tobacco.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164683

Senate Bill 1019: Revise PEO unemployment assessment detail
Introduced by Sen. Jack Brandenburg (R) on July 16, 2014, to clarify details of the “look-back” period in a 2012 law related to unemployment insurance premium assessments on professional employer organizations (PEOs) and their client firms.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164684

House Bill 5701: Authorize sanctions for bad-faith patent infringement claims
Introduced by Rep. Mike Callton (R) on July 16, 2014, to prohibit claims of patent infringement that are made in bad faith (as defined in the bill), subject to triple damages or $50,000, whichever is greater, plus other sanctions.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164650

House Bill 5702: Require corporate subsidy recipients hire Michigan contractors first
Introduced by Rep. Theresa Abed (D) on July 16, 2014, to require recipients of certain state corporate and developer subsidies and tax breaks for construction or rehab projects, to seek competitive bids for the work and make a “good faith effort” to contract with and hire Michigan residents. The bill would also ban discriminating against either union or non-union contractors who bid on the job.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164651

House Bill 5703: Ban “sexual orientation change efforts” with minor
Introduced by Rep. Adam Zemke (D) on July 16, 2014, to prohibit a mental health professional from undertaking “sexual orientation change efforts” with a minor.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164652

House Bill 5704: Mandate employers outside city withhold city’s income tax
Introduced by Rep. Rudy Hobbs (D) on July 16, 2014, to mandate that employers located outside a city with an income tax must withhold city income tax from the pay of an employee who lives in such a city.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164653

House Bill 5705: Mandate senior housing contracts disclose emergency power availability
Introduced by Rep. Theresa Abed (D) on July 16, 2014, to require rental agreements for senior citizen or disabled housing to indicate whether electricity will be provided by a backup generator in the event of a power outage.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164654

House Bill 5706: Ban local government fees for emergency services at vehicle crash
Introduced by Rep. Ben Glardon (R) on July 16, 2014, to prohibit local governments from charging a fee or seeking reimbursement for emergency police, fire, ambulance and inhalator services at a motor vehicle accident.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164655

House Bill 5707: Restrict more drugs
Introduced by Rep. George T. Darany (D) on July 16, 2014, to include “Mitragyna speciosa” (or “kratom”) in the schedule 5 controlled substances list, meaning they would be in the same restricted drug category as widely used, mild morphine or codeine-based drugs, ephedrine, etc.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164656

House Bill 5708: Lower allowable truck weights
Introduced by Rep. George T. Darany (D) on July 16, 2014, to lower the maximum gross weight for vehicles on Michigan roads from 164,000 pounds to 120,000 pounds.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164657

House Bill 5709: Minimize certain DNR land use restrictions
Introduced by Rep. Jim Stamas (R) on July 16, 2014, to establish that if the use of land owned by the Department of Natural Resources is subject to restrictions because of the source of money used to buy it, or to buy other land that was exchanged for the new DNR land, then the restrictions can only be imposed on a proportion of the land area that does not exceed the proportion of the restrictive funding used for the acquisition.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164658

House Bill 5710: Restrict use by police and others of cell phone surveillance devices
Introduced by Rep. Tom McMillin (R) on July 16, 2014, to require law enforcement agencies to get a search warrant before using surveillance devices to intercept cell phone and mobile device information. The bill was introduced in response to the controversial use by the Oakland County Sheriff Department of “Hailstorm” and “StingRay” cell phone tower simulator technology, which is capable of intercepting cell phone and mobile device data or voice communications. It would also prohibit use of such devices by other persons, subject to criminal penalties of 93 days in jail and up to four years for subsequent violations.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164659

House Bill 5711: Restrict use by police and others of cell phone surveillance devices
Introduced by Rep. Tom McMillin (R) on July 16, 2014, to establish sentencing guidelines for the crime proposed by House Bill 5710 of intentionally using a surveillance device capable of intercepting cell phone and mobile device data or voice communications without first getting a search warrant.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164660

House Bill 5712: Restrict use by police and others of cell phone surveillance devices
Introduced by Rep. Tom McMillin (R) on July 16, 2014, to create a state board to promulgate rules for the possession and use by police agencies and officers of surveillance technology, and require law enforcement agencies to file confidential monthly reports to this board detailing the devices they possess, whether and when these were used, why they were used, and the outcome. The bill was introduced in response to the controversial use by the Oakland County Sheriff Department of “Hailstorm” and “StingRay” cell phone tower simulator technology, which is capable of intercepting cell phone and mobile device data or voice communications.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164661

House Bill 5713: Restrict warrantless cell phone surveillance device use
Introduced by Rep. Tom McMillin (R) on July 16, 2014, to establish sentencing guidelines for the crime proposed by House Bill 5712 of disclosing confidential information in the law enforcement surveillance reports proposed that bill.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164662

Initiated Legislation 2: Preempt referendum banning wolf hunt
Passed 23 to 10 in the Senate on August 13, 2014, to preempt the effect of a referendum placed on the November ballot by interests opposed to wolf hunting, which otherwise would ban wolf hunts if approved by voters. Specifically, this measure would make “referendum-proof” a 2013 law giving the legislature and Natural Resources Commission exclusive authority to decide which species may be hunted in Michigan. It would do so by making a small change to that law and adding a modest appropriation, which under a 2001 Supreme Court ruling makes the law not subject to referendum (see House Joint Resolution Q for an explanation). This measure (Initiated Legislation 2) was sponsored by groups in favor of a wolf hunt, and triggers a process specified by Article 2, Section 9 of the state constitution, in which the legislature has 40 days to pass initiated legislation, or else it automatically goes on the ballot. In short, if the House and Senate both this measure, an initiative banning wolf hunts that has already been approved for the November 2014 ballot will not go into effect, even if a majority of voters approve it.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=694560

Senate Bill 616: Appropriations: Supplemental budget
Passed 26 to 7 in the Senate on August 13, 2014, to revise Medicaid accounting to reflect the transition from a 1 percent “health insurance claims tax” to the imposition of the 6 percent “use tax” on Medicaid managed care health care providers (hospitals). These various levies are designed to “game” the federal Medicaid program in ways that result in higher federal payments to Michigan’s medical welfare establishment (including those same hospitals). See Senate Bill 893 and Senate Bill 913.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=694566

Senate Bill 753: Exempt municipalities from sanctions for a few leaking septic systems
Passed 22 to 11 in the Senate on August 13, 2014, to exempt municipalities from sanctions authorized by state environmental laws for limited discharges of untreated sewage into a lake or river from three or more septic tank systems within the municipality’s jurisdiction.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=694562

Senate Bill 938: Revise nursing home regulation detail
Passed 33 to 0 in the Senate on August 13, 2014, to revise the extensive regulatory regime imposed on nursing homes, so as to establish that patient care policies and compliance procedures should be based on nationally recognized guidelines or best-practices (rather than a similar but less specific prescription in current law), along with other detail changes.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=694564

Senate Bill 969: Authorize local nuisance suits to shut drug or prostitution house
Passed 33 to 0 in the Senate on August 13, 2014, to authorize a city, village, or township to file a nuisance lawsuit to shut down the activity at a building, vehicle, boat, aircraft, or place that is being used for prostitution, illegal drug, animal fighting, or unlawful alcohol-related offenses.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=694561

Senate Bill 977: Allow military to renew CPL by mail
Passed 32 to 1 in the Senate on August 13, 2014, to allow military personnel on duty outside of Michigan to submit a renewal application for a concealed pistol license (CPL) by mail.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=694563

Senate Bill 991: Let terminal patients try non-FDA approved treatments
Passed 31 to 2 in the Senate on August 13, 2014, to establish that a person diagnosed with a terminal illness has a “right to try” experimental drugs or therapies, notwithstanding laws that prohibit treatments not approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration, subject to various conditions specified in the bill. The bill would prohibit state employees or officials from interfering, and ban licensing boards from sanctioning health care providers who participate, subject to specified conditions. Insurers would not have to cover these treatments, and drug makers who comply with the specified conditions would be immune from liability if the patient is harmed. The bill was introduced in response to criticism of FDA mandates that drug makers prove new drugs are “safe and effective” are improperly applied in these cases, leading to many preventable deaths. House Bill 5651 proposes the same thing..
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=694565

Senate Bill 1017: Revise digital tobacco stamp reimbursement detail
Passed 30 to 2 in the Senate on August 13, 2014, to clarify details of a 2012 law that allows tobacco wholesalers authorized by the state to affix digital tax stamps to individual packs of cigarettes to retain 0.5 percent of the tax due on cigarettes as compensation for equipment and technology upgrades necessitated by digital stamps.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=694567

Senate Bill 1020: Expand Consumer Protection Act to herbal and dietary products
Introduced by Sen. Gretchen Whitmer (D) on August 13, 2014, to extend state Consumer Protection Act regulations, mandates and restrictions to the accuracy of manufacturers’ representations regarding “the risks involved in the intended use” of a drug, medication, herbal product, dietary supplement or botanical extract.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164919

Senate Bill 1021: Mandate certain hospital disclosures to sexual assault victims
Introduced by Sen. Bert Johnson (D) on August 13, 2014, to mandate that hospitals must tell an individual alleged to have been the victim of criminal sexual conduct in the past five days about a the provisions of a 2008 law that specifies the procedures the hospital must undertake to qualify for compensation by the state crime victims services commission for sexual assault medical forensic examination costs.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164921

Senate Bill 1022: Redesignate a bridge
Introduced by Sen. Tom Casperson (R) on August 13, 2014, to redesignate the M-64 bridge over the Ontonagon river in Ontonagon as the “Ontonagon County Veterans Memorial Bridge”.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164922

Senate Bill 1023: Repeal 2012 legalization of small fireworks
Introduced by Sen. Glenn Anderson (D) on August 13, 2014, to repeal the 2012 law that legalized the sale and use of “consumer fireworks” including firecrackers, bottle rockets, aerial spinners, Roman candles, etc.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164923

Senate Bill 1024: Repeal 2012 legalization of small fireworks
Introduced by Sen. Glenn Anderson (D) on August 13, 2014, to repeal the sentencing guidelines associated with the 2012 law that legalized the sale and use of “consumer fireworks,” which would itself be repealed by Senate Bill 1023.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164924

Senate Bill 1025: Mandate expulsion of students who make teacher death threats
Introduced by Sen. Dave Hildenbrand (R) on August 13, 2014, to mandate the expulsion of a public school student who threatens the life of a school employee, contractor or volunteer.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164925

Senate Bill 1026: Restrict oil and gas wells in municipalities
Introduced by Sen. Jack Brandenburg (R) on August 13, 2014, to restrict gas or oil wells (including gas and oil “fracking” wells) in a municipality with more than 70,000 residents unless two local hearings are held and the Department of Environmental Quality determines the well there is no “reasonable alternative” location that will allow the drilling rights owner to extract the oil and gas. Reportedly an amendment may be considered to require local government approval for drilling.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164926

House Bill 5720: Increase dangerous dog restrictions
Introduced by Rep. Sean McCann (D) on August 13, 2014, to establish sentencing guidelines for violations of the dangerous dog restrictions proposed by House Bill 5721.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164913

House Bill 5721: Increase dangerous dog restrictions
Introduced by Rep. Sean McCann (D) on August 13, 2014, to establish more stringent procedures and remedies that a court may order for the owner of a “dangerous dog” or “potentially dangerous dog” as defined in the bill, including potential destruction of the animal. The court could also impose public disclosure, property posting, and animal confinement or tethering mandates on the owner; require $100,000 in liability insurance; and more. An owner who failed to comply with these conditions would be subject to up to four years in prison. Current law already authorizes manslaughter charges against the owner of a dog who kills a person. The bill was introduced after two dangerous dogs running lose killed a jogger in a rural area of Wayne County; that owner has been charged with murder.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164914

House Bill 5722: Extend small boat registration exemption to electric boats
Introduced by Rep. Bruce Rendon (R) on August 13, 2014, to exempt from watercraft registration mandates small boats that are powered by an electric motor rated at 100 pounds of thrust or less. Under current law small boats (canoes, dinghies, rowboats etc.) are already exempt, but not if they are motorized.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164915

House Bill 5723: Repeal 2012 legalization of small fireworks
Introduced in the House on August 13, 2014, to repeal the 2012 law that legalized the sale and use of “consumer fireworks” including firecrackers, bottle rockets, aerial spinners, Roman candles, etc. (“APA standard 87-1” fireworks).
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164916

House Bill 5724: Repeal 2012 legalization of small fireworks
Introduced by Rep. Dian Slavens (D) on August 13, 2014, to repeal the sentencing guidelines associated with the 2012 law that legalized the sale and use of “consumer fireworks,” which would itself be repealed by House Bill 5723.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=164917

Initiated Legislation 2: Preempt referendum banning wolf hunt
Passed 65 to 43 in the House on August 27, 2014, to preempt the effect of a referendum placed on the November ballot by interests opposed to wolf hunting, which otherwise would ban wolf hunts if approved by voters. Specifically, this measure would make “referendum-proof” a 2013 law giving the legislature and Natural Resources Commission exclusive authority to decide which species may be hunted in Michigan. It would do so by making a small change to that law and adding a modest appropriation, which under a 2001 Supreme Court ruling makes the law not subject to referendum (see House Joint Resolution Q for an explanation). This measure (Initiated Legislation 2) was sponsored by groups in favor of a wolf hunt, and triggers a process specified by Article 2, Section 9 of the state constitution, in which the legislature has 40 days to pass initiated legislation, or else it automatically goes on the ballot. In short, with passage of this measure by both the House and Senate, an initiative banning wolf hunts that has already been approved for the November 2014 ballot will not go into effect, even if a majority of voters approve it.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=694845

Senate Bill 92: Impose licensure on pharmacy assistants
Passed 101 to 7 in the House on August 27, 2014, to impose licensure and regulation on “pharmacy technicians” (assistants), with license fees, continuing education requirements, test-taking mandates and more.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=694841

House Bill 5045: Allow local governments to permit golf carts on streets
Passed 103 to 5 in the House on August 27, 2014, to allow cities, villages and townships with fewer than 30,000 residents to permit the daytime operation of golf carts on streets. A local government could require registration but could not charge a fee for this. However, a county commission could override a municipality’s decision and prohibit golf carts on streets.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=694843

House Bill 5725: Codify surplus government property sale procedures
Introduced by Rep. Joseph Haveman (R) on August 27, 2014, to codify in statute the procedures, restrictions and requirements for state agencies selling or transferring “surplus” property, including land, buildings and equipment. Among other things, if the transferred property is not used for public purposes then it would have to be sold at fair market value. Also, land transfers would include subsurface mineral rights, but the state would be entitled to half the revenue should these resources be extracted in the future. Most of this reflects current practice.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165019

House Bill 5726: Ban auto repair shops installing loud mufflers
Introduced by Rep. Douglas Geiss (D) on August 27, 2014, to prohibit auto repair shops from installing a muffler or exhaust system that permits decibel levels higher than a vehicle’s original stock system, subject to a $10,000 fine.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165020

House Bill 5727: Place precise definition of individual’s age in statute
Introduced by Rep. Douglas Geiss (D) on August 27, 2014, to establish that for purposes of interpreting various statutes that specify a person’s age, “the applicable period is computed from the first minute of the day on which the individual is born.” Therefore, an “individual becomes one year older on the first minute of the anniversary date of the individual’s birth”.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165021

House Bill 5728: Establish procedures for dissolving fiscally failed school district
Introduced by Rep. Douglas Geiss (D) on August 27, 2014, to establish procedures for transferring the property of a school district that has become fiscally unviable to one or more nearby school districts. (See 2013 House Bill 4813, now Public Act 96 of 2013, enacted when the Buena Vista and Inkster school districts reached this state.) Specifically, this bill specifies procedures for when the receiving district does not want the dissolved district’s buildings or land. The Intermediate School District would then have the right of first refusal, with other local government entities next in line. If none of them wanted the property it would be sold, with unpaid lenders of the dissolved district having first claim to the proceeds. The state would be responsible for any demolition costs.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165022

House Bill 5729: Exempt Masons lodges from property tax
Introduced by Rep. Mike Callton (R) on August 27, 2014, to allow local governments to exempt property owned by Masons’ lodges from local property tax, but not from school operating taxes, if the property is used for charitable purposes.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165023

House Bill 5730: Let local governments ban “jake brakes”
Introduced by Rep. Robert Genetski (R) on August 27, 2014, to allow local governments to ban the use of truck compression brakes (“jake brakes”) on sections of state trunk line highways passing through their jurisdiction where the speed limit is 35 mph.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165024

House Bill 5731: Restrict state regulations more stringent than federal
Introduced by Rep. Joseph Haveman (R) on August 27, 2014, to prohibit state agencies and departments from imposing a regulation more stringent than required by federal regulations unless the agency’s director determines there is a “clear and convincing” need to do so.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165025

House Bill 5732: Appropriations: Supplemental school aid budget
Introduced by Rep. Joseph Haveman (R) on August 27, 2014, to provide a template or “place holder” for a potential supplemental school aid appropriation for Fiscal Year 2014-2015. This bill contains no appropriations, but may be amended at a later date to include them.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165026

House Bill 5733: Allow homestead property tax exemption for inherited residence
Introduced by Rep. Mike Shirkey (R) on August 27, 2014, to allow an individual who has inherited a dwelling that was the decedent’s principle residence, and who also has an principle residence property tax exemption on his or her current home, to claim the Proposal A principle residence (homestead) tax exemption on both properties for up to three years, or until the inherited residence is sold or leased.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165027

House Bill 5734: Earmark some sales tax to roads
Introduced by Rep. Mike Shirkey (R) on August 27, 2014, to earmark $125 million in sales tax revenue to road projects during the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 2014, and $250 million the following year.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165028

House Bill 5735: Ban cell phone use in road construction zone
Introduced by Rep. Mike Shirkey (R) on August 27, 2014, to ban using a hand-held cell phone while driving in a posted construction zone when workers are present.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165029

House Bill 5736: Ban sale of Kratom to minors
Introduced by Rep. George T. Darany (D) on August 27, 2014, to ban the sale to minors of Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa), which is a tropical tree whose leaves are reportedly chewed by users to deliver an opium-like high.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165030

House Bill 5737: Require advance filing of precinct delegate write-in candidates
Introduced by Rep. George T. Darany (D) on August 27, 2014, to require precinct delegate candidates who plan to run as a write-in to file a declaration of intent no later than 4 p.m. on the second Friday immediately before the election.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165031

House Bill 5738: Authorize back-to-school “sales tax holiday”
Introduced by Rep. Joseph Graves (R) on August 27, 2014, to exempt from sales tax up to $75 spent on certain items of clothing during August, plus $15 worth of school supplies, and up to $750 for a computer.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165032

Senate Bill 156: Revise MBT detail
Passed 100 to 10 in the House on September 9, 2014, to clarify the legislative intent of provisions in the Michigan Business Tax, so as to reverse the effect of a recent state Supreme Court ruling (IBM v. Treasury) that reportedly would force the state to refund more than $1 billion to many companies located out of the state. The case involved the interaction of a multistate Tax Compact the state entered in 2006 with provisions of the MBT, which was repealed in 2011 (but is still in effect for certain companies that received subsidies and tax breaks under its provisions). According to the Senate Fiscal Agency, the bill would also reduce the tax liability of certain firms going forward by a significant amount over the next 15 years.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=695199

Senate Bill 633: Allow community service to cover some “bad driver” fees
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on September 9, 2014, to allow a person to do 10 hours of “community service” in lieu of paying a state “bad driver fee” for certain offenses, including driving without a license and failing to have or produce proof of insurance. The fees for these particular offences were repealed by a 2011 law, so the bill would apply only to individuals who incurred and failed to pay them in the past. These very high, revenue-raising fees were originally imposed in 2003 to avoid spending cuts in that year’s and subsequent state government budgets. A law enacted earlier in 2014 would gradually phase out the fees imposed for additional offenses.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=695197

Senate Bill 758: Authorize more stringent sanctions for delinquent hotel tax
Passed 97 to 13 in the House on September 9, 2014, to empower counties that choose to impose a tax of up to 5 percent on hotel and motel room charges to enforce the tax with the more stringent sanctions authorized by the state property tax law for delinquent “special assessment” levies, which include forfeiture and foreclosure. Currently, the maximum penalty permitted by the law authorizing this tax is 25 percent of the delinquent amount, plus interest, and up to 90 days in jail.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=695196

Senate Bill 959: Extend hazardous waste fees
Passed 109 to 1 in the House on September 9, 2014, to extend for another three years the Oct. 1, 2014 sunset on a law that imposes fees on hazardous waste generators and handlers. This bill covers handlers, and Senate Bill 960 extends the fees for companies that generate wastes. The fees extract some $1.1 million annually from these industries.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=695198

Senate Bill 960: Extend hazardous waste fees
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on September 9, 2014, to extend for another three years the Oct. 1, 2014 sunset on a law that imposes fees on hazardous waste generators and handlers. This bill covers companies that generate wastes, and Senate Bill 959 extends the fees for handlers. The fees extract some $1.1 million annually from these industries.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=695201

House Bill 4411: Rename a highway
Passed 109 to 0 in the House on September 9, 2014, to designate a non-motorized lane of a bridge over the Grand River on M-231 in Ottawa County as the “Sgt. Henry E. Plant non-Motorized Trail”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=695189

House Bill 4783: Expand a corporate/developer subsidy regime
Passed 83 to 27 in the House on September 9, 2014, to authorize creation of a seventh “Next Michigan Development Corporation,” which is a government agency that gives tax breaks and subsidies to particular corporations or developers selected by political appointees on the entity’s board for projects meeting extremely broad “multi-modal commerce” criteria (basically, any form of goods-related commerce). This would probably be in Detroit (see also Senate Bill 398). In December, 2013 the legislature enacted a law authorizing sixth such entity, this in the Upper Peninsula.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=695200

House Bill 4814: Rename bridge in Monroe County
Passed 109 to 0 in the House on September 9, 2014, to rename a bridge on US-24 in Monroe County as the “Matt Urban Memorial Bridge”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=695188

House Bill 4882: Revised delinquent property tax payment
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on September 9, 2014, to allow a local government to create a delinquent property tax installment plan for a “financially distressed person,” and waive the interest charges if the person actually pays-off the delinquent amounts.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=695195

House Bill 5398: Allow certain government land swaps
Passed 104 to 5 in the House on September 9, 2014, to allow and establish procedures for a county or a government “land bank” to swap land with the state, the federal government or other government entity for the purpose of combining it with tax foreclosed properties into a marketable parcel.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=695187

Senate Bill 156: Revise MBT detail
Passed 34 to 3 in the Senate on September 10, 2014, to clarify the legislative intent of provisions in the Michigan Business Tax, so as to reverse the effect of a recent state Supreme Court ruling (IBM v. Treasury) that reportedly would force the state to refund more than $1 billion to many companies located out of the state. The case involved the interaction of a multistate Tax Compact the state entered in 2006 with provisions of the MBT, which was repealed in 2011 (but is still in effect for certain companies that received subsidies and tax breaks under its provisions). According to the Senate Fiscal Agency, the bill would also reduce the tax liability of certain firms going forward by a significant amount over the next 15 years.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=695323

Senate Bill 903: Authorize bone marrow transplant fundraising license plate
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on September 10, 2014, to require the Secretary of State to develop a fundraising license plate with proceeds going to research, technology, patient support and education regarding bone marrow donation and transplants.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=695312

Senate Bill 935: Impose licensure on “genetic counselors”
Passed 36 to 2 in the Senate on September 10, 2014, to impose licensure, fees, certification through a nationally recognized certifying agency, and more on “genetic counselors” as they are defined in the bill.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=695314

Senate Bill 970: Revise commercial drivers license detail
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on September 10, 2014, to revise various details of the the state law providing for a commercial drivers license learner’s permit so as to conform with federal definitions and requirements. The bill would also revise details of the procedures for insurers and lien holders (lenders) related to the release of title and possession of vehicles that have been scrapped or are being returned from a salvage yard.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=695313

House Bill 5739: Ban military duty absence as grounds for child custody decision
Introduced by Rep. Kevin Cotter (R) on September 9, 2014, to revise a 2005 law prohibiting a court from changing an established child custody or parenting time order of a parent who has been called to active duty in the military (unless it is the best interest of the child), so as to also allow the military parent to request a “stay” at any stage of the process before a final judgment, until he or she has returned from duty.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165129

House Bill 5740: Mandate detailed recycling facility reporting
Introduced by Rep. Andrea LaFontaine (R) on September 9, 2014, to mandate that recycling facilities must submit detailed quarterly reports on the quantities of more than 20 types of material they receive, the sources by type, how much non-recyclable material is comingled, and more.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165130

House Bill 5741: Revise multistate foster care compact
Introduced by Rep. Martin Howrylak (R) on September 9, 2014, to replace an existing multistate compact to which Michigan belongs that deals with the placement of children in foster homes or adoptions in another state with a new, updated compact.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165131

House Bill 5742: Authorize appropriation for university autism programs
Introduced by Rep. Margaret O’Brien (R) on September 9, 2014, to authorize the transfer to university autism programs of $5.5 million from a state fund created by a 2012 law intended cover subsidies to health insurance companies to compensate for the cost of a new autism treatment coverage mandate imposed by another law passed that year. This was called for in the state budget enacted for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 2014.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165132

House Bill 5743: Revise adoption petition details
Introduced by Rep. Bruce Rendon (R) on September 9, 2014, to revise details of a law that specifies where a person who want to adopt a child (or an adult) must file a court petition. Specifically, the petition could be filed with the court of the county where the person resides, where the adoptee is found, or where the birth parent’s parental rights were terminated. Among other things this would streamline the procedures when the person who wants to adopt lives in another state.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165133

House Bill 5744: Revise child protective or delinquency action fees
Introduced by Rep. Kenneth Kurtz (R) on September 9, 2014, to eliminate the requirement to pay court fees to file certain child protective or delinquency actions in court. See House Bill 5745.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165134

House Bill 5745: Revise extended foster care assistance detail
Introduced by Rep. Nancy Jenkins (R) on September 9, 2014, to specify that if a court has appointed a guardian for a youth 16 years of age or older under sections of law dealing with foster care placements, then the court would retain jurisdiction until the Department of Human Services determines the youth’s eligibility to receive extended guardianship assistance under a 2011 law that increased the eligible age from 18 to 21 for young adult foster care, guardianship assistance, and adoption assistance programs.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165135

House Bill 5746: Revise extended foster care assistance detail
Introduced by Rep. Nancy Jenkins (R) on September 9, 2014, to specify that if a court has appointed a guardian for a youth 16 years of age or older under sections of law dealing with foster care placements, then the court would retain jurisdiction until the Department of Human Services determines the youth’s eligibility to receive extended guardianship assistance under a 2011 law that increased the eligible age from 18 to 21 for young adult foster care, guardianship assistance, and adoption assistance programs.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165136

House Bill 5747: Revise handicap parking placard detail
Introduced by Rep. Bruce Rendon (R) on September 9, 2014, to allow a permanently disabled veteran to get a new or renewed handicap parking windshield placard automatically, without having to present a medical statement attesting to the disability. These placards have a four year expiration.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165137

House Bill 5748: Revise firearms law reference detail
Introduced by Rep. Bruce Rendon (R) on September 9, 2014, to update penal code references to a firearms transportation restriction that was repealed by a 2012 law.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165138

House Bill 5750: Change scope of gun injury duties law to remove BB guns
Introduced by Rep. Ray Franz (R) on September 9, 2014, into revise a law that defines the duties of a person who injures someone with a firearm, so that it no longer applies to BB guns and air, gas or spring powered guns. See also Senate Bills 965 and 966.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165140

House Bill 5751: Establish that military experience meets boiler installer licensure requirements
Introduced by Rep. Bradford Jacobsen (R) on September 9, 2014, to establish that having recent and relevant military training and experience meets the criteria for obtaining the state license mandated to earn a living as a boiler installer, boiler repairer or boiler special inspector.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165141

House Bill 5752: Restrict pesticide use on playgrounds
Introduced by Rep. Jeff Irwin (D) on September 9, 2014, to prohibit the use of pesticides on school or day care playgrounds, with exceptions for insect repellent, tamper-resistant insect traps and other comparatively innocuous substances specified in the bill.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165142

House Bill 5753: Repeal obsolete laws package
Introduced by Rep. Stacy Erwin Oakes (D) on September 9, 2014, to repeal a law authorizing creation of a county board of auditors by means of a referendum. This is part of a package of obsolete law repealer bills.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165143

House Bill 5754: Repeal obsolete laws package
Introduced by Rep. Patrick Somerville (R) on September 9, 2014, to repeal a law authorizing creation of an elected county board of auditors for Wayne County. This is part of a package of obsolete law repealer bills.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165144

House Bill 5755: Repeal obsolete laws package
Introduced by Rep. Terry Brown (D) on September 9, 2014, to repeal a law requiring fencing to keep livestock out of cemeteries in cities. This is part of a package of obsolete law repealer bills.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165145

House Bill 5756: Repeal obsolete laws package
Introduced by Rep. Amanda Price (R) on September 9, 2014, to repeal an 1846 law requiring townships to impound “distrained” beasts, which appears to mean animals seized by a person to satisfy an obligation owed by another, presumably without legal authority. This is part of a package of obsolete law repealer bills.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165146

House Bill 5757: Local government public notices package
Introduced by Rep. Joseph Graves (R) on September 9, 2014, to establish that public notice of “an order for a special township meeting of the electors” (registered voters) must be made according to the provisions specified by the state Open Meetings Act. This is part of a legislative package updating various local government public notice requirements; see also House Bill 5560.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165147

House Bill 5758: Local government public notices package
Introduced by Rep. Amanda Price (R) on September 9, 2014, to establish that public notice of budget hearings of local governments must be made according to the provisions specified by the state Open Meetings Act. This is part of a legislative package updating various local government public notice requirements; see also House Bill 5560.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165148

House Bill 5759: Local government public notices package
Introduced by Rep. Amanda Price (R) on September 9, 2014, to establish that the public notice requirement in a law governing driveways, banners, events, and parades must be made according to the provisions specified by the state Open Meetings Act. This is part of a legislative package updating various local government public notice requirements; see also House Bill 5560.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165149

House Bill 5760: Local government public notices package
Introduced by Rep. Hugh Crawford (R) on September 9, 2014, to establish that the public notice of inclusion or exclusion of roads in a seasonal county road system must be made according to the provisions specified by the state Open Meetings Act. This is part of a legislative package updating various local government public notice requirements; see also House Bill 5560.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165150

House Bill 5761: Local government public notices package
Introduced by Rep. Harold Haugh (D) on September 9, 2014, to establish that the public notice of an election to create a county “sinking fund” to cover the debt incurred for public buildings must be made according to the provisions specified by the state election law. This is part of a legislative package updating various local government public notice requirements; see also House Bill 5560.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165151

House Bill 5762: Local government public notices package
Introduced by Rep. Ken Yonker (R) on September 9, 2014, to establish that the public notice of a county bond election must be made according to the provisions specified by the state election law. This is part of a legislative package updating various local government public notice requirements; see also House Bill 5560.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165152

House Bill 5763: Local government public notices package
Introduced by Rep. Ray Franz (R) on September 9, 2014, to establish that public notice of an opening on a county department of veterans’ affairs must be made according to the provisions proposed by House Bill 5560. This is part of a legislative package updating various local government public notice requirements.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165153

House Bill 5764: Local government public notices package
Introduced by Rep. Klint Kesto (R) on September 9, 2014, to establish that public notice of a local government civil service job opening must be made according to the provisions proposed by House Bill 5560. This is part of a legislative package updating various local government public notice requirements.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165154

House Bill 5765: Local government public notices package
Introduced by Rep. Henry Yanez (D) on September 9, 2014, to establish that public notice of a proposed dissolution of a township or village board of public service commissioners must be made according to the provisions proposed by House Bill 5560. This is part of a legislative package updating various local government public notice requirements.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165155

House Bill 5766: Local government public notices package
Introduced by Rep. Hugh Crawford (R) on September 9, 2014, to establish that public notices regarding purchasing of county supplies must be made according to the provisions proposed by House Bill 5560. This is part of a legislative package updating various local government public notice requirements.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165156

House Bill 5767: Local government public notices package
Introduced by Rep. Robert Kosowski (D) on September 9, 2014, to establish that public notice of rules of a county or regional parks and recreation commission must be made according to the provisions proposed by House Bill 5560. This is part of a legislative package updating various local government public notice requirements.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165157

House Bill 5768: Local government public notices package
Introduced by Rep. Marcia Hovey-Wright (D) on September 9, 2014, to establish that public notice concerning rules and regulations for county parks must be made according to the provisions proposed by House Bill 5560. This is part of a legislative package updating various local government public notice requirements.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165158

House Bill 5769: Local government public notices package
Introduced by Rep. Martin Howrylak (R) on September 9, 2014, to establish that public notice of changes to local income tax rules and regulations must be made according to the provisions proposed by House Bill 5560. This is part of a legislative package updating various local government public notice requirements.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165159

House Bill 5770: Local government public notices package
Introduced by Rep. Adam Zemke (D) on September 9, 2014, to establish that the public notice required under a local “noxious weeds” ordinance must be made according to the provisions proposed by House Bill 5560. This is part of a legislative package updating various local government public notice requirements.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165160

House Bill 5771: Local government public notices package
Introduced by Rep. Amanda Price (R) on September 9, 2014, to establish that public notice of a resolution by city or village to borrow money in anticipation of future state road tax revenue must be made according to the provisions proposed by House Bill 5560. This is part of a legislative package updating various local government public notice requirements.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165161

House Bill 5772: Local government public notices package
Introduced by Rep. Adam Zemke (D) on September 9, 2014, to establish that public notice of filing of an assessor’s plat must be made according to the provisions proposed by House Bill 5560. This is part of a legislative package updating various local government public notice requirements.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165162

House Bill 5773: Local government public notices package
Introduced by Rep. Fred Durhal, Jr. (D) on September 9, 2014, to establish that public notice of rules relating to a city utility users tax must be made according to the provisions proposed by House Bill 5560. This is part of a legislative package updating various local government public notice requirements.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165163

House Bill 5774: Ban radioactive fracking waste from landfills
Introduced by Rep. Dian Slavens (D) on September 9, 2014, to prohibit the disposal of radioactive fracking waste in Michigan landfills.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165164

House Bill 5777: Revise elderly or disabled housing provider tax break detail
Introduced by Rep. Sean McCann (D) on September 9, 2014, to establish that a property tax exemption request for a residence owned by a government or nonprofit entity and that is used solely by elderly or disabled families may be granted retroactively if it was requested in 2011.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165167

House Bill 5778: Mandate Holocaust and genocide instruction
Introduced by Rep. Klint Kesto (R) on September 9, 2014, to mandate that public schools must provide high school students at least six hours each school year of instruction about genocides, including the Holocaust.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165168

House Bill 5779: Expand vehicle accident chemical analysis testing
Introduced by Rep. Wayne Schmidt (R) on September 9, 2014, to revise a law establishing that if the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident is taken to the hospital and a sample of the driver’s blood is withdrawn for medical treatment, the results of a chemical analysis are admissible in court to show the presence of alcohol or a controlled substance. The bill would expand this to include urine samples.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165169

House Bill 5781: Modify legislator oath of office detail
Introduced by Rep. Matt Lori (R) on September 9, 2014, to modify the way Michigan’s oath of office is administered to state senators and state representatives. Under current law, the oath can be administered by the “chancellor, any justice of the supreme court, the lieutenant governor, the president pro-tempore of the Senate, or the speaker of the House of Representatives.” The bill would remove “the chancellor” and add the House Clerk and Senate Secretary.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165171

House Bill 5782: Increase funding for lower-spending schools
Introduced by Rep. Sam Singh (D) on September 9, 2014, to increase state school aid to lower-spending school districts in the next fiscal year, meaning those that are below the “basic foundation allowance,” and also increase this “basic” allowance.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165172

House Bill 5783: Revise workers comp law to accommodate Amish
Introduced by Rep. Matt Lori (R) on September 9, 2014, to revise the state’s injured worker compensation law to accommodate Amish-owned businesses that do not use the system.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165173

House Bill 5784: Revise LSB publications mandate
Introduced by Rep. Jim Stamas (R) on September 9, 2014, to reduce the statutorily-mandated contents and distribution of two documents the state’s Legislative Service Bureau is required to publish, the Public Acts Report and the Michigan Manual. For details see a summary created by the House Fiscal Agency.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165174

House Bill 5785: Expand permissible criminal court cost levies
Introduced by Rep. John Walsh (R) on September 9, 2014, to expand the costs that can be imposed on a individual convicted in a criminal case. Among other things the bill would authorize imposing an assessment covering a share of the “salaries and benefits of relevant court personnel,” a share of the “goods and services” necessary for the operation of the court, and a share of the costs for the “operation and maintenance of court buildings and facilities.” In addition, the bill would establish that a court has no duty to provide a “calculation of the costs involved in a particular case”.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165175

House Bill 5233: Expand scope of criminal property seizure law
The amendment failed by voice vote in the House on March 27, 2014, to remove the provision allowing the government to wait up to 56 days before giving notice that property is being taken (under current law this is seven days).
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=162895

House Bill 5233: Expand scope of criminal property seizure law
The amendment failed by voice vote in the House on March 27, 2014, to tie-bar the bill to House Bills 5234 and 5250, meaning this bill cannot become law unless those do also. HB 5234 would revise details of the state human trafficking law, and HB 5250 would require law enforcement agencies to file regular reports on criminal asset forfeitures including details on the crimes, whether any person was charged or convicted, the nature and disposition of the property and more.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=162895

House Bill 5233: Expand scope of criminal property seizure law
Passed 93 to 13 in the House on September 16, 2014, to expand the crimes covered by a state criminal forfeiture law to include home invasion, rape and other serious sex crimes. The bill would also make the property of an owner deemed “willfully blind” to illegal activity taking place on the premises subject to forfeiture, allow the seizure of real or personal property that had been transferred to a new owner after the crime in some cases, and let the government wait up to 28 days before giving notice that property is being seized (under current law this is seven days). The state criminal forfeiture law allows the government to seize property used in a crime or acquired with the proceeds of a crime, with the net proceeds from its sale turned over to the agencies that are “substantially involved in effecting the forfeiture”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=688444

House Bill 5341: Revise welfare application confidentiality details
Passed 96 to 10 in the House on September 16, 2014, to revise existing restrictions on releasing information related to an individuals’ applications for welfare and related programs, which are considered records open to the public. The bill would exclude public access to documents in an individual’s record’s that come from another agency or organization, unless required by other state or federal laws, or in response to a court order.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=695603