Replies

Please note that the following legislative actions have been taken.

Senate Bill 114: Revise commercial rental property assessment occupancy formula
Passed 98 to 12 in the House on May 27, 2014, to eliminate the use of rental property occupancy rate increases or decreases in determining the taxable value of property. The bill is a response to a 2002 Supreme Court ruling (WPW vs. Troy) which held that the Constitutional tax cap put in place by Proposal A in 1994 capped annual increases in the assessments of commercial property whose assessment had previously been lowered because of high vacancy rates.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691145

Senate Bill 409: Revise first degree murder detail
The amendment passed by voice vote in the House on May 27, 2014, to establish that if passed the bill will go into effect on July 1, 2014.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159833

Senate Bill 409: Revise first degree murder detail
Passed 104 to 6 in the House on May 27, 2014, to make the crime of “unlawful imprisonment” a “predicate” offense for first degree murder, meaning that a murder committed in the act of committing this crime would be punishable by life in prison with no chance for parole.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691165

Senate Bill 418: Exempt travel agents from insurance agent licensure mandate
Passed 107 to 3 in the House on May 27, 2014, to exempt travel agents from the licensure mandate imposed on insurance agents. Travel agents often sell trip insurance that is incidental to the planned travel.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691149

Senate Bill 472: Revise state survey and remonumentation commission details
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on May 27, 2014, to authorize a state survey and remonumentation commission, which would have oversight over a state land survey office, and revise details of the duties and procedures used by counties and the state related to restoring state land survey corner and landmark markers.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691150

Senate Bill 494: Repeal licensure of “community planners”
Passed 94 to 16 in the House on May 27, 2014, to repeal the registration mandate imposed on “community planners.” This bill repeals the registration, application, and examination fees, and a bill to be introduced later repeals the mandate itself.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691125

Senate Bill 607: Repeal ocularist registration
Passed 104 to 6 in the House on May 27, 2014, to repeal a law that imposes a registration mandate on ocularists and ocularist apprentices, who design, fabricate, and fit “ocular prosthetic appliances,” or artificial eyes. Senate bill 606 repeals the registration and this bill repeals the associated fee.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691126

Senate Bill 623: Revise nonprofit corporations law
Passed 33 to 2 in the Senate on May 27, 2014, to revise and update details of many provisions in the state law governing nonprofit corporations.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691056

Senate Bill 624: Revise nonprofit corporations law
Passed 35 to 1 in the Senate on May 27, 2014, to revise and update details of many provisions in the state law governing the dissolution or merger of “domestic charitable purpose corporations”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691057

Senate Bill 893: Re-impose medical services tax to get more federal Medicaid money
Passed 86 to 24 in the House on May 27, 2014, to re-impose a 6 percent use tax on certain health care providers, which is designed to “game” the federal Medicaid system in ways that result in higher federal payments to Michigan’s medical welfare system.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691151

Senate Bill 913: Revise Medicaid health insurance claims tax
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on May 27, 2014, to reduce to 0.75 percent a 1.0 percent health insurance claims tax intended to “game” the federal Medicaid system in ways that result in higher federal payments to Michigan’s medical welfare system. If a 6 percent use tax on Medicaid managed care providers proposed by Senate Bill 893 is disallowed by federal government for this purpose, then this bill would increase the rate of this levy to the original 1.0 percent.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691152

Senate Bill 934: Preempt $10.10 minimum wage initiative; hike mandated minimum
Passed 24 to 12 in the Senate on May 27, 2014, to concur with the House-passed version of the bill, which mandates a higher mandated minimum wage and revises details of the inflation indexing.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691059

Senate Bill 934: Preempt $10.10 minimum wage initiative; hike mandated minimum
Passed 76 to 34 in the House on May 27, 2014, To repeal the current state minimum wage law that makes it unlawful to employ a worker for less than $7.40 an hour, and replace it with a new law gradually increasing the mandated minimum to $9.25 an hour in 2018. The minimum amount the employer of a worker who receives tips must pay would rise from $2.65 to an amount that is 38 percent of the non-tipped minimum, or $3.52. (A tipped-worker’s employer must pay the difference between this amount and the regular minimum if tips come up short).
These figures would increase with inflation (with a 3.5 percent annual cap), and the state would be required to reimburse local governments for any cost increases caused by the mandated wage hikes. The wage mandates would be suspended if the state unemployment rate rises above 8.5 percent.
As introduced the bill was seen as a Republican gambit to keep an “initiated law” off the November ballot, to hike the mandated minimums to $10.10 for both tipped and non-tipped employees. It became a bipartisan gambit after negotiations for the higher rate and inflation indexing brought most Democrats on board..
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691170

House Bill 4649: Create foster care parents “bill of rights”
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on May 27, 2014, to create a foster care parents “bill of rights” that among other things would require state authorities to provide “timely financial reimbursement for foster children in the foster parent’s care,” a “fair, timely, and impartial investigation of complaints concerning the foster parent’s licensure,” due process during any investigation, and more.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691143

House Bill 4650: Create foster care parents “bill of rights”
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on May 27, 2014, to give the state “children’s ombudsman” the duty of investigating matters related to the proposal in House Bill 4649 to create a foster care parents “bill of rights”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691144

House Bill 5361: Allow disabled to hunt from “personal assistive mobility device”
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on May 27, 2014, to allow a disabled individual to hunt small game from an electric “personal assistive mobility device,” subject to conditions and restrictions specified in the bill.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691157

House Bill 5404: Heroin overdose treatment package
Passed 109 to 1 in the House on May 27, 2014, to 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” (such as Naloxone), and require emergency services personnel to be trained to administer them.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691153

House Bill 5405: Heroin overdose treatment package
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on May 27, 2014, to grant immunity from criminal prosecution or administrative sanction to 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=691154

House Bill 5406: Heroin overdose treatment package
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on May 27, 2014, to establish that a person who in good faith believes that another individual is suffering a heroin or opioid related overdose and who administers an “opioid antagonist” (such as Naloxone) is not liable in a civil lawsuit for damages. This would not apply to a medical professional administering the drug in a hospital.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691155

House Bill 5407: Heroin overdose treatment package
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on May 27, 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 an overdose.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=691156

House Bill 5478: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 109 to 1 in the House on May 27, 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=691128

House Bill 5479: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 109 to 1 in the House on May 27, 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=691130

House Bill 5480: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 109 to 1 in the House on May 27, 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=691131

House Bill 5481: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 109 to 1 in the House on May 27, 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=691132

House Bill 5482: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 109 to 1 in the House on May 27, 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=691133

House Bill 5483: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 109 to 1 in the House on May 27, 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=691134

House Bill 5484: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 109 to 1 in the House on May 27, 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=691135

House Bill 5485: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 109 to 1 in the House on May 27, 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=691136

House Bill 5486: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 109 to 1 in the House on May 27, 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=691137

House Bill 5487: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 107 to 3 in the House on May 27, 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=691139

House Bill 5488: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 109 to 1 in the House on May 27, 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=691140

House Bill 5489: Authorize workers comp trust fund payments to former Delphi workers
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on May 27, 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=691141

House Bill 5490: Reorganize workers comp self-insurance trust fund
Passed 109 to 1 in the House on May 27, 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=691142

House Bill 5591: Exempt public breastfeeding from “indecent exposure” law
The amendment passed by voice vote in the House on May 27, 2014, to expand the bill to cover a woman “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=164383

House Bill 5591: Exempt public breastfeeding from “indecent exposure” law
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on May 27, 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=691163

House Bill 5592: Exempt public breastfeeding from “indecent exposure” law
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on May 27, 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=691164