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