Senate Bill 275: Authorize drug testing of welfare applicants
The amendment failed by voice vote in the House on December 2, 2014, to require legislators to take drug tests.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=157733
Senate Bill 275: Authorize drug testing of welfare applicants
The amendment failed by voice vote in the House on December 2, 2014, to tie-bar the bill to House Bills 4610, meaning this bill cannot become law unless that one does also. HB 4610 would require drug testing for business executives whose firms receive subsidies from the state.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=157733
Senate Bill 275: Authorize drug testing of welfare applicants
Passed 75 to 34 in the House on December 3, 2014, to require that welfare benefit recipients or applicants who test positive on the drug tests authorized by House Bill 4118 must be referred to a state-authorized regional substance abuse agency, and cut benefits if the individual refused to enter a drug treatment program. This would begin as a one-year pilot program in three counties.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697830
Senate Bill 520: Revise details of child support order procedures
Passed 106 to 3 in the House on December 3, 2014, to revise notification details of alimony or child support orders, and of restitution orders imposed on individuals who are delinquent in these payments.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697831
Senate Bill 521: Streamline delinquent child support, parenting time enforcement
Passed 100 to 9 in the House on December 3, 2014, to essentially streamline procedures and the issuance and enforcement of subpoenas, bench warrants and contempt of court rulings in divorce-related parenting time orders and child support delinquencies.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697832
Senate Bill 522: Repeal child support “service fee”
Passed 109 to 0 in the House on December 3, 2014, to repeal a $2 monthly fee imposed on court-ordered child support payers.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697834
Senate Bill 526: Revise child support recipient detail
Passed 109 to 0 in the House on December 3, 2014, to establish that court-ordered child support payments should go to the person who is actually caring for the children, not necessarily the person who is “legally responsible” for this.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697835
Senate Bill 529: Revise child support guidelines detail
Passed 109 to 0 in the House on December 3, 2014, to establish that a state “Office of Child Support” has the duty to “develop and implement guidelines for the allocation and distribution of all child support payments”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697836
Senate Bill 530: Revise and update Friend of the Court procedures and powers
Passed 109 to 0 in the House on December 3, 2014, to revise and update various details related to the powers, procedures and duties of Friend of the Court offices. For details see this Senate Fiscal Agency summary.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697837
Senate Bill 664: Revise “debt management services” regulations
Passed 103 to 6 in the House on December 2, 2014, to revise and update various definitions and prescribed procedures in a law that imposes licensure and regulations on “debt management services.” Among other things the bill would increase the maximum fee the state allows these businesses to charge customers.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697788
Senate Bill 712: Extend remonumentation of Michigan-Indiana state line authorization
Passed 108 to 1 in the House on December 3, 2014, to extend until 2018 a current 2015 sunset on a 2010 law that authorized the remonumentation of the Michigan-Indiana state line.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697833
Senate Bill 880: Require psychologist licensure degree program details
Passed 109 to 0 in the House on December 2, 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=697515
Senate Bill 951: Expand state oversight of public school overspending
Passed 24 to 14 in the Senate on December 3, 2014, to expand the scope of a law that prescribes processes and requirements for correcting local government deficit spending, so that it also applies to public school districts. Districts that fail to follow the steps required under a deficit elimination plan could have 10 percent of their state funding withheld until they comply.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697805
Senate Bill 952: Establish new local and school budget process requirements
Passed 24 to 14 in the Senate on December 3, 2014, to prescribe procedures, notification and budget-cutting requirements, and monitoring for a public school district that experiences a gap between projected revenue and actual spending (a deficit), or is in the midst of “rapidly declining financial circumstances,” including substantial declines in enrollment. The bill tasks the state Department of Education with specific duties in such situations, which could include authority over academic matters in addition to financial ones. The Department could also withhold funding from a district that fails to take the steps necessary to eliminate a deficit. This is part of package comprised of Senate Bills 949 to 957.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697806
Senate Bill 953: Expand state oversight of public school overspending
Passed 23 to 15 in the Senate on December 3, 2014, to authorize appointment by the governor of an Emergency Manager for a public school district that fails to comply with an “enhanced deficit elimination plan” required by Senate Bill 952 for a district whose first plan failed to fix the problem, or is in “rapidly declining financial circumstances”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697807
Senate Bill 954: Expand state oversight of public school overspending
Passed 24 to 14 in the Senate on December 3, 2014, to give the Department Treasury the authority to withhold state school aid payments “to incentivize” an overspending school district that fails to submit an acceptable “deficit elimination plan” as required by Senate Bill 952, or which falls more deeply into financial trouble and must operate under an “enhanced” deficit plan.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697810
Senate Bill 955: Increase school “emergency loan” funding
Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate on December 3, 2014, to increase from $50 million to $100 million the amount allocated through 2018 for “financial emergency” loans from a state loan board to public school districts. Also, to increase from $35 million to $85 million the amount of such loans to cities, townships, villages, and counties. Finally, the bill would eliminate restrictions on this loan board’s ability to restructure repayments on existing emergency municipal loans.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697811
Senate Bill 957: Expand state oversight of public school overspending
Passed 22 to 16 in the Senate on December 3, 2014, to establish a process whereby a public school district experiencing “conditions of fiscal stress, a deficit, or a potential financial emergency” can apply for “technical assistance” from the state including data analysis tools, so as to avoid further state intervention. The bill would also give the state Superintendent of Public Instruction or the state Treasurer the authority to require a public school district experiencing financial stress to submit periodic financial status reports as specified in the bill.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697814
Senate Bill 978: Revise state loans to locals details
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on December 3, 2014, to remove current limitations on the amount of “surplus” funds that can be loaned by the state to municipalities and school districts through 2008. See also Senate Bill 955, which increases related emergency loan caps.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697812
Senate Bill 1128: Require hepatitis tests on released prisoners
Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate on December 3, 2014, to require Hepatitis C testing by the Department of Corrections before prisoners are released on parole or upon completion of their sentence. Positive test results would be reported to relevant agencies according to Department of Community Health rules.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697798
Senate Bill 1129: Mandate Hepatitis disclosure to sex partner
Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate on December 3, 2014, to establish sentencing guidelines for the crime proposed by Senate Bill 1130 of a person with Hepatitis C having sex without disclosing this.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697799
Senate Bill 1130: Mandate Hepatitis disclosure to sex partner
Passed 28 to 10 in the Senate on December 3, 2014, to make it a felony for an individual who knows he or she has Hepatitis C to have sex that includes “sexual penetration” without telling the sex partner about having the disease. This already applies to AIDS.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697800
Senate Bill 1136: Revise 36th district court pension underfunding surcharge
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 3, 2014, to allow a bailiff of the 36th district court in Detroit to be removed from office for inability to perform essential functions of the office.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697797
Senate Bill 1137: Require Hepatitis C tests on new prisoners
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on December 3, 2014, to require that prisoner entering a correctional facility must be tested for Hepatitis C.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697801
Senate Bill 1146: Rename a road to
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on December 3, 2014, to designate Scott Lake Road in Oakland County as the “Officer James R. DeLoach and Officer Steven J. Niewiek Memorial Highway”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697795
Senate Bill 1149: Authorize new state Senate office building
Passed 25 to 13 in the Senate on December 3, 2014, to authorize the sale of the Farnum Senate office building in Lansing and construction of a new building for Senators’ offices. The current budget makes $7 million available for this.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697796
Senate Bill 1150: Reduce maximum truck weights
Failed 15 to 22 in the Senate on December 2, 2014, to reduce the maximum weight of trucks allowed on Michigan roads from 164,000 to 80,000 pounds. This would not necessarily reduce the maximum weight per axle, but would require more trucks trailers to carry the same amount as currently on Michigan highways.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697440
House Bill 4038: Add “bush autumn olive” to banned species list
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on December 3, 2014, to add the “bush autumn olive” (elaeagnus umbellata), the giant hogweed (heracleum mantegazzianum), and the Japanese knotweed (fallopian japonica) to the law banning the possession or release of certain non-native species.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697794
House Bill 4118: Require drug testing of welfare applicants
Passed 74 to 35 in the House on December 3, 2014, to require a one-year pilot program in at least three counties that would require drug testing of state welfare benefit recipients and applicants if an “empirical screening tool” indicates a reasonable suspicion of drug use. Benefits would be halted for six months if a person tests positive or refuses to take the test, with an exception for medical marijuana. If a welfare recipient who is a parent tests positive, the child would still be eligible for assistance, and a “protective payee” would be designated to receive the parent’s welfare money. The bill appropriates $500,000 for the pilot program.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697829
House Bill 4206: Revise criminal defendant “youthful trainee status”
Passed 97 to 12 in the House on December 3, 2014, to increase from 21 to 23 the age limit on “youthful trainee status” for criminal defendants, which provides a mechanism for not including the offense on the youth’s permanent record. The bill would also establish various conditions for this status, including a full time school, work or community service requirement and more. This status allows a youthful offender who pleads guilty to criminal offenses other than serious felonies to serve a sentence and then have the proceedings dismissed without having a criminal conviction record, and with no civil disability or loss of right or privilege.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697838
House Bill 5179: Transfer western Wayne correctional
Passed 106 to 3 in the House on December 3, 2014, to land bank to transfer the former western Wayne correctional facility property to a government “land bank” authority, which in turn would be required to sell it in a manner and on terms that the authority “in its discretion” calculates will “realize the greatest benefit to this state”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697841
House Bill 5216: Authorize government “certificate of employability” for ex-cons
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 3, 2014, to authorize the Department of Corrections to issue a “certificate of employability” to prisoners being released who have behaved well in prison and successfully completed a career and technical education course.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697791
House Bill 5217: Authorize government “certificate of employability” for ex-cons
Passed 27 to 11 in the Senate on December 3, 2014, to limit the liability of employers in personal injury, property damage and wrongful death lawsuits arising from the actions of an employee who is an ex-convict hired after the individual was granted a “certificate of employability” by the state Department of Corrections, as proposed by House Bill 5216.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697792
House Bill 5218: Authorize goverrnment “certificate of employability” for ex-cons
Passed 36 to 2 in the Senate on December 3, 2014, to revise details of the “good moral character” prerequisite in occupational licensure mandates to conform with the ex-convict “certificate of employability” proposed by House Bill 5216. Specifically, the bill would allow but not require licensure boards to consider criminal prosecutions or lawsuit judgments as evidence of an individual not having “good moral character,” but require that they take notice of whether an ex-convict was granted the state “certificate of employability” proposed by House Bill 5216.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697793
House Bill 5582: Restrict criminal sanctions for youth
Passed 100 to 9 in the House on December 3, 2014, to no longer include sending a youth aged 17 to 20 to prison for at least three years among the choices a court must exercise for a youth charged with an offense punishable by more than one year in prison.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697839
House Bill 5585: Revise criminal defendant “youthful trainee status”
Passed 103 to 6 in the House on December 3, 2014, to require that if a criminal defendant assigned to “youthful trainee status” (which provides a mechanism for not including an offense on the youth’s permanent record) is convicted with a serious felony listed in the bill, the “trainee” status must be revoked (which means the previous crime also goes on the person’s record).
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697840
House Bill 6074: Exempt college athletes from unionization
Introduced by Rep. Al Pscholka (R) on December 2, 2014, to establish that college students who participate in intercollegiate athletics on behalf of a state university are not considered “public employees” subject to unionization under the law that mandates schools and local governments must engage in collective bargaining with government employee unions.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=165636
Senate Bill 113: Authorize tax break for conservation easement donation in wills
Passed 93 to 16 in the House on December 4, 2014, to establish that if a person donates a “conservation easement” on a parcel of land in his or her will, the heirs would not be subject to the Proposal A “pop-up,” in which the state equalized value (SEV, meaning market value) of transferred property becomes the basis for the new owner’s property tax assessment, rather than the capped “taxable value” of the previous owner.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698032
Senate Bill 247: Authorize some 4 a.m. liquor licenses
Passed 22 to 14 in the Senate on December 4, 2014, to allow bars and restaurants in a “central business district” of a city to stay open until 4:00 a.m. on weekends if they pay a $10,000 annual fee and have extra bouncers and security cameras.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697927
Senate Bill 1073: Grant medical facility rationing exception to McLaren Health Systems
Failed 11 to 26 in the Senate on December 4, 2014, to authorize a special exception to the health care facility rationing imposed by the state’s “Certificate of Need” law that would allow McLaren Health Systems to build a new facility in Clarkston. In return for this special “carve out” the bill would force McLaren to provide a certain amount of charitable care and meet other requirements specified in the bill. The Certificate of Need (CON) program rations the availability of health care facilities and technology by requiring health care providers to seek permission from a state commission for new or expanded facilities.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697923
Senate Bill 1103: Revise film producer subsidy formula
Passed 73 to 37 in the House on December 5, 2014, to extend until 2022 a 2017 sunset on the law authorizing state subsidy payments to some film productions, and make various changes to the formula used to calculate a particular producer’s subsidy. Among other things, the bill would remove limitations on higher subsidies based on very high compensation paid to a director, actors, etc. In the current fiscal year budget, up to $50 million in state tax revenues may be redistributed to film producers. Changes in the bill would have the effect of allowing particular productions to claim a larger share of this money, and making future “residual” income paid to members of a production taxable in Michigan.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698036
Senate Bill 1135: Impose new child car seat mandates
Passed 36 to 1 in the Senate on December 4, 2014, to require a child who weighs less than 30 pounds to be transported in a rear-facing child seat; and a child who weighs from 30 to 50 pound to transported in a forward-facing child seat. A child less than 57 inches tall would have to be transported in a booster seat. Age would not be a factor in these mandates.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697911
House Bill 4186: Revise criminal record expungement rules
Passed 109 to 0 in the House on December 4, 2014, to revise the grounds for seeking to have a criminal record expunged from a person’s record. The bill would allow a person convicted of only one felony offense and not more than two misdemeanors, to apply to have the felony “set aside,” or expunged from the person’s public record. A person convicted of not more than two misdemeanors could apply to have one of them set aside. This would not apply to convictions for criminal sexual conduct, domestic violence, or crimes punishable by life imprisonment.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698055
House Bill 4441: Revise drunken boat, snowmobile & ORV operator thresholds
Passed 85 to 24 in the House on December 4, 2014, to prohibit operating a vessel with “any amount” of a controlled substance in the operator’s body, or if under age 21, “any amount” of alcohol. The bill also revises penalties and other details of this law.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698042
House Bill 4442: Revise drunken boat, snowmobile & ORV operator thresholds
Passed 84 to 25 in the House on December 4, 2014, to revise the criminal sentencing guidelines to reflect the controlled substance vessel operating prohibition proposed by House Bill 4441.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698043
House Bill 4443: Revise drunken boat, snowmobile & ORV operator thresholds
Passed 85 to 24 in the House on December 4, 2014, to prohibit operating a snowmobile with “any amount” of a controlled substance in the operator’s body, or if under age 21, “any amount” of alcohol. The bill also revises penalties and other details of this law.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698044
House Bill 4444: Revise drunken boat, snowmobile & ORV operator thresholds
Passed 84 to 25 in the House on December 4, 2014, to revise the criminal sentencing guidelines to reflect the controlled substance snowmobile operating prohibition proposed by House Bill 4443.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698045
House Bill 4445: Revise drunken boat, snowmobile & ORV operator thresholds
Passed 87 to 22 in the House on December 4, 2014, to prohibit operating an off road vehicle with “any amount” of a controlled substance in the operator’s body, or if under age 21, “any amount” of alcohol. The bill also revises penalties and other details of this law.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698040
House Bill 4446: Revise drunken boat, snowmobile & ORV operator thresholds
Passed 85 to 24 in the House on December 4, 2014, to revise the criminal sentencing guidelines to reflect the controlled substance ORV operating prohibition proposed by House Bill 4445.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698041
House Bill 4454: Ban counting religious holiday absences in student’s record
Passed 95 to 14 in the House on December 4, 2014, to prohibit public schools from counting religious holiday absences against a student’s attendance record if the school provides any kind of recognition for this.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698003
House Bill 4539: Stop imposing sales tax on fuel sales
Passed 56 to 53 in the House on December 4, 2014, to phase out charging the 6 percent sales tax on gas and diesel motor fuel sales over six years. House Bill 5477 would gradually increase the motor fuel tax by an equivalent amount. Sales tax revenue is mostly earmarked to schools, and to local governments revenue sharing. The bill requires the legislature to appropriate at least as much as the previous year to both those areas, using revenue from other taxes. If it did not, then the 6 percent sales tax would automatically be imposed on fuel sales again. Together, the bills would shift about $1 billion in current state revenue to roads, with no net tax increase.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698017
House Bill 4927: Let adoption agencies refuse adoptions that violate moral convictions
Passed 60 to 49 in the House on December 4, 2014, to prohibit a state agency from discriminating against an faith-based adoption agency for refusing to assist or participate in an adoption that violates its written religious or moral convictions, including adoptions of a child by a homosexual.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698025
House Bill 4928: Let adoption agencies refuse adoptions that violate moral convictions
Passed 59 to 50 in the House on December 4, 2014, to establish that a faith-based private adoption agency is not required to assist or participate in an adoption that violates its written religious or moral convictions, including adoptions of a child by a homosexual. House Bill 4927 would prohibit a state agency from discriminating against an adoption agency for this reason.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698028
House Bill 4991: Let adoption agencies refuse adoptions that violate moral convictions
Passed 59 to 50 in the House on December 4, 2014, to establish that a faith-based private adoption agency is not required to assist or participate in an adoption that violates its written religious or moral convictions, including adoptions of a child by a homosexual. House Bill 4927 would prohibit a state agency from discriminating against an adoption agency for this reason.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698031
House Bill 4998: Appoint “entrepreneurs-in-residence” at Michigan Strategic Fund
Passed 30 to 6 in the Senate on December 4, 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=697900
House Bill 5095: Ban large puppy breeders
Passed 83 to 27 in the House on December 4, 2014, to prohibit commercial puppy breeding operations that have more than 50 female dogs over four months of age, and impose a number of other new regulations on animal breeders, shelters and pet shops. Among other new regulations shelters would have to hold an animal for at least one week and make efforts to identify the owner before euthanizing it, selling it, making it available for adoption, etc. However, for dogs and cats without traceable evidence of ownership, the holding period would be four days.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698058
House Bill 5204: Require state give locals chance to buy surplus snow equipment
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on December 4, 2014, to require the state Department of Transportation to give local governments the right of first refusal when it chooses to sell or dispose of surplus snow removal equipment.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698059
House Bill 5205: Facilitate “advanced waste energy recovery”
Passed 63 to 46 in the House on December 4, 2014, to streamline state regulations so as to facilitate the use of “advanced waste energy recovery” methods, and define fuel manufactured from municipal solid waste and other sources as “renewable” for purposes of a 2008 law mandating that 10 percent of the electricity sold by utilities must come from “renewable” sources. This would also apply to energy from technologies that use “pyrolysis” to convert many agricultural, industrial, and municipal solid waste into energy.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698056
House Bill 5418: Allow private employers to give preferences to veterans
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on December 4, 2014, to permit employers to give preference to veterans in hiring and promotion decisions, subject to conditions specified in the bill, and require the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to maintain a registry of employers that do this.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698057
House Bill 5477: Replace per-gallon fuel tax with higher wholesale tax
Passed 58 to 51 in the House on December 4, 2014, to replace the current 19-cent per gallon gas tax and 15-cent diesel tax with a 7.5 percent wholesale fuel tax, gradually increasing to 13.5 percent over six years. When fully phased-in this would represent a tax hike of around $1.0 billion at current wholesale fuel prices. See also House Bill 4539, which would phase out the state sales tax on fuel sales over the same period, resulting in no net tax increase. This bill is not “tie barred” to that one however, meaning it does not have to go into effect for this one to.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698024
House Bill 5560: Revise, eliminate certain government notice publication in newspapers
Passed 62 to 47 in the House on December 4, 2014, to repeal the requirement that local governments publish certain legal notices in local newspapers, and instead require them to phase-in new “electronic dissemination and archival protocols” over a 10 year period, including rules for posting these on a government or agency’s own website. For the first five years voters could decide if they prefer newspaper publication. Governments would have to compile permanent public notice lists enabling regular or electronic mailings to those desiring notice of legal matters.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697998
House Bill 5597: Extend authority of public schools establishing public libraries
Passed 109 to 0 in the House on December 4, 2014, to repeal a 2015 sunset on a law that allows a public school district to establish a public library. This is part of a package with House Bill 5868 intended to facilitate library mergers and expansions into new taxing jurisdictions.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698002
House Bill 5868: Establish library tax district consolidation measures
Passed 109 to 0 in the House on December 4, 2014, to establish that if two municipalities are consolidated or annexed into one, and both have a district library that levies its own property tax millage and has its own board, the millage and governance structure of each district library would continue. Consolidation of the library districts (if any) would be at those districts’ discretion, and if they are merged, voters in the jurisdiction being transferred would have to approve the property tax imposed by the receiving library district. This is part of a package with House Bill 5597 intended to facilitate library mergers and expansions into new taxing jurisdictions.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698001
House Bill 5924: Withhold city income tax from lottery winnings
Passed 99 to 10 in the House on December 4, 2014, to withhold city income tax from lottery winnings, and send the money directly to the city to which a winner might owe taxes.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697999
House Bill 5928: Create incarceration and sentencing study panel
Passed 105 to 4 in the House on December 4, 2014, to create a 15-member Criminal Justice Policy Commission to gather and analyze data on the effects of a number of criminal sentencing, incarceration and release practices and procedures.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698047
House Bill 5929: Revise “community corrections programs”
Passed 105 to 4 in the House on December 4, 2014, to make technical revisions to “community corrections programs” created as alternatives to jail and prison, so as to reflect changes in the sentencing guidelines and other corrections-related statutes.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698049
House Bill 5930: Revise sanctions for probation violations
Passed 96 to 13 in the House on December 4, 2014, to permit but not require judges to consider reducing the time a released prisoner must remain under parole after two years, or after a felon has completed at least one-third of parole period.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698051
House Bill 5931: Revise sanctions for parole violations
Passed 91 to 18 in the House on December 4, 2014, to establish a “presumption” that prisoners convicted of non-violent and drug offenses, or who are deemed unlikely to be a “menace to society,” should be released on parole after serving the minimum sentence, with many exceptions, and no release requirement.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698054
House Bill 5958: Enact a “religious freedom restoration act”
Passed 59 to 50 in the House on December 4, 2014, to establish that the state or a local government “shall not substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion, even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability,” unless this is done “in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest” and uses “the least restrictive means” to further that interest.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=69801