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
Senate Bill 74: Mandate school “cyberbully” policies
Passed 30 to 7 in the Senate on December 9, 2014, to revise the 2011 law mandating that schools adopt anti-“bullying” policies, by requiring that their policies also address “cyberbullying”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698116
Senate Bill 596: Human trafficking crime package
Passed 97 to 12 in the House on December 9, 2014, to create a state “human trafficking board” to collect and disseminate information on this crime, seek federal and other aid for addressing it and helping victims, and more.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698194
Senate Bill 1077: Require more disclosures in school debt elections
Passed 26 to 11 in the Senate on December 9, 2014, to remove the June 30, 2016 sunset on a $1.8 billion limit on the amount of outstanding “School Bond Loan Program” debt. This program essentially lets school districts borrow at rates determined by the state’s credit rating, by having the state in effect guarantee this debt. The bill would also require additional ballot language disclosures in school debt millage elections, eliminate a minimum millage rate required for a school to qualify for this benefit and more.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698118
Senate Bill 1092: Allow temporary traffic signal on side of roads
Passed 109 to 0 in the House on December 9, 2014, to allow a temporary traffic control signal to be located on the side of the traveled portion of a roadway, not just overhead, which reportedly is the preferred method of the state transportation department.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698172
House Bill 4237: Sell telecom providers space on State Police radio towers
Passed 107 to 2 in the House on December 9, 2014, to allow the state to sell space on the state’s public safety communications towers to telecommunications providers who want to use these for their own equipment, and use the revenue generated to make payments on the government debt incurred to build the towers.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698176
House Bill 4573: Prorate partial-year liquor license fees
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 9, 2014, to eliminate a prohibition on prorating liquor licensing and transfer fees and allow them to be prorated on a quarterly basis. Under current law, a full-year license expires on April 30 each year, regardless of the date it was issued. Also, to allow the owner of a gas station with a license to sell beer and wine to also sell beer and wine at a second gas station under the same license.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698115
House Bill 4890: Let cemetery owners declare burial plot contracts “abandoned”
Passed 33 to 4 in the Senate on December 9, 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. The bill establishes several methods to establish that ownership has been abandoned, such as not providing an updated address after 60 years or affirming possession in other ways.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698117
House Bill 5932: Revise life insurance detail
Passed 102 to 7 in the House on December 9, 2014, to revise life insurance regulations to use a principal-based method to calculate the amount of reserves needed to cover future benefits.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698178
House Bill 5952: Revise restrictions on Commerce Township park use
Passed 109 to 0 in the House on December 9, 2014, to permit Commerce Township in Oakland County to use a parcel of state land transferred to it in the 1980s “for public purposes” rather than only for a township park.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698174
House Bill 6074: Exempt college athletes from unionization
Passed 59 to 50 in the House on December 9, 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.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698196