Senate Bill 891: Revise hazardous waste cleanup regulations, procedures and definitions
Failed 56 to 52 in the House on December 16, 2014, to revise a number of procedures and definitions in the state’s law on hazardous waste cleanups, which would generally streamline operation of the law and make it more accommodating to various types of properties, situations and circumstances. Among other things, the bill would recognize that when contaminated property (a “facility”) is split or subdivided, new parcels created by the split that are not contaminated would no longer be subject to restrictions that applied to the original parcel.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698662
Senate Bill 910: Ban enforcement of new woodstove emissions limits
Passed 68 to 41 in the House on December 16, 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=698660
Senate Bill 1087: Exempt delinquent mortgage “work-out” advisors from licensure
Passed 107 to 1 in the House on December 16, 2014, to exempt from licensure as a mortgage originator an individual who helps delinquent home loan borrowers to renegotiate their loans.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698664
Senate Bill 1087: Exempt delinquent mortgage “work-out” advisors from licensure
Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate on November 12, 2014, to exempt from licensure as a mortgage originator an individual who helps delinquent home loan borrowers to renegotiate their loans.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=697110
House Bill 4411: Rename a highway
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 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=698600
House Bill 4441: Revise drunken boat, snowmobile & ORV operator thresholds
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 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=698623
House Bill 4442: Revise drunken boat, snowmobile & ORV operator thresholds
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 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=698624
House Bill 4443: Revise drunken boat, snowmobile & ORV operator thresholds
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 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=698625
House Bill 4445: Revise drunken boat, snowmobile & ORV operator thresholds
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 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=698626
House Bill 4601: Name a highway
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 2014, to designate a portion of US-10 in Lake County as the “Sheriff Robert Radden Memorial Highway”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698605
House Bill 4649: Create foster care parents “bill of rights”
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 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=698615
House Bill 4814: Rename bridge in Monroe County
Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 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=698601
House Bill 4923: Name a highway after a fallen police officer
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 2014, to designate a portion of I-94 in Van Buren county as the “Trooper Rick Johnson Memorial Highway”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698606
House Bill 4936: Redesignate a highway
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 2014, to designate a portion of U.S. 127 in Clinton County as the “Tim Sanborn Memorial Highway”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698602
House Bill 4957: Rename Cut River gorge bridge
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 2014, to designate the bridge on U.S. 2 over the Cut River gorge west of the Straits of Mackinac as the “Heath Michael Robinson Memorial Bridge”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698607
House Bill 4985: Redesignate a road
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 2014, to designate a portion of portion M-153 in Wayne County as the “Firefighter Brian Woehlke Memorial Highway”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698608
House Bill 5064: Name I-75 after Tuskegee airmen
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 2014, to designate Interstate I-75 in Michigan as “Tuskegee Airmen Memorial Trail”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698599
House Bill 5072: Change scenic road PR label
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 2014, to change the label applied to roads deemed by a 1993 law to be “heritage routes” because of their scenic, recreational, or historic associations, instead calling them “Pure Michigan Byways”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698603
House Bill 5091: Establish that open firearms carry is not “brandishing”
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 2014, to revise the definition of illegally “brandishing” a firearm to state that it applies only to a person who acts in a “willful” manner. The bill would also establish that pointing a gun at someone to defend oneself or another is not “brandishing.” House Bill 5092 establishes a statutory definition of brandishing that requires an “intent” to threaten.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698613
House Bill 5192: Revise life insurance regulation detail
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 2014, to allow life insurance companies to use “preferred class structure mortality tables” to determine future-claim reserve levels, subject to specified limitations and restrictions.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698614
House Bill 5247: Exempt hospital pools from lifeguard mandate
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 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=698618
House Bill 5397: Authorize local government energy efficiency homeowner loans
Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 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=698622
House Bill 5447: Designate road after murdered corrections officer
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 2014, to designate a portion of U.S. 41 in Marquette County as the “Earl DeMarse Memorial Highway”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698610
House Bill 5510: Revise paternity law and unwed father child support details
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 2014, to specify procedures for a father and mother signing an “acknowledgment of parentage” form. See also House Bills 5463 to 5473.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698617
House Bill 5543: Redesignate a road
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 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=698611
House Bill 5715: Redesignate a bridge
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 2014, to redesignate the M-64 bridge over the Ontonagon river in Ontonagon as the “Ontonagon County Veterans Memorial Bridge”..
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698612
House Bill 5794: Correct error in foreclosure law revision
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 2014, to correct an error in a law enacted earlier in 2014 that revised details of the right of a foreclosure auction property buyer to monitor the property during the post-auction redemption period (during which a delinquent borrower can pay the loan in full to redeem the property). In one provision of that bill it referred to the “mortgagor” when it meant the purchaser.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698627
House Bill 5795: Revise mortgage foreclosure detail
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 2014, to revise the law that permits a delinquent home borrower (mortgagor) to redeem the property for six months after a foreclosure auction by paying the loan in full. The bill would require the mortgagor to record his or her interest at the register of deeds office to be eligible to exercise the right of redemption.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698628
House Bill 5839: Establish standard for permanent revocation of health provider licenses
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 2014, to add a definition of “permanent revocation” of an occupational license in the law that mandates licensure for many professions. The bill is part of a legislative package comprised of House Bills 5839 to 5842 that provide for the permanent revocation of a health profession license or registration if the person engaged in a pattern of intentional fraudulent acts for personal gain that harmed patients; expands the types of violations that could result in license revocation; and makes certain assaultive crimes, including 1st- and 2nd degree murder, grounds for permanent revocation.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698619
House Bill 5840: Establish standard for permanent revocation of health provider licenses
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 2014, to allow for the permanent revocation of a health profession license or registration if the person committed serious assault crimes while acting within his or her profession. This is part of a legislative package comprised of House Bills 5839 to 5842.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698620
House Bill 5841: Establish standard for permanent revocation of health provider licenses
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 2014, to allow for the permanent revocation of a health profession license or registration if the person engaged in a pattern of intentional fraudulent acts for personal gain that harmed patients. Permanent revocation would require the person to both engage in a pattern of intentional fraud for personal gain and cause harm to patients’ health, unless the person committed criminal sexual conduct involving a patient. This is part of a legislative package comprised of House Bills 5839 to 5842.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698621
House Bill 6074: Exempt college athletes from unionization
Passed 25 to 11 in the Senate on December 16, 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=698629
Senate Bill 738: Require auto insurers give potential Medicaid info to state
Passed 108 to 0 in the House on December 17, 2014, to extend for another four years the sunset on a 2011 law that requires auto insurers to provide the Secretary of State with all vehicle owners’ insurance policy and identification information, which it then forwards to the Department of Community Health for purposes of claiming from insurers money for services already reimbursed by government health care welfare programs.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698783
Senate Bill 791: Revise, make permanent non-transportation 7/8th cent gas tax
Passed 108 to 0 in the House on December 17, 2014, to eliminate the 2016 sunset on a 7/8ths cent-per-gallon gas tax that was originally supposed to expire in 1998 and be used to clean up leaking underground fuel tanks, but which has been extended several times and was diverted to other government spending by a 2004 “fund raid.” However, the bill would earmark $20 million of the annual revenue of around $50 million from this tax to underground tank cleanups (as originally intended), and add some limits on using money from this tax to support unrelated activities.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698770
Senate Bill 797: Increase banned species introduction penalties
Passed 104 to 4 in the House on December 17, 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=698772
Senate Bill 799: Increase banned species introduction penalties
Passed 104 to 4 in the House on December 17, 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=698775
Senate Bill 886: Regulate “continuing care agreements”
Passed 108 to 0 in the House on December 17, 2014, to repeal a law regulating the terms and sale of life estates, life leases, and long-term leases in nursing homes, retirement homes, homes for the aged, and foster care facilities, and replace it with a new law that styles these contracts as “continuing care agreements” and “continuing care communities,” which can also include independent living units and adult foster care facilities. The bill would impose detailed registration and disclosure requirements for entities that make such offers, and regulate the terms they offer.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698761
Senate Bill 887: Regulate “continuing care agreements”
Passed 108 to 0 in the House on December 17, 2014, to exempt the community care operations Senate Bill 886 would regulate from certain state rules governing a facility’s provision of various licensed medical professionals to residents.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698763
Senate Bill 888: Regulate “continuing care agreements”
Passed 108 to 0 in the House on December 17, 2014, to exempt the community care operations Senate Bill 886 would regulate from certain state rules governing an adult foster care facility’s provision to residents of various licensed medical professionals.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698765
Senate Bill 889: Regulate “continuing care agreements”
Passed 108 to 0 in the House on December 17, 2014, to repeal certain criminal sentencing guidelines that reference a nursing home regulatory regime that Senate Bill 886 would alter.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698768
Senate Bill 1011: Suspend not terminate Medicaid of prisoner with mental illness
Passed 109 to 0 in the House on December 17, 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.” This would permit the individual to start getting Medicaid benefits again immediately after release.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698744
Senate Bill 1043: Update land survey “corner” rules
Passed 108 to 0 in the House on December 17, 2014, to revise and update various definitions in the state law intended to protect and perpetuate public land survey “corners” and the monuments marking them, and revise certain procedures surveyors must use related to these corners.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698784
Senate Bill 1099: Redesignate a highway
Passed 108 to 0 in the House on December 17, 2014, to designate a portion of Highway M-6 in Kent county as the “David Warsen Memorial Highway”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698731
Senate Bill 1125: Authorize transferring municipal cemetery duties to nonprofit
Passed 108 to 0 in the House on December 17, 2014, to permit certain municipalities that own a cemetery to transfer its “perpetual care and maintenance” duties to a separate nonprofit “community foundation” as defined by the bill.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698758
Senate Bill 1146: Rename a road to
Passed 108 to 0 in the House on December 17, 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=698786
House Bill 4237: Sell telecom providers space on State Police radio towers
Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate on December 17, 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=698757
House Bill 4290: Require disclosure of Department of Treasury audit procedures
Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate on December 17, 2014, to require the Department of Treasury to publish and post online all audit manuals including training manuals, plus all internal policy statements, bulletins, memos, or other documents.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698832
House Bill 4480: Require more detailed reports on corporate subsidy costs & outcomes
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 17, 2014, to require the Michigan Strategic Fund and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to annually submit and post online more detailed reports on the costs and outcomes generated by their various “economic development” loan, tax break and subsidy programs targeted at specific corporations, developers or industries.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698787
House Bill 4481: Convert 21st Century Jobs Fund from rule-based to discretionary subsidy program
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 17, 2014, to essentially eliminate various restrictions and requirements that apply to money spent by a “commercialization” component of the “21st Century Jobs Fund” business subsidy program. The bill would transfer authority over this spending from “independent experts” on a “commercialization board” to political appointees on the Michigan Strategic Fund board. This and related bills would generally convert this from appearing to be a “rule-based” subsidy program governed by statutory prescriptions and restrictions into one in which the board have more discretion to give out the subsidies. See also 4480, which requires more disclosures on the cost and outcomes of these programs.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698789
House Bill 4482: Convert 21st Century Jobs Fund from rule-based to discretionary corporate subsidies
Passed 28 to 9 in the Senate on December 17, 2014, to consolidate within the Michigan Strategic Fund agency the decision-making powers currently vested in various other government “economic development” and job training programs created over the years, including the “21st Century Jobs Fund.” In general the bill amends the law creating this agency to reflect proposals in Senate Bills 269 to 272, SB 278, House Bill 4481 and others that together convert these activities from rule-based programs to ones in which subsidies, loans and tax breaks are granted at the discretion of political appointees on the Michigan Strategic Fund board. The bill also expand this agency’s authority over “brownfield” and “historic district” tax breaks and subsidies, and job training subsidies for particular firms.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698792
House Bill 4485: Clarify self-storage rental insurance regulation
Passed 34 to 3 in the Senate on December 17, 2014, to establish that a person whose only sale of insurance is for property stored in a self-service storage facility is not required to obtain an insurance agent license.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698850
House Bill 4544: Revise low income heating subsidy spending
Passed 31 to 6 in the Senate on December 17, 2014, to require the state to spend amount at least $6 million of the money from a federal low income household home energy subsidy block grant program for weatherization, but not more than 15 percent. The bill would also require private owners of rental property to pay part of the weatherization cost, unless the owner is a nonprofit entity.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698802
House Bill 4576: Regulate federal health care law “navigators”
Passed 102 to 7 in the House on December 17, 2014, to impose regulation and a “certification” requirement on the “navigators” authorized by the federal health care law (“Obamacare”) to assist persons applying for government-subsidized health insurance benefits through agency this law creates (the “exchange”), and on “application counselors, who perform a similar role. The bill authorizes background checks, testing and training requirements, and more. Among other things it would prohibit an individual, firm or other entity certified as a “navigator” or “application counselor” from steering a person toward any particular insurance policy, as opposed to just providing information on the policies.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698741
House Bill 4649: Create foster care parents “bill of rights”
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 17, 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=698828
House Bill 4650: Create foster care parents “bill of rights”
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 16, 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=698616
House Bill 4736: Authorize sexually transmitted disease “expedited partner therapy”
Passed 27 to 10 in the Senate on December 17, 2014, to authorize the use of “expedited partner therapy” to limit the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, which means a health professional giving a person diagnosed with gonorrhea or chlamydia a single-dose antibiotic for the partner who has not been seen by the health professional. The bill would also extend limited legal immunity to health professionals providing this, except for gross negligence.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698808
House Bill 4783: Expand a corporate/developer subsidy regime
Passed 31 to 6 in the Senate on December 17, 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=698793
House Bill 4882: Revised delinquent property tax payment
Passed 31 to 4 in the Senate on December 17, 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=698774
House Bill 4920: Delay certain mandated large retailer use and sales tax prepayments
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 17, 2014, to revise timing details in a new law that increases the amount of use tax and sales tax prepayments large retailers are required to pay in advance to the state.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698752
House Bill 4921: Delay certain mandated large retailer use and sales tax prepayments
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 17, 2014, to revise timing details in a new law that increases the amount of use tax and sales tax prepayments large retailers are required to pay in advance to the state.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698754
House Bill 5141: Transfer state property to Kent county
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 17, 2014, to transfer the state owned “Rogue River Streambank Access” property in Kent County to the county.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698833
House Bill 5182: Give tax break to nonprofit housing organizations
Passed 21 to 16 in the Senate on December 17, 2014, to exempt dwellings owned by a charitable nonprofit housing organization from property tax for five years, or until the property is transferred to a low income person. Under current law, local governments may grant this tax break but are not required to.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698840
House Bill 5195: Allow multiple-customer deer sausage processing
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 17, 2014, to allow a butcher to produce wild game sausage using game caught by multiple customers if the butcher provides notice to these customers. This refers to hunters who pay to have game processed for their own private consumption and not for sale to the public.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698749
House Bill 5202: Revise installment tax payment detail
Passed 34 to 3 in the Senate on December 17, 2014, to establish that tax liens on township special assessment installment payments do not become effective (“attach”) until the payment is due.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698839
House Bill 5421: Revise delinquent property tax interest detail
Passed 31 to 4 in the Senate on December 17, 2014, 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=698776
House Bill 5439: Permit growing industrial hemp for research
Passed 27 to 10 in the Senate on December 17, 2014, to allow the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and/or a Michigan college or university to grow or cultivate industrial hemp for research purposes. The bill would also authorize creating a segregated state fund to provide grants for this research.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698841
House Bill 5440: Permit growing industrial hemp for research
Passed 25 to 12 in the Senate on December 17, 2014, to revise the law that defines marijuana as an illegal drug so as to exclude “industrial hemp” grown or cultivated for research, which House Bill 5439 would authorize.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698842
House Bill 5444: Revise foster care trust fund details
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 17, 2014, to revise details of a state trust fund supports college or career training programs for foster care children who “age out” of the system. The bill would cap the administrative expenses the Fund could incur, transfer management of the money from a board to the Department of Treasury, and require the department to “collaborate” with state colleges and universities to “assist current and former foster care students who have unmet financial education needs and assist in the effort to create sustainable futures for those foster care students”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698834
House Bill 5684: Expand drain commission powers
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 17, 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,” but not to acquire it. Drainage districts create and maintain the “drains” (usually networks of ditches) that remove surplus water from land, allowing it to be farmed or developed.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698847
House Bill 5685: Authorize local government drain petitions
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 17, 2014, to permit a local government to petition a drain commission for a drain (usually a network of ditches) to remove excess water from lands that traverses more than one county, if it deems this necessary for “public health.” Taxpayers in the petitioning city, village or township would then be liable “at large” for a portion of the costs.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698848
House Bill 5686: Revise drain code provisions for multi-county drains
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 17, 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.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698849
House Bill 5743: Revise adoption petition details
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 17, 2014, to revise details of a law that specifies where a person who wants 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.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698835
House Bill 5744: Revise child protective or delinquency action fees
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 17, 2014, to eliminate the requirement to pay court fees to file certain child protective or delinquency actions in court. See House Bill 5745.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698836
House Bill 5745: Revise extended foster care assistance detail
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 17, 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.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698837
House Bill 5746: Revise extended foster care assistance detail
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 17, 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.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698838
House Bill 5806: Allow deeper debt for college conservation improvements
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 17, 2014, to revise a law that lets a community college borrow for a term of up 10 years to pay for an “energy conservation improvement,” instead letting them incur debt with a term of up to 25 years. The bill also eliminates a provision restricting this debt to improvements that would pay their cost in future savings.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698843
House Bill 5860: Revise property appraiser standards detail
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 17, 2014, to establish that any changes made to property appraiser standards and qualifications by a national appraisal foundation referenced in the state licensure law will be adopted automatically as this state’s standard unless the director of the relevant state agency decides otherwise. Also, to eliminate the penalty for a real estate broker who fails to insert a disclaimer in a market analysis that it was not done by a licensed appraiser.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698756
House Bill 5862: Revise fire insurance settlement escrow amount
Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate on December 18, 2014, to increase the maximum amount that municipalities can withhold from a property owner’s fire insurance settlement until there is evidence that the property is or will be repaired, replaced, or removed. Under current law local governments can withhold up to $8,295, which is indexed to inflation. The bill would increase this to $12,000.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=698831
House Bill 5932: Revise life insurance detail
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on December 17, 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=698830