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Senate Bill 97: Repeal child car seat penalty waiver provision
Passed 92 to 16 in the House on April 30, 2013, to repeal a provision of the law mandating child car seats that waives penalties for a violation if the driver gets a car seat and brings the receipts to court. The bill would allow a court to waive this fine but not require it to.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662079

Senate Bill 184: Appropriations: Department of Transportation
Passed 26 to 11 in the Senate on April 30, 2013, the Senate version of the Transportation budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, 2013. This would appropriate $3.493 billion in gross spending, compared to $3.466 billion in the current fiscal year. Of this, $1.198 billion is federal money, and the rest is mostly from state motor fuel tax and vehicle registration tax revenue. The budget does not include spending requested by the Governor from $1.2 billion in higher transportation taxes he has recommended.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662061

Senate Bill 189: Appropriations: Department of Insurance and Financial Services
Passed 34 to 2 in the Senate on April 30, 2013, the Senate version of the budget for a new the Senate version of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, 2013. This would appropriate $76.3 million in gross spending. Among other things the budget authorizes $12 million to reimburse insurance companies for the cost of a new autism coverage mandate the legislature imposed in 2012.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662012

Senate Bill 190: Appropriations: Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs
Passed 33 to 3 in the Senate on April 30, 2013, the Senate version of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, 2013. This would appropriate $495.2 million in gross spending, of which $195.5 million is federal money. The creation of a new department of Insurance and Financial Services saw the transfer of $77.2 million out of this budget compared to the previous year, and the loss of a federal block grant related to government unemployment insurance programs removed another $67.1 million.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662014

Senate Bill 191: Appropriations: Judiciary budget
Passed 26 to 11 in the Senate on April 30, 2013, the Senate version of the Department of state Judiciary budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, 2013. This would appropriate $273.7 million in gross spending, the same as the current year. Of this, $5.3 million is federal money, and the rest comes from state and local taxes, fees, fines, etc.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662058

Senate Bill 192: Appropriations: Department of Human Services
Passed 25 to 12 in the Senate on April 30, 2013, the Senate version of the Department of Human Services budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, 2013. This would appropriate $6.045 billion in gross spending, compared to $6.552 billion, which was the amount originally authorized for the current fiscal year. Of this, $4.222 billion is federal money, and the rest is from state and local taxes and fees. The decline in proposed spending is primarily due to reduced welfare and food stamp caseloads.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662005

Senate Bill 194: Appropriations: General Government
The amendment passed by voice vote in the Senate on April 30, 2013, to delete a provision setting aside $103 million out of the $1.5 billion in extra federal money the state would collect from accepting the federal health care law’s expansion of Medicaid, which would bring in more federal money in the short term but require higher state spending in a few years. As passed by the Senate, this budget does not appropriate money for this “Obamacare” Medicaid expansion.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=154628

Senate Bill 194: Appropriations: General Government
The amendment passed by voice vote in the Senate on April 30, 2013, to increase spending on various programs, including an additional $25 million on state subsidies to film producers, raising the total amount for that to $50 million in the next fiscal year.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=154628

Senate Bill 194: Appropriations: General Government
The motion passed by voice vote in the Senate on April 30, 2013, the vote by which the fifth set of amendments offered by Senator Johnson were not adopted. These included increases spending on various programs, including an additional $25 million on state subsidies to film producers, raising the total amount for that to $50 million in the next fiscal year.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=154628

Senate Bill 194: Appropriations: General Government
The amendment failed 12 to 25 in the Senate on April 30, 2013, to require that all money spent by the “Michigan Strategic Fund” must be actually appropriated by the Legislature. This agency oversees both government job training programs and the state “economic development” apparatus that delivers selective corporate tax breaks and subsidies to particular firms. Under current law, state revenue from Indian casino agreements goes directly to the Strategic Fund with no legislative vote or approval required.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662044

Senate Bill 194: Appropriations: General Government
Passed 21 to 16 in the Senate on April 30, 2013, the Senate version of the General Government budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, 2013, which funds legislature, the executive office, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Treasury, Department of Civil Rights, the Department of Technology, Management, and Budget, and various other state agencies. This would appropriate $4.447 billion in gross spending, of which $700.0 million is federal money. $1.117 billion of this budget is paid out in revenue sharing to local governments.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662055

Senate Bill 197: Appropriations: Department of Corrections
The amendment failed 11 to 26 in the Senate on April 30, 2013, to strip out provisions authorizing privatization of prison food service and possibly a prison itself.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662009

Senate Bill 219: Designate veteran status on state ID card if requested
Passed 108 to 0 in the House on April 30, 2013, to require the Secretary of State to designate on state identification cards whether the card holder is a military veteran, if this is requested by a veteran who has specified documents proving this status.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662080

House Bill 4458: Prohibit TIFA “capture” of Detroit Zoo or Arts tax money
Passed 104 to 4 in the House on April 30, 2013, to prohibit the “capture” by a Tax Increment Finance Authority of regional property taxes imposed to subsidize the Detroit Zoo and the Detroit Institute for the Arts.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662081

House Bill 4459: Prohibit TIFA “capture” of Detroit Zoo or Arts tax money
Passed 105 to 4 in the House on April 30, 2013, to prohibit the “capture” by a Downtown Development Authority’s tax increment finance scheme of regional property taxes imposed to subsidize the Detroit Zoo and the Detroit Institute for the Arts.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662082

House Bill 4460: Prohibit TIFA “capture” of Detroit Zoo or Arts tax money
Passed 105 to 4 in the House on April 30, 2013, to prohibit the “capture” by a Brownfield Development Authority’s tax increment finance scheme of regional property taxes imposed to subsidize the Detroit Zoo and the Detroit Institute for the Arts.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662083

House Bill 4461: Prohibit TIFA “capture” of Detroit Zoo or Arts tax money
Passed 105 to 4 in the House on April 30, 2013, to prohibit the “capture” by a local development financing authority’s tax increment finance scheme of regional property taxes imposed to subsidize the Detroit Zoo and the Detroit Institute for the Arts.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662084

House Bill 4462: Prohibit TIFA “capture” of Detroit Zoo or Arts tax money
Passed 105 to 4 in the House on April 30, 2013, to prohibit the “capture” by a “corridor improvement” authority’s tax increment finance scheme of regional property taxes imposed to subsidize the Detroit Zoo and the Detroit Institute for the Arts.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662085

House Bill 4463: Prohibit TIFA “capture” of Detroit Zoo or Arts tax money
Passed 105 to 4 in the House on April 30, 2013, to prohibit the “capture” by a tax increment finance scheme created to subsidize a local “street railway system” of regional property taxes imposed to subsidize the Detroit Zoo and the Detroit Institute for the Arts.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662086

House Bill 4464: Prohibit TIFA “capture” of Detroit Zoo or Arts tax money
Passed 105 to 4 in the House on April 30, 2013, to prohibit the “capture” by a tax increment finance scheme used to pay for public facilities of regional property taxes imposed to subsidize the Detroit Zoo and the Detroit Institute for the Arts.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662087

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Senate Bill 25: Revise principal residence property tax exemption appeal detail
Passed 35 to 0 in the Senate on May 2, 2013, to provide property owners with a process to appeal to the Department of Treasury for any year that a principal residence property tax exemption was erroneously not applied, regardless of when the exemption was claimed. Under current law appeals can only cover the past three years.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662259

Senate Bill 29: Mandate “bittering agents” in antifreeze
Passed 36 to 1 in the Senate on May 1, 2013, to mandate that antifreeze engine coolant sold at retail in Michigan must have a “bittering agent” added to make it unpalatable to children, dogs and other animals (who are attracted by the sweet taste of antifreeze, a deadly poison).
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662155

Senate Bill 221: Increase sex offender registry fees
Passed 33 to 2 in the Senate on May 2, 2013, to require individuals on the public sex offender registry to pay $50 each year, rather than just a one-time $50 fee.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662258

Senate Bill 288: Give NRC duty of designating huntable game species
Passed 72 to 38 in the House on May 2, 2013, to give the state Natural Resources Commission (in addition to the Legislature) the power to designate a species as a huntable game species. Also, to allow members of the military to obtain hunting and fishing licenses for free. The bill was changed on the floor to prohibit the commission from designating mourning doves as a game species, and to remove a modest appropriation intended to make it “referendum-proof”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662322

House Bill 4037: Designate veteran status on drivers license if requested
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on May 1, 2013, to require the Secretary of State to designate on drivers licenses whether the driver is a military veteran, if this is requested by a veteran who has specified documents proving this status.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662156

House Bill 4118: Require drug testing of welfare applicants
Passed 77 to 33 in the House on May 1, 2013, to require drug testing of state welfare benefit recipients or applicants if an “empirical screening tool” indicates a reasonable suspicion, and prohibit benefits for six months if a person tests positive a second time (or refuses “treatment” the first time). 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=662227

House Bill 4228: Appropriations: “Omnibus” education budget
Passed 25 to 12 in the Senate on May 1, 2013, to send the bill back to the House “stripped” of all actual appropriations. This vote is basically a procedural method of launching negotiations to work out the differences between the House and Senate budgets.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662157

House Bill 4290: Require disclosure of Department of Treasury audit procedures
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on May 2, 2013, 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=662324

House Bill 4291: Require full tax audit details be given to audit target
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on May 2, 2013, to require the Department of Treasury to provide a person or business who has been audited with a complete copy of the audit work papers, findings, and all the correspondence and documentation which formed a basis for audit determinations. Also, to require such audits to conform with standards the department would have to establish within one year, covering audit evidence, understanding of the audited entity, documentation and much more. The bill is part of a package of reforms related to business complaints regarding state audit procedures.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662325

House Bill 4328: Appropriations: 2013-2014 “omnibus” budget
Passed 26 to 11 in the Senate on May 1, 2013, to send the bill back to the House “stripped” of all actual appropriations. This vote is basically a procedural method of launching negotiations to work out the differences between the House and Senate budgets.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662158

House Bill 4388: Ban welfare benefits for truancy scofflaws
Passed 78 to 32 in the House on May 1, 2013, to require welfare recipients who have school age children to ensure the children attend school or else lose benefits, and require the state welfare agency to promulgate rules to make it so. If the child is age 16 or 17 he or she would be “removed” from the welfare “program group,” meaning the family and/or household.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662225

House Bill 4528: Revise “immigration clerical assistant” registration
Passed 110 to 0 in the House on May 1, 2013, to revise details of a 2004 law that imposed registration requirements on “immigration clerical assistants.” The bill would eliminate a duty of the state to maintain a list of these individuals and authorize triple damages for lawsuits against them.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=662226