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2004 House Joint Resolution Z : Place protected recreation and resource funds in Constitution
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- Introduced by Rep. Randy Richardville (R) on May 12, 2004, to place before voters in the next general election a Constitutional amendment to establish a Michigan conservation and recreation legacy fund, which would contain several sub-accounts such as a state park improvement account, a waterways account, snowmobile and off-road vehicle trail accounts, a forest recreation account, and a game and fish protection account. The funds and accounts would receive earmarked revenue from various fees, license sales, land sales, fines, fuel taxes, etc. Placing these funds and accounts in the Constitution would limit legislative discretion regarding how the money is spent.
- Referred to the House Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Committee on May 12, 2004.
- Substitute offered by Rep. Randy Richardville (R) on July 14, 2004, to replace the previous version of the resolution with one that revises details but does not change its substance as previously described. The substitute passed by voice vote in the House on July 14, 2004.
- Amendment offered by Rep. Matthew Gillard (D) on July 14, 2004, to clarify that the measure would apply propectively to the state using the various sub-funds to make payments in lieu of property taxes to local governments on state owned land acquired after the adoption of the constitutional amendment. The amendment passed by voice vote in the House on July 14, 2004.
- Passed 104 to 0 in the House on July 14, 2004.
Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No" - Received in the Senate on August 4, 2004.
- Referred to the Senate Natural Resources & Environmental Affairs Committee on August 4, 2004.
- Substitute offered in the Senate on December 7, 2004, to replace the previous version of the bill with one that revises details but does not change the substance of the bill as previously described. The substitute passed by voice vote in the Senate on December 7, 2004.
- Passed 32 to 4 in the Senate on December 8, 2004, to place before voters in the next general election a Constitutional amendment to establish a Michigan conservation and recreation legacy fund, which would contain several sub-accounts such as a state park improvement account, a waterways account, snowmobile and off-road vehicle trail accounts, a forest recreation account, and a game and fish protection account. The funds and accounts would receive earmarked revenue from various fees, license sales, land sales, fines, fuel taxes, etc. Placing these funds and accounts in the Constitution would limit legislative discretion regarding how the money is spent.
Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No" - Received in the House on December 8, 2004.
- Passed 97 to 0 in the House on December 9, 2004.
Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No"
Most Recent Comments
1) Constitutional Funding by Mike Hignite on January 6, 2005The state constitution is the place for commonly-held, broad principles, not for budgetary reserves ploys.
Although, we ignore even our constitution when it is inconvenient. Like the bad case law the state supreme court made in allowing the state to regulate firearm sales in direct opposition to Art I, Sec. 6.
Reply
Senator Birkholz's statement is as follows:
I wanted to point out to my colleagues the real strong message that we are sending today with the adoption of HJR Z. This legislation will establish the Michigan Game and Fish Protection Trust Fund. It will be a constitutional amendment offered on the next General Election ballot. It will preclude this state from transferring money from restricted funds into the General Fund.
You know, we have a contract with the people of this state when we have restricted funds. One could say that that contract gets broken when those restricted funds are transferred into the General Fund. So under this resolution that we are offering for a constitutional amendment, we will take the State Park Improvement Fund, the Waterways Fund, the Snowmobile Fund, the Off-Road Vehicle Fund, the Forest Recreation Fund, the Recreation Improvement Fund, and the Game and Fish Protection Fund, all of which are restricted funds, but we will put them into the Constitution. Therefore, in difficult and challenging budget times, the Legislature cannot be tempted to touch those funds and put them into the General Fund. We will be keeping our contract that we have made with the citizens of this state. So I urge your adoption of HJR Z.
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Introduced in the House on May 12, 2004, to place before voters in the next general election a Constitutional amendment to establish a Michigan conservation and recreation legacy fund, which would contain several sub-accounts such as a state park improvement account, a waterways account, snowmobile and off-road vehicle trail accounts, a forest recreation account, and a game and fish protection account. The funds and accounts would receive earmarked revenue from various fees, license sales, land sales, fines, fuel taxes, etc. Placing these funds and accounts in the Constitution would limit legislative discretion regarding how the money is spent
The vote was 104 in favor, 0 opposed and 5 not voting
(House Roll Call 684 at House Journal 65)
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