Michigan Votes Forum

Why in the world do we need this kind of legislation? IT just floors me that lawmakers in the State of Michgian waste time on stuff like this. They must sit at breakfast and wonder, "what can I do today to make someones life miserable, or cost the tax payers more money"

Get down to the business of runing the business of the state please...

The same bill as Senate Bill 1572 (2008), it was passed to the house. They are very persistent on this bill. I see no reason for this bill, if you have a delivery service and you have a tracker on your vehicle it is your business and the driver does not need to know. And the same goes for government employees. The only reason for such a bill would be if you where worried about someone knowing where your going in there car. If you own or lease the vehicle you should be able to track it and no one should need to know. When they try to enact laws like this, it puts to question there credibility and honesty in performing there duties as a public official. Is this all that Sen. Ray Basham has to do, it is going on the second year of working on this bill. And I am sure The PEOPLE of Michigan wants him to do this. All you’re doing is putting another restriction on the citizens of Michigan.  I wonder how many jobs just left Michigan.

 so, should the government be able to track you using one of these things?

 I believe this bill is intended to prevent "buy here, pay here" car dealers from putting tracking devices in cars they sell on installment contracts.  The device allows the dealer to track down and repo the car when the buyer neglects to make payments.  The unintended effect of this bill would be to make it more difficult and expensive for people with bad credit, often the working poor, to purchase reliable transportation.  Ironical, these dealers are considered by many to be unfair because they charge more for these vehicles because of the high risk involved in lending money to people who have a history of not paying it back.

 I have read where parents have had these installed on teenagers cars so they can keep track of where they are. In that usage, it doesn't sound like a bad idea. It can also show that the kid WASN'T in  specific area at a specific time. Basham must have friends doing something they don't want anyone to know about.

Yes, If they have a legitimate reason. Example-to track case workers to see if they are actually visiting the clients and for how long, vs spending time at the mall or at home etc. After hours-no-unless it is used to track unauthorized use of government vehicles.