To place on the November 2022 general election ballot a constitutional amendment to extend legislative term limits to 12 years in either or both the state House and Senate. Under Michigan’s current term limits, state representatives may only be elected for three terms of two-years each, and state senators for two terms of four-years each. The proposal would also place in the constitution a financial disclosure mandate, requiring lawmakers to submit lists each year of all assets, liabilities and more. Michigan's current term limits were placed in the state constitution by voters in a 1992 citizen's initiative that passed 59% to 41%.
The Senate vote on the term limits constitutional amendment described above.
The measure was brought to both bodies on the same day and requires a two-thirds majority from each to be placed on the November ballot, which it received.
To require individuals seeking the license and certificates required to teach in a public school to obtain training in dyslexia, as specified in the bill.
To increase the pay of district court judges to the same rate as probate court judges, which is 84% of the amount set by a state officers compensation commission for Supreme Court justices. Probate and circuit court judges now receive $159,917 per year, and district court judges now get $158,027.
To permit establishments with a public swimming pool and an “on-premises” liquor license to pay an additional $350 license fee that gives them permission to sell drinks at the pool, subject to a broad range of additional regulations and requirements including advanced pool filtration.
To allow a student to meet the foreign language requirement in the state’s high school graduation requirements by taking a computer software class instead.
To prohibit the use in Michigan of electronic voting systems produced or provided by an entity that is listed as a national security risk on the Federal Communications Commission website.
To establish that a pharmacist who receives a prescription from an advanced practice registered nurse prescriber or physician's assistant prescriber in another state or Canada may dispense the drug or device without determining whether the prescriber has the correct licenses. Under current law, Michigan pharmacists may fill such prescriptions written by out-of-state doctors, dentists and veterinarians.
To permit public school teachers and other staff who retire and begin collecting a pension to return to work in a school district and claim both a paycheck and a pension check if at least 12 months have passed since the "retirement." Under current law, with some exceptions for hard-to-fill positions, retirees who "double dip" get reduced benefits. The bill would also repeal a requirement that a school district must pay the unfunded pension benefit liability contributions associated with employing a retired teacher. Also, it would extend for 10 years a 2021 sunset on allowing retirees to fill certain high-demand positions and collect both a paycheck and full pension check.
To prohibit state regulators from requiring unattended self-service gas stations to install measures to prevent public access, including locked dispensers, security fencing or other measures. The bill would instead require daily inspections by an owner or operator, emergency shut-off switches, surveillance cameras, fire extinguishers and more.
To create a segregated state account (“fund”) to hold money extracted from pharmaceutical companies in lawsuits related to their sales of opioid pain killers, and spend it in a manner consistent with the “judgment, settlement, or compromise of claims” in legal settlements with certain drug producers (called the "Janssen settlement" and the "National Prescription Opiate Litigation").
To create a Michigan-Indiana state line commission comprised of the county surveyors of Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph, Branch, and Hillsdale counties, to oversee a survey and remonumentation of the Michigan-Indiana state line. This would be paid for from an existing state account that collects fees on recording deeds. It would be the eighth law passed in the past 20 years related to this task.
To adopt a non-binding resolution asserting that the state Senate opposes "mandates related to COVID-19 at all public and private colleges and universities in Michigan," and send it to the Michigan Association of State Universities, the president of Michigan Independent Colleges and Universities, and the president of the Michigan Community College Association.
To add selling an object specifically designed for ingesting or inhaling nitrous oxide to a 1988 law that banned the sale of drug “paraphernalia,” subject to 90 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.
To increase the subsidies the state gives to railroad companies each year to maintain their active traffic control devices, circuitry, and appurtenances at rail grade crossings. Also, to increase the payments by 6.64% every other year going forward.
To allow "retired" state prison employees to collect a pension while also getting paid to do corrections work. This authorization would expire two years after the bill becomes law.
To prohibit the use of automated, unmanned, photographic traffic signal enforcement system ("photo-cops") to issue traffic citations for violating red lights or stop signs.
To authorize use of a “uniform bar examination” to fill the current Michigan mandate that lawyers be members of the state bar association, but only if Michigan officials choose to also administer this uniform test in this state. The bill would also increase a related bar examination fee.
To reduce from a year to four months the time period a former public school employee must be retired to be eligible to collect a paycheck as a substitute teacher while also collecting pension checks.
To adopt a non-binding resolution that the Michigan Senate calls for an immediate end to public transportation face mask mandates on trains, planes and buses.
To appropriate $4.709 billion for spending on water and wastewater infrastructure programs and grants. Of this $4.133 billion comes from federal “stimulus” and relief dollars, with the rest money collected by the state.
The House vote on the large appropriations bill described above.
To add to the declarations an individual makes when registering to vote, a statement that the individual "understands it is a felony to offer to vote or attempt to vote more than once at the same election, in either the same or another voting precinct.”
To authorize state regulators to issue “certificates of free sale” for food upon request of a "food processor." This would verify a product is registered, is not disapproved by government administrators and is legal to sell. The bill does not mandate producers get the certificate or ban sales by ones who who have not.
To increase from $25,000 to $40,000 the cap on annual sales by a home-based “cottage food” operation, which are exempt from state licensure mandates imposed on commercial food producers. Also, to allow these operations to sell over the internet or by mail-order through a third-party "cottage food delivery platform."
To suspend collecting the state motor fuel tax levied on gasoline and diesel fuel purchases between April 1 and September 30, 2022. The current tax rate is 27.2 cents per gallon on both fuels, and revenue from it pays for state and local road repairs. The House Fiscal Agency projects this would reduce that revenue by $725 million in 2022, leaving an equivalent amount in motorists' pockets.
To encourage (but not require) public schools to offer a program of instruction on free enterprise and entrepreneurship for high school students.
To authorize enhanced penalties for assaulting a hospital "health professional" or volunteer by creating a new crime punishable by 93 days in jail and a $1,000 fine or more depending on specific circumstances.
To revise various regulations in the law governing veterinary practices. Among other things the bill would prohibit veterinarians from practicing “unless it is within the context of a veterinarian-client-patient relationship” as defined in the bill; waive certain licensure mandates during a declared emergency or in response to a “to a large-scale animal cruelty case;” authorize the use of specified “therapeutic philosophy and practice that is not considered part of conventional, Western veterinary medicine;” and more.
To prohibit veterinarians from practicing “unless it is within the context of a veterinarian-client-patient relationship” as defined in the bill. See also House Bill 4912.
To exempt diapers and adult incontinence products from sales tax. It is unusual for the House to complete and record a vote to defeat a particular bill, rather than suspending the vote and moving on to the next agenda item. In the background of this vote are ongoing negotiations on some very substantial proposals to cut the state income tax and suspend the state gas tax.
To amend provisions in the state health code that delegate to the state health department the authority to assume extraordinary powers during an emergency, including the statewide “lockdowns” ordered under the 2020 coronavirus epidemic. The bill would prohibit officials from using this law to ban the sale or use of lawfully possessed firearms, ammunition, or other weapons during a declared emergency or disaster.
To prohibit the Secretary of State or local election officials from delivering unsolicited absentee voter ballot applications to registered voters.
To prohibit state or local election officials and bureaus from accepting gifts from individuals or nongovernmental entities for election-related activities, equipment, or staff.
To require public schools to prominently post two state law provisions in specified rooms, including the one where the school board meets. The first provision is the text from section 1 of the Michigan Constitution’s Article 8, which reads, “Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.”
The bill would also require schools to post the section of the state School Code that reads: “It is the natural, fundamental right of parents and legal guardians to determine and direct the care, teaching, and education of their children. The public schools of this state serve the needs of the pupils by cooperating with the pupil's parents and legal guardians to develop the pupil's intellectual capabilities and vocational skills in a safe and positive environment.”
To suspend collecting the state gasoline and diesel tax between April 1 and September 30, 2022. The current tax rate is 27.2 cents per gallon on both fuels, and revenue from it pays for state and local road repairs. The House Fiscal Agency projects this would save motorists around $725 million in 2022, with the foregone revenue to "backfilled" from a $4 billion state budget surplus.
To cut the state income tax rate from 4.25% to 3.9% starting Jan. 1, 2022; authorize a $500 nonrefundable income tax credit for a taxpayers' dependents who are age 18 and under; and lower from age 67 to age 62 eligibility for certain income tax exemptions on retirement income.
The Senate vote on the House-passed version of the bill described above, which does not include the business tax cut in an earlier version the Senate approved. With this vote the bill gets sent on to the Governor for signature or veto.
To replace the property tax levied on heavy equipment owned by rental companies with a 2% tax on heavy equipment rentals, to be distributed mostly to local governments.
To cut the state’s business income tax rate from 6% to 3.9% starting Jan. 1 2022.
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Contact my lawmakers
Rep. Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing, District 68. (517) 373-0826. sarahanthony@house.mi.gov
Sen. Curtis Hertel, Jr., D-East Lansing, District 23. 517-373-1734. senchertel@senate.michigan.gov
SOURCE: MichiganVotes.org, a free, non-partisan website created by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, providing concise, non-partisan, plain-English descriptions of every bill and vote in the Michigan House and Senate. Please visit www.MichiganVotes.org.
Permission to reprint this legislative summary in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that www.MichiganVotes.org is properly cited.
