Michigan Tea Party Scorecard - 2014 Q2

Legend:  ✔ Correct,  × Incorrect,  
F Chamber failed to hold vote,  E Excused,  X Not Voting,  
? Ideal Vote not set,  – No vote in this chamber

Column Descriptions

Senate Bill 49: sb 49 - Firearms owner information private
Establish that state databases of licenses issued to individuals to purchase, carry, possess, or transport pistols are confidential and not subject to disclosure under the state Freedom of Information Act.
   • House Roll Call 351 on June 5, 2014.
   • Senate Roll Call 395 on June 10, 2014.

House Bill 5217: hb 5217 - Certificate of employability for ex-cons
Limit employer liability in personal injury, property damage and wrongful death lawsuits arising from the actions of an employee who is an ex-convict hired after the individual was granted a “certificate of employability” by the state Department of Corrections
   • House Roll Call 191 on April 29, 2014.

House Bill 5492: hb 5492 - Earmark some state use tax to roads
Earmark 1.0 percent of the revenue from the 6.0 percent state use tax to road projects (meaning one-sixth of the revenue from this tax would go to roads).
   • House Roll Call 209 on May 8, 2014.

House Bill 5459: hb 5459 - Allocate fuel sales tax to road projects
Earmark sales tax collected on gasoline sales to road projects. This is part of a road funding increase proposal announced by House Speaker Jase Bolger.
   • House Roll Call 208 on May 8, 2014.

House Bill 5477: hb 5477 - S-1 amendment to raise fuel tax
Substitute offered by Sen. Randy Richardville (R) to adopt a version of the bill that would replace the current 19-cent per gallon gas tax and 15-cent diesel tax with a 7.0 percent wholesale fuel tax, gradually increasing to 15 percent over five years.
   • Senate Roll Call 456 on June 11, 2014.

Senate Bill 768: sb 768 - Whitmer "unmarried partners" amendment
Amendment offered by Sen. Gretchen Whitmer (D) to remove a prohibition on universities providing health insurance or other fringe benefits for "unmarried partners" of employees.
   • Senate Roll Call 221 on May 6, 2014.

House Bill 5223: hb 5223 - Reduce teacher performance measurements
delay and change many details in the teacher evaluation criteria specified in a 2011 legislative package overhauling the “teacher tenure” and ratings system, generally reducing performance measurements
   • House Roll Call 255 on May 14, 2014.

Senate Bill 481: sb 481 - Repeal licensure mandate on foresters
Repeal a licensure mandate imposed on foresters, and eliminate a state "Board of Foresters" comprised political appointees who establish educational and experience requirements for foresters.
   • House Roll Call 433 on June 12, 2014.
   • Senate Roll Call 257 on May 13, 2014.

Senate Bill 817: sb 817 - Reduce performance measure on teachers
Reduce the percentage of a teacher's "effectiveness" evaluation that must be based on student progress as measured by state test data (instead of other more subjective measures) from 50 percent to 40 percent, and delay implementation until the 2017-2018 school year.
   • House Roll Call 415 on June 12, 2014.
   • Senate Roll Call 497 on June 12, 2014.

Senate Bill 791: sb 791 - Continue "fund raid"
Make permanent a 7/8 cent/gal gas tax, originally set to expire in 1998, that has been diverted from its original purpose to fund avoid reducing other spending
   • Senate Roll Call 310 on May 21, 2014.

House Bill 5414: hb 5414 - End "bad driver" fees
reduce the so-called “driver responsibility fees” (a.k.a. “bad driver tax”) imposed for certain traffic violations, which were originally adopted in 2003 to avoid spending cuts in that year’s and subsequent state budgets. The bill would cut these additional fees in half for offenses committed after Sept. 30, 2014, and abolish them as of Oct. 1, 2017.
   • House Roll Call 444 on June 12, 2014.
   • Senate Roll Call 517 on June 12, 2014.

House Bill 5193: hb 5193 - Increase local gov transparency
Prohibit government legislative bodies from holding closed-door sessions to discuss trial or settlement strategies, unless the matter being discussed is already being litigated.
   • House Roll Call 267 on May 21, 2014.

House Bill 5574: hb 5574 - $195M for Detroit bankruptcy
Appropriate $194.8 million for a proposed Detroit bankruptcy settlement. This is part of a package of House Bills 5566 to 5576 that are related to the Detroit bankruptcy and this proposed state grant (considered by some to be a partial “bailout”).
   • House Roll Call 292 on May 22, 2014.
   • Senate Roll Call 339 on June 3, 2014.

House Bill 4378: hb 4378 - Repeal interior designer registration
Repeal a law that establishes a government interior designer registry and makes it available to state or local government agencies.
   • House Roll Call 346 on June 5, 2014.
   • Senate Roll Call 332 on June 2, 2014.

House Bill 5168: hb 5168 - Facilitate Woodward streetcar
Authorize the Detroit area regional transportation authority created by a 2012 law to enter agreements to operate a Woodward Avenue streetcar in Detroit with the entity authorized by 2008 law to create it.
   • House Roll Call 364 on June 5, 2014.
   • Senate Roll Call 453 on June 11, 2014.

House Bill 4998: hb 4998 - Add staff to MI Strategic Fund
Require the state agency responsible for granting and overseeing selective tax breaks and subsidies granted to particular corporations (the “Michigan Strategic Fund”) to appoint up to 10 “entrepreneurs-in-residence”
   • House Roll Call 334 on June 3, 2014.

House Bill 4630: hb 4630 - Increase vehicle registration taxes
Eliminate the current 10 percent reduction of vehicle registration (license plate) fees for a new vehicle's second, third, and fourth years of registration.This would represent a $145 million tax increase on vehicle owners.
   • House Roll Call 215 on May 8, 2014.
   • Senate Roll Call 425 on June 11, 2014.

Senate Bill 850: sb 850 - Allow step raises w/o contract
Exempt law enforcement and fire department employees from a 2011 law banning automatic seniority-based pay hikes for government employees (“step increases”) during the time when a government employee union contract has expired and no replacement has been negotiated.
   • Senate Roll Call 412 on June 10, 2014.

Senate Bill 910: sb 910 - Ban EPA regs on wood stoves
Prohibit Department of Environmental Quality from imposing new state regulations limiting emissions from wood stoves and heaters, or enforcing federal regulations that do this.
   • Senate Roll Call 445 on June 11, 2014.

Senate Bill 748: sb 748 - Revise Detroit limo regulations
allow Detroit to expand the scope of a protectionist city regulatory regime on “limousines,”. The limousine regulations have the effect of limiting competition to the taxi cartels that are protected by the city. The bill is cosponsored by Oakland County Republican Mike Kowall.
   • Senate Roll Call 426 on June 11, 2014.

House Bill 5070: hb 5070 - Penalties for "rental squatters"
Authorize up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for a “squatter” who illegally occupies a residence with a market value of at least $100,000.
   • House Roll Call 438 on June 12, 2014.
   • Senate Roll Call 431 on June 11, 2014.

House Bill 4874: hb 4874 - Limit restrictions on septic services
Restrict a local government's ability to mandate that septic tank servicers may only dispose of waste in a "receiving facility" in the same area as the property from which the waste was removed.
   • House Roll Call 377 on June 10, 2014.

House Bill 5400: hb 5400 - Revise low-hazard waste restrictions
Reduce restrictions on using certain low-hazard industrial byproducts that potentially have a beneficial use, including as fertilizer, road construction material, construction fill or other uses
   • House Roll Call 375 on June 10, 2014.
   • Senate Roll Call 382 on June 4, 2014.

House Bill 4688: hb 4688 - Repeal dietitian license mandate
Repeal a law that imposes a licensure mandate on dietitians and nutritionists. The mandate has not been enforced since it was authorized in 2006 because the state licensure agency was unable to devise acceptable credentialing and education requirements.
   • House Roll Call 410 on November 13, 2013.
   • Senate Roll Call 449 on June 11, 2014.

Senate Bill 853: sb 853 - Ban automated eyeglass "kiosks"
Prohibit automated testing devices that provide automated eye exams and issue prescriptions for glasses or contact lenses.This preempts eyeglass "kiosks" in retail locations, which is a lower cost alternative to conventional optometry services that are expanding in some other states.
   • House Roll Call 404 on June 11, 2014.
   • Senate Roll Call 471 on June 12, 2014.

This user-created scorecard is available at https://www.michiganvotes.org/VotingIndex.aspx?ID=892.

DISCLAIMER: Scorecards are user-created and do not represent the views of Michigan Votes or the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
The user/creator is responsible for the scores and the preferred votes.