Free-For-All in the Lame Duck Session of the Michigan Legislature

Brian Dickerson sums up what is coming to fruition this week in the Michigan legislature:

It's the holiday tradition Lansing observes every other December: 

• Lock 148 elected representatives in a couple of large rooms.

• Remind those assembled that more than a third of them will be out of their jobs in 30 days.

• Sit back and enjoy the fun as dozens of lawmakers with nothing left to lose take the $57-billion-a-year enterprise called the State of Michigan for one last, wild spin around the block.

What could possibly go wrong? 

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The Lame Duck session of the legislature is the period between the November midterm election and the end of the old term. The Lame Duck is expected to last either through December 13 or December 20, 2018. The new term begins on January 1, 2019.

Here are two articles from the Detroit Free Press addressing the Lame Duck free-for-all:

"Michigan GOP guts minimum wage, paid sick leave bills in final passage" by  Kathleen Gray and Carol Thompson, Detroit Free Press, Published Dec. 4, 2018 and 

"The most controversial bills in Michigan's lame duck legislature" by  Paul Egan and Kathleen Gray, Detroit Free Press, Published Dec. 4, 2018

After eight years of complete Republican control, the Democrats won state wide elections for Governor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State and gained a few seats in both houses of the legislature. Three ballot initiatives also passed that won by wide margins, but are under fire by the Republicans who are trying to water down the laws while they have the super majority in the house and senate needed to change these proposals.

Here are a few of the most controversial bills going quickly through the legislature:

Minimum wage and sick leave

A ballot initiative to raise the minimum wage and require sick leave for employees had gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures and was going to be placed on the 2018 ballot. In September, the minimum wage and sick leave law was passed by the legislature with the intent to amend it during the lame duck session, when it would only require a majority of votes; A 2/3’s majority is required in most cases to change a law passed by the voters.

“Senate bill 1171: The bill would raise the minimum wage from $9.25 currently to $12.05 per hour by 2030 and take away cost-of-living adjustments. It also would raise the hourly wage for tipped workers, such as bartenders and waiters, from $3.52 to $4.58 per hour by 2030. If tips don't bring their wages to $12 per hour, the employer must make up the difference. The bill departs from the minimum-wage proposal included in citizen-initiated legislation, which would have raised the wage to $12 per hour by 2022, hiked the wage for tipped workers to $12 per hour by 2024, and tied the wages to the cost-of-living index…"

“Sen. David Hildenbrand, R-Lowell, sponsored the minimum-wage bill and said that he doesn’t believe in government-mandated wages.”

“State Rep. Abdullah Hammoud, D-Dearborn, offered amendments that would make members of the Legislature and state officials abide by the same pay and sick leave rules in the two bills, but they were voted down.

“‘You’ve gutted the original language and usurped the will of the people,’ said Hammoud, graphically comparing the changes in the bills to how a fish is gutted."

Senate bill 1175 waters down paid sick leave requirements

Michigan voter access

“Senate bills 1238-1240: Would alter the Promote the Vote ballot proposal passed by voters by 67-33 percent, tweaking a provision that allows a person to register to vote up to the day of the election to add more proof of residency in the 14 days before the election. The bills also would require a designation of U.S. citizenship on drivers’ licenses and state identification cards before a person could automatically be registered to vote and would allow people to opt out of registering to vote when they get their state identifications.”

Anti-gerrymandering

“Senate bill 1254: Would alter the Voters Not Politicians constitutional amendment ballot proposal, which voters passed by 61-39 percent to change the way state and federal legislative district lines are drawn, to impose a $500 fine for people who want to become a member of the 13-person redistricting commission if they mischaracterize their political affiliation and prohibit a person affiliated with any political party to provide consulting services to the commission. Republican lawmakers characterize the changes as legislation to implement the new redistricting method — which takes the drawing of district lines out of the hands of the Legislature. Those who backed the Voters Not Politicians plan say lawmakers shouldn't be interfering with the plan voters approved.”

Shifting Oversight of the campaign finance law

"Senate Bill 1252: The bill would shift oversight of campaign finance law from the secretary of state to a six-person bipartisan commission appointed by the governor. The move comes as Democrat Jocelyn Benson is about to replace Republican Ruth Johnson as Michigan's secretary of state."

[A commission split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans would likely lead to a stalemate and stall or prevent changes being made that a large majority voted for.]

More influence for Legislature in court cases

“House Bill 6553: The bill would allow the state House of Representatives and Senate to intervene in any legal proceedings involving the state, which has traditionally been the purview of the state attorney general or the governor’s office. The move comes as Democrats are about to replace Republicans in both the governor and attorney general offices, while both chambers of the Legislature remain in GOP control."

Restricting powers on newly elected Secretary of State and Attorney General

“Senate Bill 1176: The bill would bar state agencies, including the attorney general's office and the secretary of state's office, from requiring nonprofits, which are frequently used to pay for political "issue ads," to disclose information about donors, volunteers or members. The bill would also restrict the powers of the Attorney General's Office in investigating fraudulent charities that scam the public.”

GOP senators cash in

"Senate Bill 1022: The bill would allow senators who earlier ran for the House to transfer surplus funds from their Senate campaign committees to their inactive and cash-poor House committees, in order to pay off old debts.The bill would allow two outgoing state senators — Jack Brandenburg, R-Harrison Township, and Jim Marleau, R-Lake Orion, to pocket more than $92,000, by using surplus Senate funds to reimburse loans each of them made to their House committees." 

If you check the links for these bills, you should be able to find out their status. Eventually, they will all have to be signed by Governor Snyder to become law.

Contact information for Governor Rick Snyder.