LANSING, Mich. — The legislature is taking up a raft of controversial bills in the lame-duck session — the period between an election and the end of lawmakers' terms.
The intensity is stepped up this year because Michigan's Republican-controlled Legislature is faced with an incoming Democratic governor, attorney general, and secretary of state on Jan. 1, along with reduced Republican majorities in both the House and Senate.
Many of the lame duck bills are aimed at putting roadblocks in the way of Democratic plans, or watering down ballot proposals with Democratic support that were approved in the Nov. 6 election.
Below is a look at some of the most controversial bills. Check back daily to see their status:
Marijuana legalization
Senate Bill 1243: The bill would ban home-grown marijuana and make other changes to the ballot proposal legalizing marijuana for recreational use, which Michigan voters approved, 56 percent to 44 percent, on Nov. 6. The bill would lower the excise tax on retail sales of weed from 10 percent to 3 percent and change how the tax revenue is distributed. It also gives a politically appointed licensing board the authority over business licenses. As passed by voters, the proposal would allow people to grow up to 12 plants for personal use and earmark much of the tax revenue generated for schools and road improvements.
Status: Introduced and assigned to the Senate Government Operations committee. It will need a ¾ super majority vote in both the House of Representatives and Senate to pass. The bill died Dec. 13 when Republicans were unable to gather the 3/4 super majority vote.
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.
Status: Passed the Senate Nov. 8 in 22-12 vote. Referred to House Committee on Elections and Ethics. Revised bill set for hearing on Dec. 20, in Room 308, House Office Building. This bill died in lame duck.
Keeping dark money dark
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.
Status: Passed Senate Nov. 29 in 25-12 vote. Passed by House Dec. 18 in 58-51 vote. Awaiting action by Gov. Rick Snyder.
Minimum wage hike
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. The Legislature adopted the measure in September to keep it off the ballot, intending to water down the measures after the election.
Status: Passed by the Senate Nov. 28 in 26-12 vote. Amended and passed in the House on Dec. 4 on 60-48 vote. Concurred on by the Senate Dec. 4. Signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder on Dec. 14.
Paid sick leave
Senate Bill 1175: The bill requires employers to provide one hour of paid sick time for every 35 hours worked and exempts employers with 50 or fewer employees. It departs from a citizen-initiated bill already adopted by the Legislature after organizers turned in more than 350,000 signatures. The voter initiative provided for one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked and exempted businesses with five or fewer employees. The Republican-controlled Legislature adopted the voter-initiated bill in September to keep it off the Nov. 6 ballot, with the intention of watering down the proposal after the election.
Status: Passed by the Senate Nov. 28 in 26-12 vote. Amended and passed in the House on Dec. 4 on 60-48 vote. Concurred on by the Senate Dec. 4. Signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder on Dec. 14.
Curbing local control
Senate Bills 1188 - 1194: The bills would prohibit local governments from adopting or enforcing ordinances or charters "prohibiting or restricting the removal of trees or other vegetation" on private property.
Status: Passed Senate Nov. 29 in votes of 23-15 and 24-14. Referred to House Committee on Local Government. This bill died in lame duck.
Enbridge Line 5 tunnel
Senate Bill 1197: The bill would amend the Mackinac Bridge Authority's legislation to take on oversight responsibilities for a proposed tunnel that Canadian energy company Enbridge would construct beneath the Straits of Mackinac to house the Line 5 oil pipeline. It would complicate pledges by the incoming Democratic governor and attorney general to shut down Line 5. In the face of opposition, a substitute bill is expected to create a new tunnel authority, instead of using the bridge authority. Facing strong opposition, Republicans on Dec. 5 retreated on the Mackinac Bridge Authority plan and voted to create a new "straits corridor authority" to oversee the tunnel.
Status: Substitute "straits corridor authority" bill approved by Senate, 25-13, on Dec. 5. Approved by House Dec. 11, in 74-34 vote. Signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder Dec. 12.
Abortion telemedicine
Senate Bill 1198: Would extend the ban on doctors providing abortion-inducing drugs to patients over the phone or through a video conference call. The ban was supposed to expire on Dec. 31.
Status: Passed Senate Nov. 29 in 25-12 vote. Passed the House about 2 a.m. Dec. 13 on a 62-47 vote. Headed to Gov. Rick Snyder to sign or veto.
Reducing wetlands protections
Senate Bill 1211: The bill would redefine which wetlands require Department of Environmental Quality permission to modify or fill, doubling the size threshold at which regulation is required, from 5 acres to 10 acres. That would remove regulation from 70,000 wetlands statewide, totaling about a half-million acres. In most Michigan counties, it would include about half of their remaining wetlands. An amended version of the bill removed the acreage change but changed definitions in ways that critics said leave more than 600,000 acres of wetlands and 4,500 inland lakes at risk. A watered-down version was approved by the House Dec. 21.
Status: Approved by the Senate Dec. 4 in a 23-14 vote. Amended bill passed House Competitiveness Committee Dec. 18 in 6-3 vote. Amended version approved by House Dec. 21.
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.
Status: Approved by the Senate Dec. 6 in 26-10 vote and assigned to the House Elections and Ethics committee. Amended bills approved by House Dec. 20 in votes of 57-51, 60-48, and 60-48. Senate concurred and sent to Gov. Rick Snyder.
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.
Status: Amended bill passed the Senate 25-12 on Dec. 5. and assigned to the House Elections and Ethics committee. This bill died in lame duck.
Changing campaign finance oversight
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.
Passed Senate Dec. 6 in 25-11 vote and assigned to the House Elections and Ethics committee. This bill died in lame duck.
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.
Status: Approved by House Dec. 5 in 58-50 vote. Scaled-back version reported by Senate Government Operations Committee Dec. 11, in 3-2 vote. Passes Senate Dec. 20 on a 26-12, mostly party-line vote and now heads to Snyder to sign or veto.
Changing school oversight
House Bills 5526, 6314 and 6315: Though mainly focused on A-F grading for schools, each bill provides for a 13-member Education Accountability Policy Commission, which would have authority over some public schools. Critics and some analysts say it would violate the powers set out in the constitution for the State Board of Education, which has "leadership and general supervision over all public education," with the exception of higher education. The controversial commission was dropped from the version of HB 5526 passed by the House.
Status: HBs 6314 and 6315 passed the House Dec. 6 in votes of 56-53 and 57-52. HB 5526, with the commission removed, passed the House 56-13 on Dec. 13. HB 5526 on A-F grading passed the Senate Dec. 18 in 21-17 vote. Awaiting action by Gov. Rick Snyder
Limits on ballot petition gatherers
House bill 6595: The bill would put new restrictions of groups and people gathering signatures for ballot proposals, including: requiring that at least 15% of the petition signatures come from each of the state's 14 congressional districts; and require that people who want to challenge decisions made by the Board of Canvassers appeal to the state Supreme Court within seven days of a decision.
Status: Passed the House of Representatives on a 60-49, mostly party line vote, on Dec. 12. Senate Elections Committee approved in 4-1 vote Dec. 19. Awaiting action in Senate.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.