Senate Bill 622: Clarify real estate improvement use tax provision
Passed 106 to 2 in the House on March 27, 2014, to clarify the applicability of the state use tax on “a manufacturer that affixes its product to real estate”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=688435
Senate Bill 821: Revise 2012 “personal property tax” reform law
Passed 35 to 2 in the Senate on March 27, 2014, to concur with the House-passed version of the bill.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=688361
House Bill 4135: Let foreclosing banks claim homestead tax exemption
Passed 85 to 23 in the House on March 27, 2014, to grant a homestead property tax exemption for up to three years to a bank or other financial institution that has foreclosed and taken possession of a home because the borrower failed to make payments on the mortgage loan, as long as the property is for sale and not leased out (even to the former owner).
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=688439
House Bill 4295: Adjust school budget projections, appropiate extra money
The amendment passed by voice vote in the Senate on March 27, 2014, to add back the $2 million the Senate added and the House removed for class size reduction grants.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=155260
House Bill 4478: Revise voter signature detail
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on March 25, 2014, to allow a voter who can’t sign his or her own name because of a disability to use a signature stamp where signatures are required on election-related documents. Also, to allow the state elections bureau and board of canvassers to craft the 100-word ballot language people will see at the polls when the legislature places a proposed law on the ballot, rather than having the legislature craft the language. This has become an issue in a personal property reform package comprised of Senate Bills 821 to 830.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=688346
House Bill 4601: Name a highway
Passed 108 to 0 in the House on March 27, 2014, to designate a portion of US-10 in Lake County as the “Sheriff Robert Radden Memorial Highway”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=688430
House Bill 4646: Revise child adoption/placement details
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on March 25, 2014, to authorize and specify procedures under which a parent could execute an out-of-court consent to an adoption after the child’s birth. This is part of a legislative package designed to speed-up the adoption process, including reducing the time a birth-parent has to change his or her mind.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=688350
House Bill 4647: Revise child adoption/placement details
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on March 25, 2014, to establish that three months after formal an adoption placement of adoptee who is less than one year old (rather than six months under current law), a court could enter an order of adoption, unless it determined that circumstances had arisen that make adoption undesirable. This is part of a legislative package designed to speed-up the adoption process, including reducing the time a birth-parent has to change his or her mind.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=688337
House Bill 4648: Revise child adoption/placement details
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on March 25, 2014, to revise details of a law that describes when parental rights can be terminated and when they cannot, so as to establish procedures for when the parental rights of a mother have not been officially terminated, and the court finds that the best interest of the child would be served by granting custody to the putative father. This is part of a legislative package designed to speed-up the adoption process, including reducing the time a birth-parent has to change his or her mind.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=688338
House Bill 4865: Authorize mobile dental facilities
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on March 25, 2014, to allow dental services to be provided in a mobile dental facility if the state grants a permit, subject to an extensive set of regulations and restrictions specified in the bill.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=688341
House Bill 4907: Revise arson law details
Passed 107 to 1 in the House on March 27, 2014, to concur with the Senate-passed version of the bill.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=688424
House Bill 4907: Revise arson law details
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on March 25, 2014, to clarify wording in the state’s law against arson. The revisions generally do not make any substantive changes to this law, except the bill would remove an explicit “intent” provision, which supporters say is already implicit in other language specifying the law applies to “willful or malicious” action.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=688335
House Bill 4908: Revise arson law details
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on March 25, 2014, to revise and update details of state sentencing guidelines for the crime of arson. The revisions do not make any substantive changes to this law. See also House Bill 4907.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=688336
House Bill 4936: Redesignate a highway
Passed 108 to 0 in the House on March 27, 2014, to designate a portion of U.S. 127 in Clinton County as the “Tim Sanborn Memorial Highway”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=688427
House Bill 5064: Name I-75 after Tuskegee airmen
Passed 108 to 0 in the House on March 27, 2014, to designate Interstate I-75 in Michigan as “Tuskegee Airmen Memorial Trail”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=688432
House Bill 5072: Change scenic road PR label
The amendment failed by voice vote in the House on March 26, 2014, to require the proposed signs to also disclose the amount of cash subsidies and selective tax breaks the state paid to corporations and developers through its “economic development” programs, with the information posted in the same sized font.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161057
House Bill 5072: Change scenic road PR label
Passed 105 to 3 in the House on March 27, 2014, to change the label applied to roads deemed by a 1993 law to be “heritage routes” because of their scenic, recreational, or historic associations, instead calling them “Pure Michigan Byways”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=688429
House Bill 5152: Exempt voter registration-related Social Security numbers from FOIA
Passed 34 to 3 in the Senate on March 27, 2014, to specifically include the last four digits of a individual’s Social Security numbers among certain voter registration information that is exempt from disclosure under the state Freedom of Information Act, and establish that candidate nominating petition signatures are not valid if they do not contain the date and the signer’s street address in addition to the signature. The bill also revises details of candidate filing deadlines when an office becomes vacant.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=688347
House Bill 5282: Allow deadly force to defend nuclear plants
Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on March 25, 2014, to explicitly allow an officer providing security at a nuclear generating plant to use deadly force if he or she “honestly and reasonably believes (it) is necessary to prevent” a person from breaking in with the intent to inflict harm, engage in radiological sabotage or steal nuclear material. This would include immunity from lawsuits.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=688339
House Joint Resolution EE: Earmark some state gas and oil revenue to local roads
Introduced by Rep. Tom McMillin (R) on March 27, 2014, to place before voters in the next general election a constitutional amendment to dedicate 20 percent of the revenue from oil and gas leases on state property local road construction and maintenance. Under current law most or all this money goes to spending on recreational infrastructure projects, state parks, and to buy more state land.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163945
House Joint Resolution DD: Require state university board meetings be held in public
Introduced by Rep. Tom McMillin (R) on March 11, 2014, to place before voters in the next general election a constitutional amendment to establish that meetings of the governing boards of state universities must be held in public, and establish that the boards’ records are public documents open to public inspection.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163813
Senate Bill 890: Revise state adoption subsidies
Introduced by Sen. Bruce Caswell (R) on March 26, 2014, to revise details of a law that authorizes subsidies for parents who adopt a child, so as to accommodate an agreement that the state would provide higher subsidies if it turns out a particular child needs “extraordinary” care that incurs extraordinary expenses.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163910
Senate Bill 891: Revise hazardous waste cleanup regulations, procedures and definitions
Introduced by Sen. Tom Casperson (R) on March 27, 2014, to revise a number of procedures and definitions in the state’s law on hazardous waste cleanups, which would generally streamline operation of the law and make it more accommodating to various types of properties, situations and circumstances. Among other things, the bill would recognize that when contaminated property (a “facility”) is split or subdivided, new parcels created by the split that are not contaminated would no longer be subject to restrictions that applied to the original parcel.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163923
Senate Bill 892: Revise hazardous waste cleanup regulations, procedures and definitions
Introduced by Sen. Tom Casperson (R) on March 27, 2014, to revise the definition of contaminated property (a “facility”) in the state’s law on hazardous waste cleanups to accommodate the provision in Senate Bill 891 revising the law’s treatment of uncontaminated property that is split off from a contaminated parcel.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163924
Senate Bill 893: Re-impose medical services tax to get more federal Medicaid money
Introduced by Sen. Roger Kahn (R) on March 27, 2014, to re-impose a 6 percent use tax on certain health care providers, which is designed to “game” the federal Medicaid system in ways that result in higher federal payments to Michigan’s medical welfare system.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163925
Senate Bill 894: Increase speed limits
Introduced by Sen. Tom Casperson (R) on March 27, 2014, to establish that highway “school zone” speed limits are only enforceable for 30 minutes before and after school hours (vs. up to one hour in current law), and may be lowered not more than 15 miles per hour below the regular speed limit, or to 25 miles per hour, whichever is higher. This is part of a package comprised of Senate Bills 894 to 898 to increase speed limits and revise related laws.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163926
Senate Bill 895: Increase speed limits
Introduced by Sen. Tom Casperson (R) on March 27, 2014, to establish that exceeding the speed limit by five miles per hour or less is punishable by a fine only, with no record of conviction or driver-license “points.” See also Senate Bill 896.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163927
Senate Bill 896: Increase speed limits
Introduced by Sen. Tom Casperson (R) on March 27, 2014, to increase the normal speed limit to 80 miles per hour on rural freeways, 70 mph on urban freeways, 65 mph on state highways, 60 mph on county roads, 55 mph on unpaved (gravel) roads except in Oakland and Wayne counties, where it would be 45 mph. These limits could fall or rise based on studies of observed traffic speed. The limit for trucks would be 70 mph on all freeways (vs. 60 mph under current law). The limit on unposted residential subdivision and traditional downtown business district streets would remain at 25 mph. Speed limits on city streets outside subdivisions could only be set according to the table of driveway frequency, or based on a speed study (as specified by Senate Bill 898).
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163928
Senate Bill 897: Increase speed limits
Introduced by Sen. Rick Jones (R) on March 27, 2014, to require that local traffic ordinances match the state-issued “manual of traffic control devices.” The bill would also revise the number of driver-license “points” assessed for various violations. See also Senate Bill 896.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163929
Senate Bill 898: Increase speed limits
Introduced by Sen. Rick Jones (R) on March 27, 2014, to establish that variations from the general speed limits proposed by Senate Bill 896 can only be based on the speed at which 85 percent of drivers are found to travel in free-flowing traffic.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163930
House Bill 5421: Revise delinquent property tax interest detail
Introduced by Rep. John Walsh (R) on March 25, 2014, to allow counties to waive certain additional interest charges imposed on the delinquent property taxes of a tax-foreclosed primary residence.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163902
House Bill 5422: Allow 120 days to renew vehicle registration without late fee
Introduced by Rep. Pete Lund (R) on March 25, 2014, to not impose a $10 “late fee” on vehicle registrations submitted after the previous year’s registration has expired. The bill would only impose the fee 120 days after the registration has expired.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163903
House Bill 5423: Require MCCA rate formula disclosures
Introduced by Rep. Mike Callton (R) on March 25, 2014, to require the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association to publically disclose the formula used to determine its auto insurance surcharges, and the amount charged to individual insurance companies. The MCCA is the private entity established to provide reinsurance to cover the liability of individual auto insurance companies to pay unlimited medical claims above $500,000 per incident, which they are required to pay under the state no-fault auto insurance law.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163904
House Bill 5424: Accommodate and regulate charitable “millionaire game” business
Introduced by Rep. Kurt Heise (R) on March 25, 2014, to revise the law governing charitable “millionaire party” gambling events that include casino games, in a manner that accommodates charitable organizations contracting out operation of these fundraising events to a “charitable gaming service” that operates them for multiple charities at a single location, one after another. The bill would establish a licensing regime covering both the charities and the companies that provide the service, which would recognize a system that has evolved. Under this system, on most days of the week a person can go to a single location to gamble on casino-like games, with the proceeds going to a different charitable organization each day (or during different hours of the same day), less the cost of the contract with the service provider. The state Gaming Control Board has proposed a different regulatory regime that would restrict this practice rather than accommodate it.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163905
House Bill 5425: Establish rental unit bedbug procedures
Introduced by Rep. Andy Schor (D) on March 25, 2014, to give district courts “equitable jurisdiction” in cases related to the proposal in House Bills 5199 to 52101 to establish the duties of both landlords and tenants related to a rental unit that is infested with bedbugs. See also Senate Bill 657.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163906
House Bill 5426: Allow farmers market beer tastings and sales
Introduced by Rep. Marcia Hovey-Wright (D) on March 25, 2014, to expand the 2013 law that authorized a special liquor license allowing small winemakers to sell wine and hold wine tastings at farmers markets, so that it also applies to “micro-brewers”.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163907
House Bill 5427: Allow farmers market beer tastings and sales
Introduced by Rep. Andy Schor (D) on March 25, 2014, to expand the 2013 law that authorized a special liquor license allowing small winemakers to sell wine and hold wine tastings at farmers markets, so that it also applies to “micro-brewers”.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163908
House Bill 5428: Revise transportation funding detail
Introduced by Rep. Kurt Heise (R) on March 26, 2014, to define the liability of individual townships within a “township alliance” for state road funding for damages caused by not keeping roads in “reasonable repair.” House Bill 4015 would make these township alliances eligible for state road funding.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163916
House Bill 5429: Revise detail of securities regulation
Introduced by Rep. Nancy Jenkins (R) on March 26, 2014, to revise a provision in the state “uniform securities act” (which governs the issuance and sale of stocks) so as to clarify the escrow of purchaser funds in an intrastate offering.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163917
House Bill 5430: Revise state securities regulation
Introduced by Rep. Nancy Jenkins (R) on March 26, 2014, to create a new “Office of Securities Regulation” within the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs , to which would be transferred the duty to regulate the issuance and sale of stocks that currently located in the state Office of Finance and Insurance Regulation. The bill would also create a new state “securities regulation board”.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163918
House Bill 5431: Require internet safety instruction in schools
Introduced by Rep. Rudy Hobbs (D) on March 26, 2014, to require public schools to offer instruction on “Internet safety” using resources the state Department of Education would be required to make available.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163919
House Bill 5432: Revise swine definitions
Introduced by Rep. Greg MacMaster (R) on March 26, 2014, to define “feral or wild swine” as swine that have lived any part of their life as free roaming or not under the husbandry of humans, and “native swine” as swine born and raised or legally imported into this state. Shortly before the bill’s introduction a state court ruled that regulations against keeping wild boars, Eurasian wild boars and similar exotic varieties used in “sporting swine” hunting operations are too vague to be enforceable.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163920
House Bill 5433: Authorize state tax break for federal “new markets tax credits”
Introduced by Rep. David Knezek (D) on March 27, 2014, to require the Department of Treasury to report to the legislature each year on the activities of the department related to the treatment of state tax credits based on federal “new markets tax credits,” as proposed by House Bills 5434 and 5435. “New markets tax credits” is a program that subsidizes capital investments or loans to certain business entities or individuals in low-income communities.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163937
House Bill 5434: Authorize state tax break for federal “new markets tax credits”
Introduced by Rep. David Knezek (D) on March 27, 2014, to authorize a tax credit based on an insurance company’s investment in an entity eligible for a federal “new markets tax credit,” which is a program that subsidizes capital investments or loans to certain business entities or individuals in low-income communities.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163938
House Bill 5435: Authorize state tax break for federal “new markets tax credits”
Introduced by Rep. David Knezek (D) on March 27, 2014, to authorize a state income tax credit based on a taxpayer’s investment in an entity eligible for a federal “new markets tax credit,” which is a program that subsidizes capital investments or loans to certain business entities or individuals in low-income communities.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163939
House Bill 5436: Require school bus seat belts
Introduced by Rep. Robert Kosowski (D) on March 27, 2014, to require new school buses to be equipped with seat belts for each passenger.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163940
House Bill 5437: Authorize 5-mill “sinking fund” property tax for school buses
Introduced by Rep. Robert Kosowski (D) on March 27, 2014, to allow school districts to use a “sinking fund” property tax to buy school buses. Under current law, schools may levy up to 5 mills for 20 years for a “sinking fund,” which is a permanent fund that may only be used only for land purchases and the construction or (major) repair of school buildings.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163941
House Bill 5438: Mandate drivers ed include cycle awareness lesson
Introduced by Rep. Terry Brown (D) on March 27, 2014, to require drivers education classes to include classroom instruction on laws related to bicycles and motorcycles, and to emphasize awareness of their operation on roads.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163942
House Bill 5439: Permit growing industrial hemp for research
Introduced by Rep. Kevin Daley (R) on March 27, 2014, to allow the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and/or a Michigan college or university to grow or cultivate industrial hemp for research purposes. The bill would also authorize creating a segregated state fund to provide grants for this research.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163943
House Bill 5440: Permit growing industrial hemp for research
Introduced by Rep. Peter Pettalia (R) on March 27, 2014, to revise the law that defines marijuana as an illegal drug so as to exclude “industrial hemp” grown or cultivated for research, which House Bill 5439 would authorize.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=163944