Senate Bill 69: Extend business job training subsidy program
Passed 104 to 5 in the House on June 18, 2015, to extend until 2023 the sunset on a 2008 law that authorized state job training subsidies for particular employers provided through community colleges. Also, to revise details of a minimum wage condition on the subsidies. The House removed a Senate-passed provision prohibiting the beneficiary companies from also collecting certain other state subsidies and tax breaks. Senate Bill 71 would repeal a $50 million annual debt cap on the program.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=715519
House Bill 4331: Increase municipal and school “emergency loan” funding
Passed 25 to 10 in the Senate on June 30, 2015, to increase from $50 million to $70 million the amount allocated through 2018 for “financial emergency” loans from the state to public school districts, and increase from $35 million to $48 million the amount of such loans to cities, townships, villages, and counties. The bill would also place minimum interest rates and/or durations on these loans, and give the state to penalize borrowers for missing payments. The bill is linked to House Bills 4225 and 4226, which are designed to create an overspending public school “early warning system”.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=716097
House Bill 4332: Increase municipal and school “emergency loan” funding
Passed 28 to 7 in the Senate on June 30, 2015, to increase from $50 million to $70 million the amount allocated through 2018 for “financial emergency” loans from the state to public school districts, and increase from $35 million to $48 million the amount of such loans to cities, townships, villages, and counties. See House Bill 4331.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=716098
Senate Bill 414: Road funding package - income tax earmark
Passed 27 to 11 in the Senate on July 1, 2015, to earmark $350 million from state income tax collections to road funding in the next fiscal year, and $700 million in subsequent years. The bill would also place in statute a scheme to potentially roll back future income tax rates if the amount of revenue deposited into the general fund in a given year grew faster than inflation.
Note that the legislature controls the level of these deposits, and can reduce them by redirecting revenue elsewhere, or depositing money into the state rainy day fund. So even if overall state tax collections do increase more than inflation, income tax rate reductions would essentially be at the discretion of each legislature, as under current law..
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=716225
House Bill 4319: Revise stop at railroad crossings law detail
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on July 1, 2015, to revise the law that requires a vehicle to stop at railroad crossings. Currently, this does not apply if a track is “abandoned,” and the bill would expand this to one that is “inactive,” which means the track has been covered or removed and all signs, signals, and other warning devices have been removed.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=716212
House Bill 4320: Revise stop at railroad crossings law detail
Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on July 1, 2015, to authorize posting signs that say “exempt” at inactive railroad crossings where the tracks have been removed or covered up, which would mean school buses are not required to stop. See also House Bill 4319.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=716213
House Bill 4610: Road funding package - local contract practices
Passed 27 to 11 in the Senate on July 1, 2015, to establish that if a township contributes 50 percent or more to the cost of a road project, it can require the county road commission to contract for the work through competitive bidding.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=716228
House Bill 4611: Road funding package - local contract practices
Passed 27 to 11 in the Senate on July 1, 2015, to clarify and revise details of ambiguous sections of a law that appears to require road agencies to seek competitive bids for projects greater than $100,000.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=716229
House Bill 4612: Road funding package - hybrid and electric car surcharge
Passed 21 to 17 in the Senate on July 1, 2015, to impose an annual vehicle registration surtax of $30 on gas-electric hybrid-drive cars, and $100 on pure electric (battery) cars. Other bills in this package would tax “alternative” fuels like compressed or liquefied natural gas at rates comparable to gasoline and diesel taxes.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=716227
House Bill 4613: Road funding package - income tax earmark details
Passed 28 to 10 in the Senate on July 1, 2015, to limit to road projects only - and not public transportation - the state income tax revenue that House Bill 4614 would earmark for road repairs. The bill would also limit use of this money to cover administrative expences, require local road agencies to get a contractor’s warranty on all road projects that cost more than $1 million, earmark some annual revenue for railroad grade crossing surface work, and revise details of how money from various road funding sources can be used.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=716226
House Bill 4614: House GOP road funding package - alternative fuels tax details
Passed 20 to 18 in the Senate on July 1, 2015, to revise details of the Michigan version of the “Streamlined Sales Tax” project being pursued this and most states with the goal of taxing out-of-state purchase, so that it conforms with the proposal in House Bill 4615 to extend motor fuel taxes to natural gas burned in Michigan by trucks that was purchased in other states, and to extend the sales tax credit interstate truckers are allowed on fuel purchased in this state.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=716230
House Bill 4615: Increase motor fuel tax
Passed 19 to 19 in the Senate on July 1, 2015, to increase the current gasoline and diesel fuel tax to 34 cents per gallon, an increase of 15 cents and 19 cents, respectively. The increase would come in three annual steps beginning Oct. 1, 2015, and would also be indexed to inflation. When combined with the 6 percent sales this would give Michigan the second highest gas tax in the nation, and one 15 cents higher than nearby states. The bill would also tax natural gas and other “alternative fuels” burned by vehicles at an equivalent rate.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=716223