Senate Bill 264: Accelerate dredging permit processing deadlines
Passed 83 to 23 in the House on June 13, 2013, to accelerate the deadline for the state to process a dredging permit, and reduce the fees if the dredged material is at least 90 percent sand.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=666950
Senate Bill 284: Revise home heating welfare program
Passed 86 to 21 in the House on June 13, 2013, to authorize imposing a $1 per month surcharge on customer electric utility bills, and use the money to provide up to $50 million annually in low income home heating subsidies.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=666958
House Bill 4344: Revise special Detroit powers population threshold
Passed 107 to 0 in the House on June 13, 2013, to revise the population threshold in a law that gives Detroit the power to define a fire arson investigator as a police officer. The Michigan constitution prohibits passing “local acts” with less than a two-thirds majority vote in the House and Senate, so the legislature has circumvented this by granting certain privileges or exemptions to “a city with a population greater than 1 million,” later revised to 900,000, and then 750,000. This bill changes that to 600,000.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=666956
House Bill 4478: Revise voter signature detail
Passed 107 to 0 in the House on June 13, 2013, 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.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=666957
House Bill 4529: Establish and impose minimum indigent defense standards
Passed 101 to 6 in the House on June 13, 2013, to create a Michigan indigent defense commission to establish statewide standards and accountability measures for court-appointed attorneys who represent indigent criminal defendants, and if the state Supreme Court agrees, establish procedures by which an agency would be created to enforce expeditious adoption of the standards in local jurisdictions. If a local failed to adopt them, this agency would take over its indigent defense administration, and impose a gradually increasing portion of the state’s costs for this, up to 40 percent. Local governments would be responsible for maintaining funding at current levels. The bill authorizes but does not fund state grants to cover increased costs.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=666961
House Bill 4530: Establish and impose minimum indigent defense standards
Passed 101 to 6 in the House on June 13, 2013, to revise the law that requires a court to assign counsel to an indigent person charged with a criminal offense so it conforms with the indigent defense minimum standards process proposed by House Bill 4529.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=666962
House Bill 4691: Revise carnival ride regulation detail
Passed 60 to 46 in the House on June 13, 2013, to eliminate a state government “carnival amusement safety board.” The bill would not affect the regulations and inspection requirements for carnival rides.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=666949
House Bill 4714: Accept federal health care law Medicaid expansion, with conditions
The substitute
passed by voice vote in the House on June 13, 2013, to adopt a version of the bill that does not require federal approval-in-advance of certain cost-saving Medicaid reforms before the expansion can proceed.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159308
House Bill 4714: Accept federal health care law Medicaid expansion, with conditions
Passed 76 to 31 in the House on June 13, 2013, to expand Medicaid eligibility to families and childless adults up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, which implements a key component of the federal health care law (aka “Obamacare”). Under that law, the feds are supposed to pay 100 percent of the expansion’s cost during the first three years, with the state responsible for not more than 10 percent of the costs starting in 2020. This does not contain a provision in the original version of the bill requiring the federal government to approve certain cost-saving state Medicaid reforms before the expansion could proceed.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=666980
House Bill 4731: Waive commercial road test for certain recent veterans
Passed 106 to 0 in the House on June 13, 2013, to waive a required state examination for meeting firefighter professional qualification standards, if an applicant is a recent military veteran with relevant experience.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=666952
House Bill 4754: Establish that military experience meets mechanical contractor licensure requirements
Passed 107 to 0 in the House on June 13, 2013, to waive a requirement that an applicant for a mechanical contractor license must have at least three years in the field, if the individual is a recent military veteran with relevant service experience.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=666954
House Bill 4765: Extend foreclosure restrictions sunset
Passed 98 to 9 in the House on June 13, 2013, to extend until June 30, 2014 the sunset on a 2009 law that forces mortgage lenders to attempt to negotiate revisions in the terms of delinquent loans before they can proceed to a “foreclosure by advertisement” (instead of the more costly judicial foreclosure process). This would be the second time this “temporary” law has been extended.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=666965
House Bill 4766: Revise foreclosure restrictions
Passed 99 to 8 in the House on June 13, 2013, to allow a mortgage borrower from an institution that was a defendant that entered into a consent judgment in United States of America, et al. v Bank of America Corp., et al, to request a face to face meeting with the lender to attempt to work out a modification to avoid foreclosure, and delay foreclosure until after the meeting.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=666969
House Bill 4813: Establish procedures for dissolving fiscally failed school district
Passed 58 to 49 in the House on June 13, 2013, to establish criteria and procedures for dissolving a school district that has become so fiscally unviable that it can no longer educate students, and for attaching the failed district’s territory to one or more nearby school districts. The bill was introduced after the Buena Vista and Inkster school districts reached this state shortly before the end of the 2012-2013 school year.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=666994
House Bill 4815: Establish procedures for dissolving fiscally failed school district
Passed 58 to 49 in the House on June 13, 2013, to revise school aid distribution provisions in the state school aid act to reflect the proposal in House Bill 4814 to establish procedures for dissolving a fiscally failed school district and attaching its territory to nearby districts.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=666997
Senate Bill 418: Exempt travel agents from insurance agent licensure mandate
Introduced by Sen. Joe Hune (R) on June 11, 2013, to exempt travel agents from the licensure mandate imposed on insurance agents. Travel agents often sell trip insurance that is incidental to the planned travel.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159882
Senate Bill 419: Allow different drivers license and voter registration address
Introduced by Sen. Rebekah Warren (D) on June 11, 2013, to allow a person to have a different address on their drivers license or state I.D. than the one at which they are registered to vote.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159883
Senate Bill 420: Allow different drivers license and voter registration addresses
Introduced by Sen. Rebekah Warren (D) on June 11, 2013, to allow a person to have a different address on their drivers license or state I.D. than the one at which they are registered to vote.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159884
Senate Bill 421: Allow registered-by-mail voter to vote absentee in first election
Introduced by Sen. Rebekah Warren (D) on June 11, 2013, to allow a person to vote by absentee ballot in the first election after registering by mail to vote in a jurisdiction. Current law requires that such voters show up in person the first time that they vote in the new jurisdiction, but may vote by absentee ballot for all subsequent elections.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159885
Senate Bill 422: Create new low-income medical welfare program
Introduced by Sen. Bruce Caswell (R) on June 11, 2013, to create a new state medical welfare program that for a minimal monthly premium ($5 to $20) would provide insurance benefits to individuals below the federal poverty level who are not eligible for federal Medicaid subsidies (which mostly applies to childless adults). This is potentially an alternative to the Medicaid expansion portion of the federal health care law called “Obamacare” by regular people.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159886
Senate Bill 423: Create new low-income medical welfare program
Introduced by Sen. Patrick Colbeck (R) on June 11, 2013, to create a new state medical welfare program that for a minimal monthly premium ($5 to $20) would provide insurance benefits to individuals below the federal poverty level who are not eligible for federal Medicaid subsidies (which mostly applies to childless adults). This is potentially an alternative to the Medicaid expansion portion of the federal health care law called “Obamacare” by regular people.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159887
Senate Bill 424: Require schools teach American foundational principles
Introduced by Sen. Virgil Smith, Jr. (D) on June 12, 2013, to require public schools to provide instruction in all grades that focuses on the core principles of the United States, in particular those articulated in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and other foundational or iconic texts, speeches, etc.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159903
Senate Bill 425: Revise principle residence property tax credit detail
Introduced by Sen. Jack Brandenburg (R) on June 12, 2013, to extend the Proposal A “homestead property tax” credit that exempts an individual’s principle residence from local school operating taxes (usually 18 mills) so that it also applies if the form of home ownership is a trust with the home occupant is the trust’s beneficiary.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159904
Senate Bill 426: Revise beer brewer regulations
Introduced by Sen. Dave Hildenbrand (R) on June 12, 2013, to increase the number of “brewpubs” in which a single owner can have an interest, from three to six, with a maximum capacity between them of 18,000 barrels of beer per calendar year.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159905
Senate Bill 427: Revise unemployment insurance payroll tax detail
Introduced by Sen. Howard Walker (R) on June 12, 2013, to not consider certain oil, gas and mineral extraction contract negotiators (“landmen”) who are independent contractors to be “employees” of an energy or mining company for purposes of assessing unemployment insurance payroll taxes.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159906
Senate Bill 428: Ban governments placing foreign-made American flags on veterans’ graves
Introduced by Sen. Roger Kahn (R) on June 12, 2013, to prohibit local governments from buying American flags made outside this country to place on veteran’s graves, unless no competitively-priced American-made flags are available.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159907
Senate Bill 429: Authorize “arms-related” corporate tax breaks
Introduced by Sen. Tom Casperson (R) on June 13, 2013, to authorize granting the extensive tax breaks and exemptions of a “renaissance zone” to up to five corporations engaged in “arms-related” manufacturing and that are selected by the political appointees on the board of the Michigan “Strategic Fund” agency.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159916
Senate Bill 430: Authorize “arms-related” corporate tax breaks
Introduced by Sen. Tom Casperson (R) on June 13, 2013, to authorize granting the extensive tax breaks and exemptions of a “renaissance zone” to up to five corporations engaged in “arms-related” manufacturing and that are selected by the political appointees on the board of the Michigan “Strategic Fund” agency.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159918
Senate Bill 431: Give “biobased” products state purchasing preference
Introduced by Sen. Bruce Caswell (R) on June 13, 2013, to require the state to give preference in purchasing and procurement to products with a higher amount of “biobased” components.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159919
Senate Bill 432: Expand “bottle bill”
Introduced by Sen. Rebekah Warren (D) on June 13, 2013, to expand the “bottle bill” deposit requirement to include water and all nonalcoholic carbonated or noncarbonated drinks sold in an airtight metal, glass, or plastic container that holds one gallon or less, except for milk and unflavored rice or soy milk, with some additional exceptions.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159920
Senate Bill 433: Require insurers put “Obamacare” price increase estimates in customer bills
Introduced in the Senate on June 18, 2013, to require bills sent to customers for health insurance policies or HMO plans to itemize to include an estimate of the amount that any price increase was caused by mandates and regulation imposed by the federal health care law (“Obamacare”).
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159953
House Bill 4817: Establish independent political redistricting commission
Introduced by Rep. Sean McCann (D) on June 11, 2013, to establish procedures and statutory prescriptions for implementing the proposal in House Joint Resolution T to create a 14 member state congressional and legislative redistricting commission, with five members each appointed the Republican and Democratic parties, and four members not connected to either party selected by the legislature’s Auditor General.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159896
House Bill 4818: Ban human lice treatments containing lindane
Introduced by Rep. Winnie Brinks (D) on June 11, 2013, to prohibit the sale or use of human lice treatments containing lindane.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159897
House Bill 4819: Expand special corporate tax breaks
Introduced by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D) on June 11, 2013, to revise language in a 2010 law authorizing “border crossing renaissance zones” in Port Huron and potentially elsewhere to expand their extensive tax breaks to companies selected by the political appointees on the board of the state “Strategic Fund” agency that are in the business of packing, sorting, assembling, or manufacturing goods.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159898
House Bill 4820: Impose new regulations on “petroleum coke”
Introduced by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D) on June 11, 2013, to impose new regulations and a permit mandate on the storage and transport of “petroleum coke” (“pet coke”). This is related to a Marathon Oil refinery expansion in Detroit.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159899
House Bill 4821: Revise motor carrier safety law detail
Introduced by Rep. Marilyn Lane (D) on June 12, 2013, to revise details of how a state “motor carrier safety” law applies to certain categories of buses.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159921
House Bill 4822: Revise township annexation procedures
Introduced by Rep. Kurt Heise (R) on June 12, 2013, to require a circuit court to resolve a territory annexation petition dispute if an agreement is not reached between a city or village and a charter township in which some residents are seeking to have their property become part of the neighboring city or village.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159922
House Bill 4823: Revise township annexation procedures
Introduced by Rep. Kurt Heise (R) on June 12, 2013, to require a circuit court to resolve a territory annexation petition dispute if an agreement is not reached between a city or village and a charter township in which some residents are seeking to have their property become part of the neighboring city or village.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159923
House Bill 4824: Increase penalty for paying a person to run for office
Introduced by Rep. Earl Poleski (R) on June 12, 2013, to authorize up to one year in prison and $500 fine for promising, providing, or accepting valuable consideration to run for a political office, not including campaign contributions.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159924
House Bill 4825: Require candidates to disclose felonies
Introduced by Rep. Klint Kesto (R) on June 12, 2013, to require a candidate for public office to include on the required “affidavit of identity” whether the individual has been convicted of a felony in the past 10 years, and to disclose the crimes.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159925
House Bill 4826: Require schools teach American foundational principles
Introduced by Rep. Ray Franz (R) on June 12, 2013, to require public schools to provide instruction in all grades that focuses on the core principles of the United States, in particular those articulated in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and other foundational or iconic texts, speeches, etc.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159926
House Bill 4827: Exempt certain pension income from state income tax
Introduced by Rep. Patrick Somerville (R) on June 12, 2013, to revise the provision of Gov. Rick Snyder’s income tax overhaul and business tax cut that partially eliminated some of the state income tax exemptions for pension income. The bill would authorize a pension income tax deduction for a person born after 1952 who is retired before July 1, 2014, exempting from tax up to $15,000 in pension income for a single return and $30,000 for a joint return. Under the 2011 tax overhaul, older individuals get a partial pension income exemption but those born after 1952 do not.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159927
House Bill 4828: Allow pension double dipping by some “retired” school paraprofessionals
Introduced by Rep. Patrick Somerville (R) on June 12, 2013, to allow a school paraprofessional to simultaneously collect pension benefits and a paycheck for going back to work in a school, subject to various limitations and conditions.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159928
House Bill 4829: Grant discounted license plates to certain charitable vehicles
Introduced by Rep. Joel Johnson (R) on June 12, 2013, to grant a discounted vehicle registration (license plate) tax of $10 annually to vehicles owned by a fraternal organization and which are used to transport children to and from hospitals for medical treatment.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159929
House Bill 4830: Allow small corporations’ officers to represent firm in court
Introduced by Rep. Lisa Lyons (R) on June 13, 2013, to allow an officer in a small corporation or a partner in a business partnership to represent the entity in a court dispute involving rental property for which the firm is a landlord, and not consider this a violation of law prohibiting the “unauthorized practice of law”.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159934
House Bill 4831: Clarify prescription drug sales tax exemption
Introduced by Rep. Lisa Lyons (R) on June 13, 2013, to clarify details of a state sales tax exemption for prescription drugs.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159935
House Bill 4832: Authorize energy efficient new home purchase tax breaks
Introduced by Rep. Jon Switalski (D) on June 13, 2013, to authorize a $5,000 individual income tax credit for a person who buys a new home that has been deemed a “green structure” by a particular private entity specified in the bill (“Green Michigan”), and a $2,000 credit for an addition or renovation that meets the criteria established by this entity, or by a similar entity that has been empowered with this authority by the state Department of Labor and Economic Growth. The credit would not be “refundable” (that is, would not be a potential cash subsidy), but the amount exceeding the person’s tax liability could be “carried forward” and used against future years’ tax liability.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159936
House Bill 4833: Increase election recount deposit requirement
Introduced by Rep. Kurt Heise (R) on June 13, 2013, to increase the money deposit a candidate must make to get an election recount from $10 to $25 per precinct, and $125 per precinct if the election wasn’t extremely close, and also revise the conditions for getting a refund.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159937
House Bill 4834: Mandate local government American flags disclosures
Introduced by Rep. Greg MacMaster (R) on June 13, 2013, to require local governments that purchase imported American or State of Michigan flags to disclose on their websites the country in which the flags were made.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159938
House Bill 4835: Ban governments placing foreign-made American flags on veterans’ graves
Introduced by Rep. Greg MacMaster (R) on June 13, 2013, to prohibit local governments from buying imported American flags to place on veteran’s graves, unless no competitively-priced American-made flags are available. See also House Bill 4834.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159939
House Bill 4836: Require consent for release of student data
Introduced by Rep. Ellen Lipton (D) on June 13, 2013, to prohibit local or state school authorities from releasing any data about a student to an organization located outside this state without the prior written consent of the student’s parent or legal guardian (or the student if age 18 or older).
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159940
House Bill 4837: Require state assessment test questions be available for inspection
Introduced by Rep. Tom McMillin (R) on June 13, 2013, to require the Department of Education to make available for inspection the questions or assignments that are used as part of state tests and assessments, and also to work with local school districts to make these available to parents at schools. These inspections would be made in private, and copying the questions could be banned.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159941
House Bill 4838: Ban brand names on student assessment tests
Introduced by Rep. Thomas Hooker (R) on June 13, 2013, to prohibit the use of product or service brand names on state assessment tests given to students.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159942
House Bill 4839: Revise expunged crime disclosure restriction
Introduced by Rep. Tom Leonard (R) on June 13, 2013, to revise a confidentiality provision in the law allowing a court to “set aside” (expunge) a comparatively minor criminal conviction, meaning that no public record of the conviction is available (but it remains in restricted State Police records). Under current law, it is a misdemeanor for anyone except the violator to divulge or publish a “set aside” conviction. The bill would also include the crime victim in this exception.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159943
House Bill 4840: Repeal permit requirement for “suction weed harvesting”
Introduced by Rep. Aric Nesbitt (R) on June 13, 2013, to repeal a state permit mandate for “suction weed harvesting,” which is a technique for controlling invasive and other underwater weeds that can clog lakes.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159944
House Bill 4841: Create “pesticide application registry”
Introduced by Rep. Jeff Irwin (D) on June 13, 2013, to require the state to create a “pesticide application registry” where individuals could register who wish to be notified before the application of pesticides on a property adjacent to their home. Commercial pest control companies would have to check the registry before each job and notify neighbors who have registered for this.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159945
House Bill 4842: Appropriate money for transit-related “municipal credit program”
Introduced by Rep. Anthony Forlini (R) on June 13, 2013, to appropriate $2 million for a public transit-related “municipal credit program”.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159946
House Bill 4843: Require political robocall disclosures
Introduced by Rep. Anthony Forlini (R) on June 13, 2013, to require that automated phone calls (“robocalls”) that relate to a candidate for office or a ballot issue disclose the identity of the person paying for the communication and whether it is authorized by a candidate, with violations a misdemeanor subject to a $500 fine, and up to $1,500 for a third and subsequent conviction.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=159947