Senate Bill 632: Revise certain delinquent property tax interest payments
Introduced by Sen. Tupac Hunter (D) on October 22, 2013, to reduce from 1 percent to 0.5 percent the monthly interest rate imposed on certain delinquent property tax amounts, and eliminate an additional interest charge levied on redemptions of tax-foreclosed property.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161184
Senate Bill 633: Allow community service to cover some “bad driver” fees
Introduced by Sen. Bruce Caswell (R) on October 22, 2013, to allow a person to do 10 hours of “community service” in lieu of paying a state “bad driver fee” for certain offenses, including accumulating seven or more “points” within a two-year period, driving without a license and failing to produce proof of insurance. These very high, revenue-raising fees were originally imposed in 2003 to avoid spending cuts in that year’s and subsequent state government budgets. The bill would also earmark some of the revenue from these levies to a drunk-driver vehicle “interlock” program.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161185
Senate Bill 634: Allow “advance deposit” internet horserace betting
Introduced by Sen. Roger Kahn (R) on October 22, 2013, to allow online “advance deposit account wagering” on horse races. The bill would establish a comprehensive licensure and regulatory regime for providers, and impose a tax on wagers, most of which would be given to or spent on programs that benefit in-state horse race entities.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161186
Senate Bill 635: Mandate nursing home medical and dental exam rooms
Introduced by Sen. John Proos, IV (R) on October 22, 2013, to mandate that nursing homes must provide private examination rooms for on-site medical or dental treatment.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161187
Senate Bill 636: Facilitate “land line” phone service transition to cell phones
Introduced by Sen. Mike Nofs (R) on October 22, 2013, to reduce the regulatory restrictions on “landline” telephone service providers transitioning their customers to a wireless (cell phone) system, and allow them to discontinue landline service after 2016.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161188
Senate Bill 637: Establish drunk driver vehicle interlock device regulatory regime
Introduced by Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker (R) on October 23, 2013, to establish regulations, procedures and fees for drunk driver vehicle interlock device vendors and installers, and give the Secretary of State the authority to oversee these programs.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161203
Senate Bill 638: Establish drunk driver vehicle interlock device regulatory regime
Introduced by Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker (R) on October 23, 2013, to establish sentencing guidelines for violations of the regulatory regime proposed by Senate Bill 637 for drunk driver vehicle interlock device vendors and installers.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161204
Senate Bill 639: Establish drunk driver vehicle interlock device regulatory regime
Introduced by Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker (R) on October 23, 2013, to revise references in the state law regulating vehicle repair and service providers, to reflect the regulatory regime proposed by Senate Bill 637 for drunk driver vehicle interlock device vendors and installers.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161205
Senate Bill 640: Facilitate “land bank” property acquisitions
Introduced by Sen. Darwin Booher (R) on October 23, 2013, to allow “land bank” authorities to purchase tax-foreclosed the property for the “minimum bid” required (which is the amount back taxes, fees, interest and penalties), unless the state or a local government want to buy it. The bill would also repeal a requirement that local governments must hold two separate tax-foreclosed property auctions instead of just one. Note: According to recent news reports, some local governments have avoided the auction requirement by selling tax-foreclosed property to government “land bank” authorities, which turn around and sell the parcel at a profit.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161206
Senate Bill 641: Revise real estate license details
Introduced by Sen. Mike Kowall (R) on October 23, 2013, to allow inactive real estate salespersons and brokers to renew their license within three years, subject to conditions and requirements specified in the bill. Also, to revise a six-hour annual “continuing education” mandate to instead allow licensees to take 18 hours spread over three years.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161207
Senate Bill 642: Revise unclaimed property law (“escheats”) detail
Introduced by Sen. Goeff Hansen (R) on October 23, 2013, to revise details of the disposition of funds taken under an ”escheats law” that lets the state government take possession of unclaimed property if the owner does not claim it within three years. Specifically, the bill amends references in this law to a “senior care respite fund” to reflect the 2013 law authorizing conversion of Blue Cross to non-profit “regular” insurance company.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161208
Senate Bill 643: Revise beer and wine store quota details
Introduced by Sen. Rick Jones (R) on October 23, 2013, to revise details of certain quotas on the number of stores in a community that can sell beer and wine to go.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161209
Senate Bill 644: Revise “strict discipline academies” detail
Introduced by Sen. Dave Hildenbrand (R) on October 24, 2013, to allow “strict discipline academies” (which provide “boot camp” type alternative schooling for students expelled for certain criminal offenses and juvenile offenders under a criminal sentence diversion agreement) to enroll students from high- or medium-security juvenile facilities, mental health facilities, or child caring institutions that are operated by a private agency.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161218
Senate Bill 645: Authorize Boy Scouts income tax checkoff
Introduced by Sen. Roger Kahn (R) on October 24, 2013, to revise the state “Girl Scouts Fund” created to receive contributions made through the tax checkoff proposed by a 2010 law, so that the checkoff would also apply to Boy Scout contributions as proposed by Senate Bill 646, and then distribute them to the Michigan Boy Scouts.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161219
Senate Bill 646: Authorize Boy Scouts income tax checkoff
Introduced by Sen. Roger Kahn (R) on October 24, 2013, to allow an individual to choose to automatically contribute $5 or more from his or her state income tax refund to a revised scouts fund proposed by Senate Bill 645, which currently collects contributions for the Michigan Girl Scouts.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161220
Senate Bill 647: Expand auto theft prevention authority duties
Introduced by Sen. Roger Kahn (R) on October 24, 2013, to expand the duties of a state automobile theft prevention authority to include insurance fraud related to unlimited medical benefits provided by Michigan’s no-fault law, overhaul its structure, and authorize $21 million in assessments (taxes) on insurers to pay for this.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161221
Senate Bill 648: Authorize state grants to certain doctors
Introduced by Sen. John Moolenaar (R) on October 24, 2013, to create a state scholarship that would pay the full cost of medical school for a student who agrees to provide specified primary care services in an area of the state deemed to have a shortage of such providers. Also, to create a student loan repayment grant program that would give a health care professional up to $100,000 for providing such services in an area, depending on how long the person stays. Up to $4 million in annual grants and scholarships for up to 40 individuals would be authorized during the three fiscal years starting in October, 2013. The proposal contains “clawback” provisions to get back the scholarship or grant money from a recipient who does not honor the agreement to stay. Different parts of these provisions are contained in a package comprised of this and Senate Bill 649.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161222
Senate Bill 649: Authorize state grants to certain doctors
Introduced by Sen. Jim Marleau (R) on October 24, 2013, to create a state scholarship that would pay the full cost of medical school for a student who agrees to provide specified primary care services in an area of the state deemed to have a shortage of such providers. Also, to create a student loan repayment grant program that would give a health care professional up to $100,000 for providing such services in an area, depending on how long the person stays. Up to $4 million in annual grants and scholarships for up to 40 individuals would be authorized during the three fiscal years starting in October, 2013. The proposal contains “clawback” provisions to get back the scholarship or grant money from a recipient who does not honor the terms of the agreement to stay. Different parts of these provisions are contained in a package comprised of this and Senate Bill 648.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161223
Senate Bill 650: Revise brewer regulation details
Introduced by Sen. Joe Hune (R) on October 24, 2013, to allow very small commercial brewers (ones that produce fewer than 1,000 barrels per year, labeled by the bill “qualified micro brewers”) to sell directly to a retail merchant, rather than being mandated to sell through a member of a state beer wholesaler cartel created by current liquor control laws. This is part of a package of modest liquor law reforms comprised of Senate Bills 504 to 507, 651, and House Bill 4277.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161224
Senate Bill 651: Revise brewer regulation details
Introduced by Sen. Joe Hune (R) on October 24, 2013, to increase the maximum production level that places a brewer under state “microbrewer” regulations (vs. more burdensome regular brewer regulations), from 30,000 barrels annually to 60,000 barrels. This is part of a package of modest liquor law reforms comprised of Senate Bills 504 to 507, 650, and House Bill 4277.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161225
Senate Bill 652: Establish state Appeals Court as venue for suits against the state
Passed 26 to 11 in the Senate on October 30, 2013, to establish that the venue for all legal claims against state agencies, commissions, boards, etc. (the state “court of claims”), will no longer be the Ingham County circuit court, and instead will be the state Court of Appeals (which consists of 24 judges elected in four regional elections).
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=674317
House Bill 5087: Require law enforcement serious crash next of kin notification
Introduced by Rep. Charles Brunner (D) on October 22, 2013, to require a law enforcement officer who responds to a traffic crash that results in death or serious bodily impairment to notify the victim’s next of kin (if they can be determined), to tell the kin that they should notify the person’s insurance company, and within 30 days notify the insurance company directly.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161193
House Bill 5088: Revise pseudoephedrine buyer “background check” mandate
Introduced by Rep. John Kivela (D) on October 22, 2013, to revise details of a law that requires retailers to perform ephedrine and pseudoephedrine buyer “background checks” using a federal drug “precursor” database containing information on individuals involved in methamphetamine crimes. Specifically, the bill would require information in a state “internet criminal history access tool” (ICHAT) database to be reported to that federal database; non-prescription sudaphed sales would then be prohibited to individuals whose names are on that state database.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161194
House Bill 5089: Create new pseudoephedrine “straw man” buyer crime
Introduced by Rep. Robert Genetski (R) on October 22, 2013, to authorize up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine for purchasing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine while knowing that it will be used to manufacture methamphetamine.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161195
House Bill 5090: Create new pseudoephedrine “straw man” buyer crime
Introduced by Rep. Aric Nesbitt (R) on October 22, 2013, to establish sentencing guidelines for the crime proposed by House Bill 5089 of purchasing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine while knowing that it will be used to manufacture methamphetamine.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161196
House Bill 5091: Establish that open firearms carry is not “brandishing”
Introduced by Rep. Joel Johnson (R) on October 22, 2013, to establish that carrying a firearm which is holstered or carried on a sling is not considered illegal “brandishing,” which means to display or wave a firearm in a menacing or threatening manner.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161197
House Bill 5092: Establish that open firearms carry is not “brandishing”
Introduced by Rep. Brandon Dillon (D) on October 22, 2013, to define “brandish” as “to point, wave about, or display in a threatening manner.” Under current law “brandishing” a firearm is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail. See also House Bill 5091.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161198
House Bill 5093: Repeal legislature candidate filing fee refunds
Introduced by Rep. Phil Cavanagh (D) on October 22, 2013, to repeal an election law provision that allows unsuccessful primary election candidates for the legislature to get their $100 candidate filing fee refunded.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161199
House Bill 5094: Require hospitals to post their “prices”
Introduced by Rep. Matt Lori (R) on October 23, 2013, to require hospitals to place on their website or make available in other ways a copy of their “charge description master,” defined as “a uniform schedule of charges represented by the hospital as its gross billed charge for a given service or item, regardless of payer type”.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161210
House Bill 5095: Ban large puppy breeders
Introduced by Rep. Michael McCready (R) on October 23, 2013, to prohibit commercial puppy breeding operations that have more than 50 female dogs over four months of age, and impose a number of other new regulations on animal breeders, shelters and pet shops. Among other new regulations shelters would have to hold an animal for at least one week and make efforts to identify the owner before euthanizing it, selling it, making it available for adoption, etc.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161211
House Bill 5096: Cap road right-of-way work permit fees
Introduced by Rep. Wayne Schmidt (R) on October 23, 2013, to extend to individuals, companies and organizations the same cap on permit fees that is currently granted only to government agencies for road commission permits that are needed to perform work projects within the right-of-way of a county road (such as laying pipelines, constructing drains, work by utilities, etc.). The capped fees are $300 per permit or $1,000 total for all permit requirements imposed on a particular project.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161212
House Bill 5097: Exempt public safety employees from ban on certain automatic pay hikes
Introduced by Rep. John Walsh (R) on October 23, 2013, to exempt law enforcement and fire department employees from a 2011 law that banned automatic seniority-based automatic pay hikes for individual government employees (“step increases”) during the time when a government employee union contract has expired and no replacement has been negotiated. Specifically, the bill would exempt public safety workers covered by a 1969 compulsory arbitration law.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161213
House Bill 5098: Liberalize school debt repayment requirements
Introduced by Rep. Roger Victory (R) on October 23, 2013, to revise details of the amount school districts are required to increase their millage rate if the current rate is not sufficient under a 2005 law to repay principal and interest on all the district’s School Bond Loan Fund debt before a “final repayment date” determined by the state Treasurer. This relates to a provision in that law (which overhauled the School Bond Loan Fund) which requires districts to calculate these “sufficient amounts” using a specified methodology starting Oct. 1, 2013. House Bill 5099 would repeal that “final repayment date” provision, which was instituted to fix the problem of districts extending debt on old projects by combining it with additional borrowing for new projects.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161214
House Bill 5099: Liberalize school debt repayment requirements
Introduced by Rep. Roger Victory (R) on October 23, 2013, to eliminate a requirement that school districts must pay back their debt to a state School Bond Loan Fund by a “final repayment date” determined for each district by the state treasurer. The requirement was instituted by a 2005 law to fix the problem of districts extending debt on old projects by combining with additional borrowing for new projects.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161215
House Bill 5100: Liberalize school debt repayment requirements
Introduced by Rep. Roger Victory (R) on October 23, 2013, to require school districts that want to borrow from a state School Bond Loan Fund to certify that their superintendent, chief financial official and board members have participated in a financial training program about these loans which is approved by the Department of Treasury. See also House Bills 5098 and 5099.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=161216
Senate Bill 269: Make permanent $75 million in annual corporate subsidy spending
Passed 33 to 4 in the Senate on October 31, 2013, to extend through 2019 a sunset on an annual $75 million earmark to a “21st Century Jobs Fund” created by the previous administration, which provides various subsidies to particular firms or industries chosen by a board of political appointees. (The subsidies can include the state taking partial ownership of selected companies.) This money comes from a tobacco company lawsuit settlement, which the legislature may otherwise appropriate for any state spending, or use for tax cuts.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=674633
Senate Bill 372: Exclude certain farm property sales from property tax assessment basis
Passed 103 to 4 in the House on October 31, 2013, to require tax assessors to exclude sales of certain agricultural property that will be used by the new owner for non-agricultural use from the “sales ratio studies” that determine the property tax assessments for other farm property.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=674598
Senate Bill 553: Extend already-extended renaissance zone tax breaks longer
Passed 36 to 1 in the Senate on October 31, 2013, to allow an eight year extension of the extensive tax breaks granted to residents and businesses in a particular “renaissance zone” located in Saginaw County. This would be in addition to a previous seven-year extension.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=674639
Senate Bill 580: Revise renaissance zone details
Passed 31 to 6 in the Senate on October 31, 2013, to revise various details of the law authorizing the extensive tax exemptions of a “renaissance zone” to better accommodate “Next Michigan Development Corporations,” authorized by a 2010 law to give tax breaks and subsidies to particular corporations or developers for projects meeting extremely broad “multi-modal commerce” criteria (basically, any form of goods-related commerce). In addition to allowing more businesses to receive these benefits, the bill would make changes intended to facilitate actually generating eligible “multi-modal” projects, which apparently have not come about since that 2010 law was passed. The bill is also related to Senate Bill 397, which would authorize creation of a sixth “Next Michigan Development Corporation” to be located in the Upper Peninsula.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=674640
Senate Bill 611: Increase penalty on delinquent hotel convention tax
Passed 36 to 1 in the Senate on October 31, 2013, to require a hotel or motel owner who is late paying a room tax of up to 5 percent imposed to pay for regional marketing schemes to also pay the attorney and court costs incurred collecting the tax, in addition to the 1.5 percent “delinquency charge” and 1.5 percent per month interest charge already authorized under current law.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=674648
Senate Bill 629: Allow local governments to extend debt refinancing duration
Passed 36 to 1 in the Senate on October 31, 2013, to allow local governments to refinance debt with new loans that have maturities extending through 2043, rather than 2039 as currently, and exempt refinancings done before 2020 from a 2001 law that restricts these if they increase the total debt service payments over the life of the loan.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=674649
Senate Bill 630: Allow local governments to extend debt refinancing duration
Passed 36 to 1 in the Senate on October 31, 2013, to allow certain “tax increment finance authorities” to refinance debt with new loans that have maturities extending through 2043, rather than 2039 as currently, and exempt refinancings done before 2020 from a 2001 law that restricts these if they increase the total debt service payments over the life of the loan.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=674652
House Bill 4593: Expand scrap metal regulatory regime
Passed 98 to 9 in the House on October 31, 2013, to expand a scrap metal dealer regulatory regime authorized by a 2008 law that imposed new regulations and record keeping requirements on sales of nonferrous scrap metal, so that it also applies to sales of scrap iron (ferrous metals). This and House Bill 4595 would also add new regulations, including a three-day delay on payments to individuals selling “scrapped” catalytic converters, air conditioners and stripped copper wire; require dealers to examine the identification of individual sellers; require dealers to keep photographs of the purchased scrap metal; and more.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=674600
House Bill 4595: Expand scrap metal theft law scope
Passed 99 to 8 in the House on October 31, 2013, to expand penalties authorized for stealing nonferrous metals such as copper, brass, aluminum, bronze, lead, zinc, or nickel, so they apply to any scrap metal theft.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=674601
House Bill 4704: Restrict legal challenges to county budget
Passed 29 to 8 in the Senate on October 31, 2013, to restrict legal challenges to the spending levels in a county’s annual budget, establishing that only “an elected official heading a branch of county government” and the chief judge of a court funded by a county have standing to bring such a challenge in court. Also, to establish that the state Court of Appeals is the only venue for such suits, and establish a legal presumption that the amount appropriated is sufficient. This relates to a recent challenge by the Wayne County Prosecutor over the amount of money the county board appropriated for that office.
See Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No” at http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=674636